Summary:
Union General Phil Sheridan reports to Chief of Staff Halleck on October, 1864,
actions in the Shenandoah Valley including a demonstration to cover an advance
on Staunton.
Maj.-Gen. HALLECK,
Chief of Staff:
WOODSTOCK, VA.,
October 7, 1864--3 p.m.
(Received 8 p.m. 8th.)
Your telegram of 3d received. I had one small division of cavalry in the Luray Valley at Luray. From this I sent a party of 400 picked men to destroy the bridge over the Rapidan. The balance of the division passed down to Millwood, cleaning out the valley entire from Swift Gap to Millwood. They were driving before them 3,000 head of stock. I directed the occupation of Chester Gap and Front Royal, and will send additional force around via Strasburg. Under the present condition of affairs here I do not deem the occupation of Thornton's Gap as important, and it would very much weaken my force. I would not have advised the opening of the road to Front Royal. For further particulars, I refer you to my telegram of this date to Gen. Grant. I have been unable to communicate more frequently on account of the operations of guerrillas in my rear. They have attacked every party, and I have sent my dispatches with a view of economizing as much as possible. Rebel papers speak of a battle at New Hope; it is untruthful. I made a demonstration on Brown's Gap on that day with a small party of cavalry, in order to cover Torbert's movements on Staunton and Waynesborough, and drew out Kershaw's division and some other troops, and occupied their attention, without the loss of anybody killed or wounded, and I think that the rebel loss was about the same. The report of one of my brigades of cavalry being ambuscaded in Luray Valley is also incorrect and untrue.
P. H. SHERIDAN,
Maj.-Gen.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 43, Serial No. 91, Pages 309, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
