Action at Abraham's Creek | |||||||
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Part of American Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
John Baillie McIntosh | James Conner | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Cavalry brigade | Infantry brigade | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None reported | About 173 prisoners [1] |
The action at Abraham's Creek was an engagement on September 13, 1864 between Union Army and Confederate States Army forces during a Union reconnaissance in force toward Winchester, Virginia. The action occurred during skirmishing, maneuvering and scouting before the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19, 1864 in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. [2] [3] The Union force successfully completed the mission and captured about 173 Confederate prisoners. [4]
The reconnaissance was conducted by the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division of the Cavalry Corps of the Union Army of the Shenandoah under the command of Colonel, later Brigadier General, John Baillie McIntosh in order to determine Confederate strength around the Berryville Pike approaching Winchester. [5] McIntosh's force comprised the 1st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry, 3rd New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry, 2nd Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry, 5th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry, 2nd Ohio Cavalry, 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment and Battery M of the 2nd United States Artillery Regiment. [6]
On September 13, 1864, Union cavalry division commander, Brigadier General James H. Wilson ordered McIntosh to scout the Berryville Pike, also shown as the Berryville–Winchester Road. [1] [7] McIntosh's force moved down the pike and crossed Opequon Creek where his men captured about 30 Confederate prisoners. [1] [8] Moving on to Abraham's Creek, about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Winchester, McIntosh's brigade charged and broke through a line of Confederate infantry from Brigadier General James Conner's brigade and captured the entire 8th South Carolina Infantry Regiment under Colonel J. W. Henagan, which scattered before the charging cavalrymen, and the regiment's flag. [5] [9] Due to the attrition in regiments prior to that date, the 8th South Carolina Infantry comprised 14 officers and 92 men. [10] At the same time, McIntosh's men captured 2 officers and 35 men from six different Virginia mounted regiments which had been consolidated with 8 other regiments in Brigadier General William R. Terry's brigade. [11]
On September 17, 1864, McIntosh's force burned a mill on Abraham's Creek near the Winchester Pike and Jones Mill on Opequon Creek. [5]
McIntosh was wounded and lost a leg at the Third Battle of Winchester, two days later. [12]
William Woods Averell was a career United States Army officer and a cavalry general in the American Civil War. He was the only Union general to achieve a major victory against the Confederates in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 prior to the arrival of Philip Sheridan, at the Battle of Rutherford's (Carter's) Farm and at the Battle of Moorefield.
The Army of the Shenandoah was a Union army during the American Civil War. First organized as the Department of the Shenandoah in 1861 and then disbanded in early 1862, it became most effective after its recreation on August 1, 1864, under Philip Sheridan. Its Valley Campaigns of 1864 rendered the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia unable to produce foodstuffs for the Confederate States Army, a condition which would speed the end of the Civil War.
The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, fought October 19, 1864, was the culminating battle of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early launched a surprise attack against the encamped army of Union Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, across Cedar Creek, northeast of Strasburg, Virginia. During the morning fighting, seven Union infantry divisions were forced to fall back and lost numerous prisoners and cannons. Early failed to continue his attack north of Middletown, and Sheridan, dramatically riding to the battlefield from Winchester, was able to rally his troops to hold a new defensive line. A Union counterattack that afternoon routed Early's army.
The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War. As Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell moved down the Shenandoah Valley in the direction of Pennsylvania, his corps defeated the Union Army garrison commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy, capturing Winchester and numerous Union prisoners.
The Third Battle of Winchester, also known as the Battle of Opequon or Battle of Opequon Creek, was an American Civil War battle fought near Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864. Union Army Major General Philip Sheridan defeated Confederate Army Lieutenant General Jubal Early in one of the largest, bloodiest, and most important battles in the Shenandoah Valley. Among the 5,000 Union casualties were one general killed and three wounded. The casualty rate for the Confederates was high: about 4,000 of 15,500. Two Confederate generals were killed and four were wounded. Participants in the battle included two future presidents of the United States, two future governors of Virginia, a former vice president of the United States, and a colonel whose grandson became a famous general in World War II.
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The 9th West Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The city of Winchester, Virginia, and the surrounding area, were the site of numerous battles during the American Civil War, as contending armies strove to control the lower Shenandoah Valley. Winchester changed hands more often than any other Confederate city.
Wadesville is an unincorporated community in Clarke County in the U.S. state of Virginia. Wadesville is located along Opequon Creek at Locke's Ford.
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The 1st Connecticut Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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Friend Smith Rutherford was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He commanded the 97th Illinois Infantry Regiment during the Vicksburg campaign. On June 18, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Rutherford for appointment to the grade of brigadier general of volunteers and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on June 28, 1864. Rutherford's appointment was dated June 27, 1864 and it was to rank from June 28, 1864. His appointment was made and commission issued without knowledge of his death on June 20, 1864. Since Rutherford had died, the confirmation technically could not be given and the commission could not become effective. Nonetheless, several sources list Rutherford as a Union Army general, although historian Ezra Warner does not.
The Battle of Camp Davies was a skirmish during the American Civil War on November 22, 1863, near a Union Army camp about six miles south of Corinth, Mississippi. A 70-man detachment of the 1st Regiment Alabama Cavalry (Union), commanded by Major Francis L. Cramer, drove off a 150-man Confederate force of the 16th Battalion, Mississippi Cavalry State Troops, commanded by Major Thomas W. Ham, and killed at least 4 Confederate soldiers, while suffering two severely wounded troopers. This action is the only engagement recorded as occurring at or near Camp Davies in major sources on American Civil War battles. Other similar engagements in the vicinity of Corinth in 1863 may have occurred near Camp Davies.
The 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was present for 50 battles, beginning with the Battle of Hanover in Pennsylvania on June 30, 1863, and ending with a skirmish at Rude's Hill in Virginia during March 1865. A majority of its fighting was in Virginia, although its first major battle was in Pennsylvania's Gettysburg campaign. It was consolidated with the 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment on June 24, 1865, to form the 3rd Provisional Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment.
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