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Chapter 45: battle of Winchester.
At light on the morning of the 19th, our cavalry pickets, at the crossing of the
Opequon on the
Berryville road, were driven in, and information having been sent me of that fact, I immediately ordered all the troops at
Stephenson's depot to be in readiness to move, directions being given for
Gordon, who had arrived from
Bunker Hill, to move at once, but by some mistake on the part of my staff officer, the latter order was not delivered to
General Breckenridge or
Gordon.
I rode at once to
Ramseur's position, and found his troops in line across the
Berryville road skirmishing with the enemy.
Before reaching this point, I had ascertained that
Gordon was not moving and sent back for him, and now discovering that the enemy's advance was a real one and in heavy force, I sent orders for
Breckenridge and
Rodes to move up as rapidly as possible.
The position occupied by
Ramseur was about one mile and a half out from
Winchester, on an elevated plateau between
Abraham's Creek and Red Bud Run.
Abraham's Creek crosses the
Valley Pike one mile south of
Winchester, and then crosses the
Front Royal road about the same distance southeast of the town, and running eastwardly, on the southern side of the
Berryville road, crosses that road a short distance before it empties into the
Opequon.
Red Bud Run crosses the
Martinsburg road about a mile and a half north of
Winchester and runs eastwardly, on the northern side of the
Berryville road, to the
Opequon.
Ramseur was therefore in the obtuse angle formed by the
Martinsburg and Front Royal roads. In front of and to the right of him, for some distance, the country was open.
Abraham's Creek runs through a deep valley, and beyond it, on the right, is high open ground, at the intersection of the
Front Royal and
Millwood roads.
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