In early Oct. 1864, portions of Union Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s army bivouacked on the hills and rolling farmland just north of Cedar Creek along the Valley Turnpike (present-day U.S. Rte. 11). Just before daybreak on 19 Oct., Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s infantry divisions surprised and attacked the Federals, routing two of Sheridan’s three infantry corps. Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright, commanding in Sheridan’s absence, organized a retreat north. Sheridan arrived on the battlefield from Winchester by midmorning and rode along the front to rally his men. By late afternoon the Federals had counterattacked Early’s left front and crushed the Confederate troops, who fled south.