ses in the Blue Ridge, runs across
the valley, at that point but four miles wide, and pours its waters into
the Shenandoah near Strasburg. It is very crooked, fordable, but with
steep banks difficult for artillery or wagons, except where a way has
been carved out at the fords. It runs in a southeasterly course, so that
its mouth is four miles or more south of a line drawn due east from the
point where it deserts the foot-hills on the west side of the valley.
The valley, itself, is shut in between the Blue mountains, on one side,
and the Massanutten, a spur of the Great North mountain, on the other.
It is traversed, from north to south, by a turnpike road, a little to
the left of the center, which road crosses Cedar Creek between
Middletown and Strasburg.

On the night of October 18, 1864, the federal army was encamped on the
left bank of Cedar Creek, Crook's Eighth corps on the left flank, east
of the pike and nearly in front of Middletown; Emory's Nineteenth corps
to the right and rear of Crook and west of the pike; then, successively,
each farther to the right and rear, the Sixth corps, temporarily
commanded by General James B. Ricketts; Devin's and Lowell's brigades of
Merritt's (First) cavalry division; the Michigan cavalry brigade; and
last, but not least, Custer with the Third cavalry division. All faced
toward the south, though posted en echelon, so that, though Crook was
some three or four miles south of Middletown, a line drawn due east from
Custer's camp, intersected the pike a little north of that place. For
this reason, Early's flanking movement, being from the left through the
camp of Crook, could not strike the flank of the other corps,
successively, without shifting the line of attack to the north, while
the Sixth corps and the cavalry were able to confront his troops, after
their first partial success, by simply moving to the left, taking the
most direct route to the turnpike. The position which the Michigan
cavalry occupied was somewhat isolated. Although belonging to the First
division, it was posted nearer the camp of the Third.

The brigade consisted of the four Michigan regiments and Captain
Martin's Sixth New York independent horse battery. The First Michigan
was commanded by Major A.W. Duggan, a gallant officer who was wounded at
Gettysburg; the Fifth by Major S.H. Hastings; the Sixth by Major Charles
W. Deane; the Seventh by Lieutenant Colonel George G. Briggs, the latter
officer having only jus