Edward Alfred Pollard, The lost cause; a new Southern history of the War of the Confederates ... Drawn from official sources and approved by the most distinguished Confederate leaders.

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[596] was now the decisive movement of the enemy's cavalry. The Confederate left was completely turned; the enemy was let in on the rear of the remainder of the line; and the Confederate infantry, which had so long withstood fourfold odds, now pressed heavily in front by the enemy's infantry, and on the right by his cavalry, was compelled to give way under the combined assault, and at last broke in confusion, retiring from the field and through Winchester, with the enemy in pursuit.

In this battle Gen. Early lost twenty-five hundred prisoners and five pieces of artillery. But in this battle there lad been a surpassing display of courage in the men who had held their ground so long against the swarming forces of the enemy. It is quite certain that up to the moment when he put his cavalry in motion against the Confederate left, Sheridan had been virtually defeated. Not until the enemy's cavalry advanced on the Martinsburg road, attained the Confederate rear, and charged them in flank and rear, was there the least wavering. It is true that from that moment the action was lost. Early's line gave way in confusion; his artillery was fought to the muzzle of the guns, but could do nothing, and that night the Confederate forces were in full retreat up the Valley.

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Battle of Fisher's Hill.

Gen. Early retired to Fisher's Hill, near Strasburg, a position overlooking the north branch of the Shenandoah River, and protected on the west by the North Mountain. This position has been described as a very defensible one, indeed the strongest in the Valley of Virginia. But a Confederate officer, who has ably reviewed the campaign, remarks: “When Early took up a position on the great range of hills above Strasburg, and waited to be attacked, he committed an error under the circumstances, which the General himself, at this day, would probably acknowledge. The ground there is unsuitable to receive an attack upon, unless the force standing on the defensive is strong enough to reach from mountain to mountain. Gen. Jackson is said to have expressed this opinion, and it is certain that he never made a stand there. Gen. Early did so, and was flanked on the left.”

On the 22d October, Sheridan formed his force for a direct attack on Early's position, while Torbert's cavalry moved by the Luray Valley to gain Newmarket, twenty miles in Early's rear, to cut off his retreat. While making a feint of an attack in front, a corps of infantry was sent around to Early's left, resting on the North Mountain, flanked it, attacked it in rear, and drove it from its entrenchments. The whole Confederate line was easily disrupted, and Early retired in great disorder, losing eleven pieces of artillery. Happily his line of retreat was secured, as Torbert had