CHAPTER EIGHT
OCTOBER 5-9, 1864
On October 5, the Federals began their march down the Valley, with infantry and supply wagons marching down the Valley Pike. Wesley Merritt’s division marched along the turnpike, too, as well as along a parallel thoroughfare known as the Middle Road. James Wilson’s division, now under the command of Brig. Gen. George A. Custer, marched along the Back Road.
Custer had ascended to command on September 30 when Wilson was transferred back to the Western Theatre to take command of the Cavalry Corps of the Military Division of the Mississippi. In the closing days of the war, Wilson would distinguish himself leading a massive cavalry raid into the Deep South. Wilson’s new assignment may have been the result of standing in high favor with Grant: Wilson had served on Grant’s staff throughout 1863 and into early 1864. Custer’s resulting elevation was the product of his own tenacious fighting. The young brigadier had distinguished himself during the Gettysburg and Overland campaigns.
After hearing of the defeats at Third Winchester and Fisher’s Hill, Gen. Robert E. Lee decided to send reinforcements to Early. Serving in the Valley during the early stages of the campaign, Maj. Gen. Joseph Kershaw’s infantry division and Maj. Wilfred Cutshaw’s artillery battalion, consisting of 12 guns, began their return trip on September 23. Kershaw could count around 2,500 muskets to add to Early’s strength.
In addition to these forces, Lee also dispatched the 600-man “Laurel Brigade.” Known for wearing badges made of laurel leaves, the unit consisted of three regiments and a battalion of Virginia cavalry. Its commander was a veteran cavalier, Brig. Gen. Thomas Rosser. Shortly after his arrival, Rosser would be given the nickname “Savior of the Valley”—a play to the trust and bravado that Rosser bestowed upon himself and the Laurel Brigade. There is some ambiguity as to who christened him with the term and whether it was made seriously or in jest. Rosser would not be in command of the unit long, though. He would take over Brig. Gen. Williams C. Wickham’s division when Wickham left to take a seat in the Confederate Congress. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dulany would then be promoted to command Rosser’s cavalry.
THE BATTLE OF TOM’S BROOK—Munford was in command on Spiker’s Hill early in the engagement. Two of the three regiments in Custer’s attack belonged to Wells’ brigade. Payne attacked across the hill late in the battle but was caught in the flank attack.
Early’s other cavalry division, headed by Lunsford Lomax, could only count some 800 men to fill its ranks.
As the days grew darker at Richmond and Petersburg, Lee’s commitment of these additional troops underscored his intentions. After the fall of Atlanta and with the presidential election looming, salvaging the hopes of an independent Confederacy rested in the Shenandoah Valley.
With a renewed purpose, Early set off in pursuit of Sheridan.
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As the Yankees marched north, the cavalry continued the destruction begun around Harrisonburg. “As we marched along,” Sheridan wrote, “the many columns of smoke from burning stacks and mills filled with grain indicated that the … country was … losing its features which … had made it a great magazine of stores for the Confederate armies.”
Rosser’s division followed Custer along the Back Road while Lomax rode after Merritt. The damage wrought by the Federals infuriated the Confederate cavalry. Many of the troopers, including Rosser’s old Laurel Brigade, hailed from the Valley. As a result, the fighting with the Federals intensified. James Taylor, an illustrator for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, recalled the action on Custer’s front. “The rear guard followed at a slow walk,” he wrote. “When the enemy pressed too close, the men would halt and face about, a brisk fusillade would last a few moments, when the graycoats would be off … the rear guard would halt at the edge of the next hill or belt of woods to repeat the operation.”
By the evening of October 8, Custer had reached a point just north of Mount Olive Church. Rosser’s men were just a few miles south, atop an eminence known as Spiker’s Hill. Below Spiker’s Hill ran a stream called Tom’s Brook. The name also lent itself to a hamlet nearby. Merritt’s division went into camp at the base of another elevation known as Round Hill. Lomax occupied high ground south of another stream called Jordan Run.
That night, Sheridan called his cavalry chief, Alfred Torbert, to his headquarters. Livid with the audacity of the Confederates and their harassment of his cavalry, Sheridan ordered Torbert to set out the next morning and give battle to the enemy.
Looking toward Sheridan’s headquarters from Lomax’s position (DD/PG)
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Dawn came with a hint of snow in the air. At 6:30 a.m., Wesley Merritt began his march toward Lomax’s position. Leading Merritt’s division was Col. Charles R. Lowell’s brigade. Lowell was to move forward and meet the Confederates along the Valley Pike, while Col. Thomas Devin’s brigade flanked the Confederate line west of the road.
Lomax had two brigades drawn up in battle formation, Col. Bradley Johnson’s to the left of the Pike and Lt. Col. William Thompson’s to the right. When Lowell’s men came in sight, Lomax ordered Thompson forward. In reality, there was little Lomax could do. In fact, the men under Lomax would be termed by a Confederate officer from the inspector general’s office as “very poorly armed” and “cannot be properly termed Cavalry.”
