1890 Kurz and Allison View of the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia

This is an 1890 Kurz and Allison view of the Battle of Cedar Creek, also known as the Battle of Belle Grove, fought during the 1864 Valley Campaigns of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). Fought on October 19, 1864, the Battle of Cedar Creek ended the 1864 Valley Campaigns and secured Union control of the vital Shenandoah Valley for the remainder of the war. Kurz and Allison focus on the most legendary part of the battle, when Union Major General Philip Sheridan (equestrian at center) dramatically rode into retreating the Union lines to rally his fleeing army. Sheridan gained everlasting fame for his heroics. His army responded to his entreaties, halted the Confederate attack, and routed the Confederate army with a devastating counterattack.

The Importance of the Shenandoah Valley and the Battle of Cedar Creek

The Battle of Cedar Creek ended Confederate operations in the strategically important Shenandoah Valley and secured Washington, D.C. During the first four years of the war, the Confederate army used the Shenandoah Valley as a vital source of food for the Army of Northern Virginia. Protected by the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east and the Allegheny Mountains on the west, the Shenandoah Valley provided a 'protected corridor' through which Confederate troops could travel north into Pennsylvania, as General Lee did during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. It also allowed Confederate armies to launch flanking attacks on Union armies invading Virginia. At the Battle of Cedar Creek, Union Major General Sheridan ended Confederate dominance in the Shenandoah Valley. This removed a vital supply source for General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (then under siege at Petersburg) and meant that Washington, D.C. and the Union could never again be threatened by a Confederate army.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn and published by Louis Kurz and Alexander Allison in 1890. An example is cataloged in OCLC and is part of the institutional collection at the National Defense University. A second example is part of the collection at the Library of Congress.