rning of the 17th. He held a consultation
with Stanton and Halleck, and with certain members of his staff
left Washington at 12 M. by rail, arriving the evening of the same
day at Martinsburg. Here he was met by an escort of three hundred
cavalry. He left Martinsburg the next morning (18th), and reached
Winchester about 3 P.M., twenty-two miles distant. He tarried at
the latter place over night, making some survey of the surrounding
heights as to their utility for fortifications.

But to return to his army. Torbert reached Cedar Creek with the
cavalry on the 17th. The Longstreet message was a ruse. Longstreet,
though in Richmond, was not on duty, not having fully recovered
from his wound received in the Wilderness.( 2)

The position of the opposing armies the night of the 18th of October
can be briefly stated.

The Union Army was encamped on each side of the turnpike, facing
southward, and north of Cedar Creek, a tributary of the Shenandoah,
which, flowing in general direction from northwest to southeast,
empties into the river about two miles west of Strasburg. The
north branch of the Shenandoah flows northward to Fisher's Hill,
thence bending to the eastward at the foot of and around the north
end of Three Top (or Massanutten) Mountain, thence, forming a
junction with the south branch, past Front Royal to the west and
again northward, emptying into the Potomac at Harper's Ferry.

Crook's two divisions, Colonel Joseph Thoburn and Colonel Rutherford
B. Hayes commanding, were wholly to the east of the pike; Thoburn's
division well advanced, his front conforming to the course of the
creek; the Nineteenth Corps (Emory's), two divisions, lay on each
side of the pike, covering the bridge and ford in its immediate
front, and the Sixth was on Emory's right. Ricketts, Wheaton, and
Getty's divisions of the Sixth were encamped in the order named
from left to right. Meadow Brook (sometimes called Marsh Run), a
small stream, with rugged banks, flowing from north to south and
emptying into Cedar Creek, separated the left of Ricketts' division
from the right of the Nineteenth Corps. The Sixth Corps' front
conformed to the line of Cedar Creek; Getty's division being retired,
and consequently much nearer than the others to Middletown. My
brigade was the left of the Sixth, and its left rested on Meadow
Brook. Merritt's cavalry was in close proximity to Getty's right.
Custer was about one and a half miles to Merritt's r