Jonathan A. Noyalas

The Battle of Cedar Creek (Va): Victory from the Jaws of Defeat (Civil War Sesquicentennial) (Civil War Sesquicentennial Series) Jonathan A. Noyalas

Nestled between the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia's Shenandoah Valley enjoyed tremendous prosperity before the Civil War. This valuable stretch of land- called 'the Breadbasket of the Confederacy' due to its rich soil and ample harvests became the source of many conflicts between the Confederate and Union armies. Of the thirteen major battles fought here, none was more influential than the Battle of Cedar Creek. On October 19, 1864, General Philip Sheridan's Union troops finally gained control of the valley, which eliminated the Shenandoah as a supply source for Confederate forces in Virginia, ended the valley's role as a diversionary theater of war and stopped its use as an avenue of invasion into the North. Civil War historian Jonathan A. Noyalas explains the battle and how it aided Abraham Lincoln's reelection campaign and defined Sheridan's enduring legacy.

Other books in the Civil War Sesquicentennial Series include:The Battle of Antietam ? The Battle of Franklin ? The Chancellorsville Campaign ? The Battle of South Mountain ? Stonewall Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign ? Charleston Under Siege ? Andersonville Civil War Prison ? The Civil War at Perryville ? The Battle of Okolona ? Fort Davidson and the Battle of Pilot Knobb ? The Two Civil War Battles of Newtonia ? The Battle of Port Royal ? The Confederacy's Secret Weapon ? Lee in the Lowcountry ? Defending South Carolina's Coast ? Facing Sherman in South Carolina ? The Battle of Brandy Station ? The Battle of Fredericksburg ? The Battle of Piedmont ? The Battle of New Market Heights ? Big Bethel ? The Battle of Mine Creek ? West Virginia in the Civil War ? Civil War Atlanta ? The Battle of Westport ? The Union is Dissolved ? The Battle of Fort Donelson