The Battle of Tom's Brook was fought on October 9, 1864, near Tom's Brook in

Shenandoah County, Virginia Shenandoah County (formerly Dunmore County) is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 44,186. Its county seat is Woodstock. It is part of the Shenandoah Valley region of Virgi ...

, during Philip Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. It resulted in a significant Union victory, one that was mockingly dubbed the Woodstock Races for the speed of the Confederate withdrawal. After his victory at Fisher's Hill, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan pursued

Jubal A. Early Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was an American lawyer, politician and military officer who served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, ...

's Confederate army up the Shenandoah Valley to near Staunton. On October 6, Sheridan began withdrawing, as his

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

burned everything that could be deemed of military significance, including barns and mills. Reinforced by Maj. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw's division, Early followed. Maj. Gen.

Thomas L. Rosser Thomas Lafayette "Tex" Rosser (October 15, 1836 – March 29, 1910) was a Confederate major general during the American Civil War, and later a railroad construction engineer and in 1898 a brigadier general of volunteers in the United States A ...

arrived from Petersburg to take command of Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's Confederate cavalry division and harassed the retreating Federals. On October 9, Brig. Gen. Alfred Torbert's Union troopers turned on their pursuers, routing the divisions of Rosser, whose cavalrymen were repulsed by Custer in a flanking maneuver along the base of Spiker's Hill off of Back Road, and Lunsford L. Lomax, who was positioned in the vicinity of the Valley Pike, at Tom's Brook. With this victory, the Union cavalry attained overwhelming superiority in the Valley. Jubal Early later commented sourly about Rosser's Laurel Brigade, "The laurel is a running vine".

Battlefield preservation

The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved of the Tom's Brook battlefield.
American Battlefield Trust "Saved Land" webpage. Accessed May 29, 2018.

References

CWSAC Report Update

Battlefield preservation

See also

References

Further reading