106

John Lee Powell.

Letter describing Sheridan's dramatic return at the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Shenandoah Valley, VA, 25 October 1864
Autograph Letter Signed to sister Mary Jane Powell of Stepney Depot, CT. 4 pages, 8 x 5 inches, on one folding sheet; mailing folds, minimal wear. With stamped envelope bearing Martinsburg, WV postmark.

John Lee Powell (1836-1876) of Monroe, CT served in the 9th Connecticut Infantry. He begins this letter with a brief recap of the last month of Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign: Third Winchester ("gave the rebs a decent whipping") and Fisher's Hill ("whiped them again and drove them down the valley"). 

The Confederate surprise attack at Cedar Creek in the morning of 19 October looked like a rout. Early "attacked us in camp. We had strong brestworks but they flanked us and drove us out of them. Sheridan had gone to Washington at the time they drove us back five or six miles. The fighting was hard." The momentum shifted with a twist worthy of Hollywood: "At about noon, Sheridan came up and turned the tide of battle. The army cheered him. He about faced his boys and ordered a charge, and drove the rebs to Fisher's Hill . . . then the cavalry took them and gave them a run. . . . They took some of our artillery in the morning. We got that back that night and over 40 of their own. . . . I was wounded slightly in the head, but I am all write."

With--another less momentous letter from Powell to his sister, Opequon Creek, VA, 19 December 1864. 

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