Stop 2 - Thoburn's Redoubt

Stop 2 – Thoburn’s Redout

We are now at stop #2 of the auto tour. It is called Thoburn’s Redoubt. And the best place to watch this video on the other side of the gate from which you should have parked, so just go around the gate and you should stand right next to the interpretive panel you see here. The position that we are standing at Thoburn’s redoubt was held by Col. Joseph Thoburn’s division of the 8th Corps, about 1,700 men and their far left would have been just off to your east or your left, less than a half mile in that direction. The rest of the Union army would have been positioned upstream along Cedar Creek behind you and to your right so that northwest of here. You are basically facing south and southeast. On a normal day what you would clearly see looming off to the south/southeast in this direction would be the very northern end of the Massanutten Mountain range, sometimes called Three Top Mountain, including the largest peak called Signal Knob. And we will talk about that in just a minute and its importance and its role in the Battle of Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek itself, would start off behind you and to your right rear, northwest of you, flowing downstream, to your right, and eventually off to your right front, and then finally in front of you and the lowest ground in front of you. And then eventually it is going to flow into the North Fork of the Shenandoah which runs along the base of the Massanutten Mountain range. The Cedar Creek would have been held by pickets and skirmishers of the 8th Corps. Remember again, the Army of the Shenandoah, Sheridan’s army numbers about 32,000 men. The 8th Corps along with the 19th Corps off to its right rear, holding the center would have been entrenched, so this is a very strong position on the bluffs above both Cedar Creek and the north fork of the Shenandoah River. 32,000 men, a very strong position. So that means that General Jubal Early, commanding the Confederate Army of the Valley has a very difficult task. He only numbers, even with reinforcements sent by General Lee in Richmond, only 14,000 at the most 15,000 men and here Lee is telling him he must attack the Union army here at Cedar Creek. That means Early is outnumbered 2 ½ to 1. To attack this very strong position, is almost asking the impossible. So to try to figure out some kind of plan, a way to somehow attack this nearly impregnable position, what Early will do will send his second in command, General John Gordon and some other officers to the up to the very top of Signal Knob on October 17th. Now Signal Knob being that highest peak of the Massanutten Mountain, Signal Knob got its name during the Civil War. On a clear day, if you could see that mountain peak you would see that it has a modern radio tower on it. Well during the Civil War it got its name from the fact that both sides used it as a signal station to send messages. On that very clear day of October 17th, Gordon got up there with the other officers and they could look right down on the Union army and they could see everything – they could see every road, every path, they could see every entrenchment, every cannon, every flag. They had to use that to their advantage to scout the Union army and try to come up with a plan. And they also something they had not seen before. A way to try to attack the Union army by surprise from an unexpected direction. So they came down off the mountain, and Gordon told Early his plan. Maybe there was a way to attack the left end of the Union army. Which is something no one thought the Confederates could do. How could you march part of the Confederate army opposite of the Union left? There is no way you can do that and have it be a surprise because the mountain range there, along with the North Fork of the Shenandoah and Cedar Creek, meant there was no way the Confederates could march through that very tight spot without being seen. Gordon thought there was a way and he thought he saw it from the top of Signal Knob where they could get in there using a night march without being seen and that is the plan he present to Early. But this plan is going to be very difficult. It involves dividing the Confederate army into three columns, it is going to involve a night march that means that the men all have to coordinate these three columns and arrive at their attack points on time, which is very difficult to do during the Civil War. How do these three columns communicate? Plus the largest column the one that is going to march along the base of the Massanutten Mountain and make two night crossings of the Shenandoah, have to march along the very narrow path, single file, we are talking thousands of men, not quite 8,000 men along a single file path. Very difficult to do. How are they going to stay on time and not be seen? But Early is willing to try it. So it is really one of the riskiest attack plans ever developed during the Civil War. They start this night march on the night of October 18th from Fisher’s Hill. The old Fisher’s Hill battlefield. Almost an 8 mile march. The other two columns also set off, by some miracle they stay on time. All three columns being undetected arrive at their attack points on time. Gordon’s column, he commands the largest column actually arrives beyond the 8th Corps left without being detected around 4:30. What helps them stay undetected was a dense fog that blanketed the area before dawn. Even denser than the fog we saw earlier in this video. And they launched their attack around 5:00. Completely catching the 8th Corps and Thoburn's men literally sleeping. They roll out of the dense fog overrun the pickets, and the main line is surprised. They roll into the entrenchments, many of the men are in still in their tents sleeping. Many are shot and bayoneted before they can even react. The few men that are up barely get off a shot. Most of the artillery is captured and the 8th Corps and Thoburn's men are just literally routed. One Confederate who was part of this attack later vividly described, rolling over Thoburns men. And this is how he remembered it, “Such a sight as met our eyes as we mounted their earthworks was not often seen. For a mile or more in the rear and in every direction, towards the rear was a vast plain or broken plateau without a tree or shrub in sight. Tents whitened the field from one end to the other. While the country behind was one living sea of men and horses all fleeing for life and safety. Men shoeless, and hatless went flying like mad to the rear. Some with or without their guns. Such confusion, such panic was never witnessed before by the troops.” So with the 8th corps now shattered and routed, that meant the Confederate columns had all come back together and united they now rolled right up the Union line from one corps to the next like a domino effect. So the next corps in line would be the 19th Corps and they are the next ones struck. The tour as you continue to follow it will then follow this attack chronologically right up the line. Stop 3 will be the 19th Corps. But first what you are going to do is go downhill, and eventually make a big loop and drive along Cedar Creek and the North Fork of the Shenandoah and see some of the areas where the Confederates actually crossed those two water sources. Eventually driving up along Long Meadow Road and follow the Confederate attack or approach march, excuse me, as they got into their attack positions. Stop #3 however, our next stop, will actually be the 19th Corps, the next corps in line to be attacked by the Confederates.