[579] Ashby's force was recruited to the dignity of a brigade, though his commission as brigadier-general was not issued until May 23d. He pursued the Federals after the battle of McDowell, played a prominent part in the rout of the Federals at Middletown, and defended the rear during the Confederate retreat up the Valley early in June. On the 3d his horse was shot under him while his men were burning the bridge over the Shenandoah. ‘Ashby has infernal activity and ingenuity in this way,’ Shields reported to Washington. On June 6th, near Harrisonburg, he repulsed an attack, capturing the Federal commander, Sir Percy Wyndham. He immediately planned an ambush of the pursuing Federal advance, and a fierce combat ensued. As Ashby led the attack, his horse was shot under him, and he rushed forward on foot, urging his men to charge, when a ball pierced his breast and he fell forward dead. His death was felt as a severe loss to the army. Jackson wrote to General Imboden: ‘Poor Ashby is dead. He fell gloriously. I know you will join with me in mourning the loss of our friend, one of the noblest men and soldiers in the Confederate army.’ In his official report he wrote: ‘As a partisan officer, I never knew his superior. His daring was proverbial, his powers of endurance almost incredible, his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes and movements of the enemy.’ In October, 1866, his body was reinterred with impressive ceremonies in the Stonewall cemetery at Winchester, where the anniversary of his death is annually commemorated by the strewing of flowers upon the graves of the unknown dead.
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[579] Ashby's force was recruited to the dignity of a brigade, though his commission as brigadier-general was not issued until May 23d. He pursued the Federals after the battle of McDowell, played a prominent part in the rout of the Federals at Middletown, and defended the rear during the Confederate retreat up the Valley early in June. On the 3d his horse was shot under him while his men were burning the bridge over the Shenandoah. ‘Ashby has infernal activity and ingenuity in this way,’ Shields reported to Washington. On June 6th, near Harrisonburg, he repulsed an attack, capturing the Federal commander, Sir Percy Wyndham. He immediately planned an ambush of the pursuing Federal advance, and a fierce combat ensued. As Ashby led the attack, his horse was shot under him, and he rushed forward on foot, urging his men to charge, when a ball pierced his breast and he fell forward dead. His death was felt as a severe loss to the army. Jackson wrote to General Imboden: ‘Poor Ashby is dead. He fell gloriously. I know you will join with me in mourning the loss of our friend, one of the noblest men and soldiers in the Confederate army.’ In his official report he wrote: ‘As a partisan officer, I never knew his superior. His daring was proverbial, his powers of endurance almost incredible, his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes and movements of the enemy.’ In October, 1866, his body was reinterred with impressive ceremonies in the Stonewall cemetery at Winchester, where the anniversary of his death is annually commemorated by the strewing of flowers upon the graves of the unknown dead.
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