150 Years Ago This Month: Civil War historian Rick Britton talks about the major event in Virginia in October of 1864–the battle of Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek–fought on October 19, 18 miles south of Winchester–was the last major battle in the Shenandoah Valley. It pitted Confederate Gen. Jubal Early’s force of 18,000 against Union Gen. Phil Sheridan’s army of 30,000. Despite being outnumbered, Early attacked at dawn, catching the Federal soldiers unawares. Early gained ground in the morning–capturing the Federal camps–but was driven from the field in the afternoon when Sheridan dramatically rallied his dispirited troops and counter-attacked. The fall of Atlanta and the victory at Cedar Creek helped Abraham Lincoln win re-election in November of 1864.

FREE Lecture at the Senior Center on October 8 at 6:00 pm: Andrew O’Shaughnessy, the Director of the International Center for Jefferson Studies (at Monticello), will be speaking on “The Turning Point in the Carolinas,” the American victories in North and South Carolina during the American Revolution that caused British General Lord Charles Cornwallis to turn his attention to Virginia. This decision led to Yorktown and British defeat.