t of his victory at Cedar Creek, nor on account
of "Sheridan's Ride," as described by the poet Read.(28)

My division, at dark, resumed its camp of the night before, as did
other divisions of the army.

When the fifteen hours of carnage had ceased, and the sun had gone
down, spreading the gloom of a chilly October night over the wide
extended field, there remained a scene more horrid than usual.
The dead and dying of the two armies were commingled. Many of the
wounded had dragged themselves to the streams in search of the
first want of a wounded man--_water_. Many mangled and loosed
horses were straggling over the field to add to the confusion.
Wagons, gun-carriages, and caissons were strewn in disorder in the
rear of the last stand of the Confederate Army. Abandoned ambulances,
sometimes filled with dead and dying Confederates, were to be seen
in large numbers, and loose teams dragged overturned vehicles over
the hills and through the ravines. Dead and dying men were found
in the darkness almost everywhere. Cries of agony from the suffering
victims were heard in all directions, and the moans of wounded
animals added much to the horrors of the night.

"_Mercy_ abandons the arena of battle," but when the conflict is
ended _mercy_ again asserts itself. The disabled of both armies
were cared for alike. Far into the night, with some all the long
night, the heroes in the day's strife ministered to friend and foe
alike, where but the night before our army had peacefully slumbered,
little dreaming of the death struggle of the coming day. To an
efficient medical corps, however, belong the chief credit for the
good work done in caring for the unfortunate.

The loss in officers was unusually great. Besides Colonel Thoburn,
killed in the opening of the battle, General D. D. Bidwell fell
early in the day, and Colonel Charles R. Lowell, Jr., was killed
near its close while leading a charge of his cavalry brigade.
Eighty-six Union officers were killed or mortally wounded.

Many distinguished officers were wounded. Of the six officers
belonging to my brigade staff who were turned over to Colonel Ball
in the early morning, one only (Captain J. T. Rorer) remained
uninjured at night. Two were dead.

All was peaceful enough on the 20th, though on every hand the
evidence of the preceding day's struggle was to be seen. The dead
of both armies were buried--the blue and the gray in separate
trenches, to await the resurrect