d were defeated, with the loss of trains and
artillery. The Sixth Corps was sent to their relief, but arrived
at the Station after the affair was over and the enemy had withdrawn.( 4)

I shall not undertake to give the important movements and operations
( 5) of the troops under Grant in front of Petersburg and Richmond,
during the remainder fo the summer and the fall of 1864, as the
troops in which I was immediately interested were, early in July,
transferred to Maryland and Washington. A summary of the occurrences
in the Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia is, however, necessary
to enable the reader the better to understand important events soon
to be narrated.

General Franz Sigel, in command of the Department of West Virginia,
moved up the Valley, and was defeated at New Market on the 15th of
May. He retired to the north bank of Cedar Creek. His loss was
about 1000 killed, wounded, and captured, and seven pieces of
artillery. General George Crook, proceeding _via_ Fayetteville,
Raleigh, and Princeton, fought the battle of Cloyd's Mountain on
the 9th of May and gained a brilliant victory. He did much damage
to the enemy, and returned to Meadow Bluff, on the Kanawha. General
David Hunter relieved Sigel in command of the department on the
21st, and joined the troops at Cedar Creek in the Valley, on the
26th. Sigel was assigned to command a Reserve Division along the
line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Hunter and Crook, from their respective positions, moved towards
Staunton on the 30th. Hunter met the enemy under General W. E.
Jones at Piedmont, on June 5th, and after a severe engagement
defeated him, killing Jones and capturing about 1500 prisoners.
Hunter reached Staunton on the 6th, and was joined by Crook on the
8th. They here destroyed railroads, Confederate supplies, mills,
and factories, and, together, advanced towards Lexington on the
10th. They were now opposed by McCausland, whose command was
chiefly cavalry. Lexington was taken on the 11th, after some
fighting, and with it large quantities of military supplies. A
portion of the James River Canal and a number of extensive iron-
works were destroyed. Hunter burned the Virginia Military Institute
and all buildings connected therewith on the 12th. He also burned
the residence of ex-Governor John Letcher. Doubts have been
entertained as to whether the burning of the Institute or Letcher's
home could be justified under the rules of modern