At the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, the last in the Shenandoah Valley, General Early's Confederates missed an opportunity for a significant victory by failure to follow up advantage. Regrouped, and with Gen. Philip H. Sheridan arriving back from Washington, Union forces counterattacked in the afternoon and forced the Confederates to withdraw. The poem "Sheridan's Ride" by Thomas Buchanan Read dramatized the general's return to the field.
Carruth, Gorton. "The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates". 10th Ed. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. ©1997.