On Wednesday, September 21, 1864 Union General Philip Sheridan was assigned to permanent command of the Shenandoah Valley. The following day Sheridan attacked Jubal Early’s undermanned Confederates at Fisher’s Hill and Tumbling Run, Virginia. Riding all night, Union General George Crook took one corps to the right and beyond Early’s left flank. Attacking on the afternoon of the 22nd, Crook’s troops took Confederate positions in the rear and on the flank just as Sheridan’s other Union corps attacked at Tumbling Run and at Fisher’s Hill. Early’s forces were driven back four miles before the Union advance was halted. Union casualties totaled 528, while the Confederates took 1235 casualties, including almost 1000 men AWOL and 12 pieces of artillery lost. Confederate control of the Shenandoah Valley had come to an end.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.