Lowell and his New Englanders successfully parried Thompson’s blows and drove the Rebels back. Lowell then prepared for a counterattack. With Devin’s troopers advancing on his flank and Lowell moving on his front, Lomax was forced to abandon his position. Lomax was able to hold off Merritt’s men until they reached the countryside south of the town of Woodstock. There, facing overwhelming numbers, the Confederate withdrawal escalated into a rout. Terror gripped the Rebels, and Merritt’s division chased them down the pike.
Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt’s troopers fought Confederate cavalry along the Valley Turnpike during the battle of Tom’s Brook. (LOC)
Meanwhile, Merritt’s last brigade, under Col. James Kidd, was maneuvering through the countryside between the turnpike and the Back Road. Just several days earlier, these men had been commanded by George Custer. Their former brigadier was having a tough go of it that morning, and the brigade was on its way to his assistance.
Custer’s division had marched out of camp early that morning heading toward Mount Olive. There, his leading brigade under Col. Alexander Pennington ran into Rosser’s pickets. Pennington’s men quickly gained the upper hand and pushed the Rebels to their main line. With Custer’s men coming into view from Spiker’s Hill, word went back to Rosser’s headquarters about the advance. Arriving on the field, Rosser joined the brigade of Thomas Munford, who was already in position along the hill where the Back Road crossed the stream. Rosser deployed William Payne’s brigade on Munford’s right with the Laurel Brigade on Payne’s right.
As Custer and his staff crested a ridge, they came in view of the Rebel lines. Scanning Spiker’s Hill, Custer recognized his old West Point chum Rosser. Riding ahead of his staff, Custer removed his hat and bowed to his friend. Rosser returned the pleasantry. Custer then called out, “Let us have a fair fight and no malice.” Both sides erupted in cheers.
Rosser held a strong position atop Spiker’s Hill. Rather than commit to an all-out assault, Custer decided to probe the position with Pennington’s men. He would keep his other brigade, under Col. William Wells, in reserve. Pennington’s troopers charged down the hill and across the stream. The Yankees ran into stiff resistance from the Laurel Brigade and were driven back across Tom’s Brook. Near the road crossing, another thrust was driven back by Munford’s brigade. With his initial assaults stymied, Custer was forced to cast about for other options if he hoped to win the day.
Col. Thomas Devin had earned a reputation as “a hard hitter” during his service under the late Brig. Gen. John Buford earlier in the war. (LOC)
Custer saluted his old chum Rosser with a sweep of his hat, then called for “a fair fight and no malice.” (LOC)
The alternative appeared in the form of Kidd’s brigade. With a firm grip on Rosser’s line at Spiker’s Hill, Custer decided to use his old command to assail the Confederate right. As Kidd’s men moved forward, Custer decided to send three regiments to attack from the west. The assault could not have been coordinated better. Custer linked up with Kidd and quickly began to drive in the Confederate position. The three regiments surprised the Rebels and caved in Rosser’s flank. The Confederates tried to stem the tide, but it was no use. As one soldier recounted, “Every soldier knows that it only requires a shout in the rear to keep a stampeded force on the run, and it was so now.” As the participant noted, Rosser’s line disintegrated.
Years later, Munford would remark that the engagement at Tom’s Brook “became more a contest of speed than valor.” As the Confederates fled the field, attempts were made to rally them. However, the retreat would become a race to reach the safety of the Confederate infantry. All told, the Union cavalry would chase the Rebels more than 20 miles—all the way to Columbia Furnace—scooping up prisoners as well as wagons and artillery along the way. Merritt did not let up until he reached Jubal Early’s infantry at Rude’s Hill. Forever after, Tom’s Brook would be known amongst the Union cavalry as “Woodstock Races.”
Brig. Gen. Thomas Rosser’s troopers harassed Custer’s men as they withdrew from Harrisonburg. (MOC)
Rosser attacked Custer along the Back Road. (LOC)
Old Jube always had misgivings about his cavalry. From the beginning of the campaign, he had viewed his cavalry with suspicion and often used the infantry to undertake reconnaissances, such as the one that almost doomed the army prior to Third Winchester. His view of his cavalry’s effectiveness waned even further after their poor showing at Fisher’s Hill, even though they were put at a disadvantage on the extreme left of the Confederate army. The bravado that Rosser showed when he assumed command rankled Early, who later complained of Rosser’s “ridiculous vaporing.” When Rosser went further, suggesting that the Laurel Brigade would “show the rest of [Early’s] command how to fight,” it completely turned Early sour toward the younger Virginian. The affair at Tom’s Brook only added to Early’s disgust.
He still held faith in his infantry, though. Despite the fact that his ranks were depleted, Early, always the fighter, felt there was still an opportunity to tip the scales in his favor. The time and place to give battle would have to be near perfect to neutralize the numerical superiority of the enemy. In choosing the location to fight, Early would attempt to invoke the memory of Stonewall Jackson. Like a boxer staggering from a few body blows, he would sum up the strength for one last counterpunch. With thoughts of an offensive on his mind, the Confederates resumed their hunt for Sheridan.
