Third Battle of Winchester order of battle: Union

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The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Third Battle of Winchester in the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately. The battle was fought on September 19, 1864 near Winchester, Virginia, and Opequon Creek. The battle is also known as the Battle of Opequon or the Battle of Opequon Creek.

Abbreviations used[edit]

Military rank[edit]

Other[edit]


Army of the Shenandoah[edit]

MG Philip Sheridan, Commanding[Note 1]

Staff: Maj George Alexander Forsyth[4]

VI Corps[edit]

MG Horatio Wright

Division Brigade Regiments and Others

First Division


  BG David Allen Russell (k)[5]
  BG Emory Upton (w)[5]
  Col Oliver Edwards

1st Brigade

Ltc Edward L. Campbell[Note 2]

2nd Brigade


   BG Emory Upton
   Col Joseph Hamblin[7]

3rd Brigade


   Col Oliver Edwards
   Col Isaac C. Bassett[Note 4]

Second Division


     BG George W. Getty

1st Brigade


   BG Frank Wheaton

2nd Brigade (a.k.a. First Vermont Brigade)[11]


   Col James M. Warner[Note 5]
   Ltc Amasa S. Tracy
     (supervised part of line)

3rd Brigade


   BG Daniel D. Bidwell

Third Division


     BG James Ricketts

1st Brigade


   Col William Emerson

2nd Brigade


   Col J. Warren Keifer

Artillery Artillery Brigade


   Col Charles H. Tompkins

Army of West Virginia[edit]

BG George Crook

Division Brigade Regiments and Others

First Division


     Col Joseph Thoburn

1st Brigade


   Col George D. Wells

3rd Brigade


   Col Thomas M. Harris

Second Division (Kanawha Division)


     Col Isaac H. Duval (w)
     Col Rutherford B. Hayes

1st Brigade


   Col Rutherford B. Hayes
   Col Hiram F. Devol

2nd Brigade


   Col Daniel D. Johnson (w)
   Ltc Benjamin F. Coates

Artillery Artillery Brigade


   Cpt Henry A. du Pont

Note: Thoburn's 2nd Brigade was detached to guard wagons and field hospitals.[18]

XIX Corps[edit]

BG William H. Emory

Division Brigade Regiments and Others

First Division


     BG William Dwight

1st Brigade


   Col George L. Beal

2nd Brigade


   BG James W. McMillan

Division Artillery

Second Division


     BG Cuvier Grover

1st Brigade


   BG Henry W. Birge

2nd Brigade


   Col Edward L. Molineux

3rd Brigade


   Col Jacob Sharpe (w)[21]
   Ltc Alfred Neafie

4th Brigade


   Col David Shunk

Division Artillery
Artillery Reserve


   Cpt Elijah D. Taft

Cavalry Corps[edit]

BG Alfred T. A. Torbert

Division Brigade Regiments and Others

First Division


     BG Wesley Merritt

1st Brigade


   BG George Armstrong Custer

2nd Brigade


   BG Thomas C. Devin

Reserve Brigade


   Col Charles Russell Lowell

Second Division


     BG William W. Averell

1st Brigade


   Col James M. Schoonmaker

2nd Brigade


   Col William H. Powell[Note 9]

Division Artillery
  • 5th U.S. Artillery, Battery L: Lt Gulian V. Weir

Third Division


     BG James H. Wilson

1st Brigade


   BG John B. McIntosh (w)[26]

  Ltc George A. Purington

2nd Brigade


  BG George H. Chapman (w)[26]
  Col William Wells[Note 10]

Horse Artillery Horse Artillery


   Cpt La Rhett L. Livingston

  • 1st United States, Batteries K and L: Lt Franck E. Taylor
  • 2nd United States, Batteries B and L: Cpt Charles H. Pierce
  • 2nd United States, Battery D: Lt Edward B. Williston
  • 3rd United States, Batteries C and F: Lt William C. Cuyler[Note 11]
  • 4th United States, Battery C: Lt Terrence Reilly


Notes[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Source for all information is the Official Records... by Ainsworth and Kirkley of the United States War Department, Volume XLIII, Chapter LV, pp. 107–112.[1] This source has been compared to Appendix 1 in Scott Patchan's The Last Battle of Winchester..., and differences are footnoted.[2] A small number of cases use additional sources, such as the National Park Service, and are footnoted.[3]
  2. ^ Col William Penrose is listed by Pachan but not by the official records. Campbell's September 26 report says he (Campbell) was in command at Opequon.[6]
  3. ^ 95th and 96th Pennsylvania were guarding trains and not engaged in the battle.[8]
  4. ^ Bassett not listed by Patchan. Assumed command when Edwards assumed command of division.[9]
  5. ^ Brigadier General Lewis A. Grant was on a leave of absence.[11]
  6. ^ Both sources list this regiment as the 7th Maine. However, the 1st Regiment, Maine Veteran Infantry was formed on August 21, 1864 from that and other regiments.[12]
  7. ^ Patchan lists this battalion as the 29th New York, but Lt. Col. Holt was in the 49th.[13]
  8. ^ Col McClennan, who had been ill, retired from field due to exhaustion.[16]
  9. ^ Col Henry Capehart (1st West Virginia Cavalry) is listed by the Official Records as commander of Averell's Second Brigade, while Patchan lists Powell. Powell was described as leading the brigade by one soldier, and Powell replaced Averell on September 23.[24][25]
  10. ^ Chapman was disabled for several hours as a bullet hit his sword belt. Colonel William Wells became the active commander of the brigade, although Chapman remained on the field.[22]
  11. ^ Official records say the 3rd and 4th U.S. batteries were not engaged in the battle.[1] However, one historian describes Lieutenant Cuyler and the 3rd U.S. being used by Merritt to assault Fort Collier.[4][22]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, pp. 107–112
  2. ^ Patchan 2013, Appendix 1 of e-book
  3. ^ a b "Third Battle of Winchester". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  4. ^ a b Patchan 2013, Ch. 19 of e-book
  5. ^ a b Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 185
  6. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 168
  7. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 174
  8. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 107
  9. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 188
  10. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 198
  11. ^ a b c Patchan 2013, Ch. 14 of e-book
  12. ^ "Union Maine Volunteers - 1st Regiment, Maine Veteran Infantry". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  13. ^ "Soldier Details - Holt, Erastus D." National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  14. ^ a b c d Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 119
  15. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 222
  16. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 249
  17. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 389
  18. ^ Wert 2010, p. 83
  19. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 292
  20. ^ Patchan 2013, Ch. 16 of e-book
  21. ^ a b Patchan 2013, Ch. 15 of e-book
  22. ^ a b c Patchan 2013, Ch. 20 of e-book
  23. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 445
  24. ^ Sutton 2001, p. 160
  25. ^ Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 505
  26. ^ a b c Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 518

References[edit]