Cedar Creek

Gentlemen of the Corps;

I look forward to serving with you during the upcoming Cedar Creek campaign. As I and the Staff have been working on the battle scenarios with our Federal counterparts, one thing has become clear to me. As I have researched the accounts of the Cedar Creek campaign and the Fisher's Hill battle, our ancestors suffered some of the hardest defeats of the war.

Confederate forces under General Early retreated from Winchester following the Third Battle of Winchester. In September of 1864, Early's boys were swept off of Fisher's Hill. Then came the brief revenge of Cedar Creek!

Throughout my experiences in re-enacting, I have often read accounts of the battle we were about to re-enact. This has always put me in the frame of mind of our ancestors - what they must have felt at the time of the battle, their morale, etc. This has helped to allow me to "see the elephant" on more than one occasion. I would encourage you to place yourselves in 1864 for this event and I trust that you will come away with a more rewarding experience.

As you make plans to attend Cedar Creek, our Cavalry brothers have cordially invited all officers of all branches, all senior NCOs, and their spouses to a "pig roast" in the Cavalry camps on Saturday evening. To help defray the cost, they have requested a donation of $5. This will be an excellent opportunity to get to know our Cavalry brothers a little better.

I look forward to seeing you all at Cedar Creek and trust that you have safe travels to and from the event. Until then I remain,


Your Most Humble Servant,
Maj. Gen'l. D. H. Cornett
Longstreet's Corps