"Such
a
scene
as
his
presence
produced
and
such
emotions
as
it
awoke
cannot
be
realized
once
in
a
century.
All outward
manifestations
were
as
enthusiastic
as
men
are
capable
of
exhibiting;
cheers
seemed
to
come
from
throats
of brass,
and
caps
were
thrown
to
the
tops
of
the
scattering oaks;
but
beneath
and
yet
superior
to
these
noisy
demonstrations
there
was
in
every
heart
a
revulsion
of
feeling,
and
a pressure
of
emotion,
beyond
description.
No
more
doubt
or chance
for
doubt
existed;
we
were
safe,
perfectly
and
unconditionally
safe,
and
every
man
knew
it."
All
along
the
line
went
Sheridan,
waving
his
hat,
telling the
troops:
"Boys,
well
get
the
tightest
twist
on
them
they ever
saw.
Well
get
all
those
camps
back."
To
a
colonel
who rode
up
and
said
they
were
glad
to
see
him,
Sheridan
replied:
"Well,
by
God,
I'm
glad
to
be
here!"
And
to
another
officer,
still
pessimistic
from
the
morning's
licking,
who
said that
Early
intended
to
drive
them
clear
out
of
the
Shenandoah
Valley,
Sheridan
barked
in
fury:
"What?
Three
corps of
infantry
and
all
of
my
cavalry;
Jubal
Early
drive
me
out of
the
valley?
I'll
lick
him
like
blazes
before
night!
I'll
give him
the
worst
licking
he
ever
had!"
23
And
that
was
the
way
of
it,
in
the
end.
After
Sheridan passed
by
the
men
in
line
retied
their
shoes,
tucked
pants legs
inside
their
socks,
tightened
their
belts,
unfastened
cartridge-box
lids,
slid
ramrods
down
rifle
barrels
to
make
sure the
weapons
were
loaded,
and
jerked
their
forage
caps
down lower
on
their
foreheads.
From
the
rear
the
returning
stragglers
came
up
in
droves,
wandering
along
the
lines,
finding their
proper
regiments
and
taking
their
places—to
the
tune of
jibes
from
their
comrades.
Sheridan
went
to
General Wright,
who
was
lying
on
the
ground,
his
throat
and
chin all
swollen,
blood
on
his
coat.
It
was
hard
for
him
to
talk,
but he
got
up
when
Sheridan
came,
made
his
report,
and
prepared
to
go
into
action.
Sheridan
took
plenty
of
time,
waiting for
his
stragglers
to
come
up,
and
it
was
nearly
four
in
the afternoon
when
his
battle
line
finally
went
forward.
24
When
it
hit,
it
hit
hard.
Confederate
ranks
were
thinned by
the
absence
of
men
who
persisted
in
foraging
among
what the
Yankees
had
left,
and
if
all
of
the
absentees
had
been
in line
Sheridan
still
would
have
had
more
men
than
Early
had. Anyway,
this
Federal
army
knew
it
was
going
to
win,
at
last, and
it
rolled
up
to
the
Rebel
lines
with
irresistible
might.
One
of
Emory's
men
reported
that
the
Confederates
were retreating
presently
"in
precisely
the
same
kind
of
disorder we
had
exhibited
that
morning,"
and
he
wrote
that
they
pursued
eagerly
because
"the
sight
of
so
many
rebel
heels
made it
an
easy
thing
to
be
brave."
On
a
ridge,
by
and
by,
the Confederates
made
a
stand,
and
with
their
heels
no
longer visible
the
joys
of
pursuit
were
not
quite
so
overpowering; but
Sheridan
had
a
great
mass
of
cavalry
swinging
in
on
the flank
like
a
scythe,
and
it
sheared
in
behind
the
Rebel
infantry
and
the
whole
line
gave
way,
and
a
disordered
rout went
southward
as
dusk
came
down.
Cheering
madly,
the
Federal
infantry
pressed
on,
determined
not
to
stop
until
they
had
at
least
got
past
their
old camping
grounds.
At
times
it
seemed
as
if
the
front
were all
flags,
since
the
color
sergeants
were
not
loaded
down
with weapons
and
accouterments
and
so
could
run
faster
than the
others.
The
infantry
pressed
on
so
hard
that
George
Custer
once
turned
to
his
mounted
men,
pointing,
and
cried: "Are
you
going
to
let
infantry
get
ahead
of
you?"
25
It
was
the
cavalry
that
made
the
victory
complete.
It cannoned
into
the
Confederate
wagon
and
artillery
train, smashed
a
bridge
near
the
town
of
Strasburg,
and
went
buck
eting
up
and
down
and
back
and
forth
through
the
whole confused
retreat.
All
of
the
Federal
guns
and
wagons
that had
been
lost
that
morning
were
retaken,
together
with twenty-five
Confederate
guns
and
any
number
of
wagons, and
Early's
army
was
ruined.
At
times
the
cavalry
was
going
too
fast
to
take
prisoners. Rebels
who
surrendered
would
be
told,
"You
stay
here!" while
the
captors
rode
off
to
get
more—after
which
most
of the
prisoners
would
disappear
in
the
dark
and
try
to
rejoin their
comrades.
A
South
Carolina
officer
who
got
away
recalled
that
he
had
surrendered
five
times
during
the
retreat. The
5th
New
York
boasted
that
one
of
its
troopers,
a
tough Montenegrin
named
Heiduc,
had
personally
sabered
the
two teamsters
of
a
Confederate
baggage
wagon
and
had
himself brought
the
vehicle
back
to
camp.