The fighting 217George Crook, who would later achieve
notable success in the Indian Wars in the
southwestern United States, conceived a bold
plan to unhinge Early's line. Crook proposed
taking his entire corps up onto the slopes of
Little North Mountain, which anchored the
Confederate left, then moving south until he
was in a position to turn the enemy line.
Sheridan cavalierly, and characteristically,
claimed for himself all of the credit for this
battle plan, although his own preliminary
proposal had been to launch an utterly
impractical frontal assault on the opposite
end of the line.
On 22 September, while the rest of
Sheridan's army demonstrated straight ahead
toward Fisher's Hill, Crook put his plan into
action. It worked fabulously well, in part
because Early had again positioned his
unreliable cavalry at the most vulnerable
segment of his position. The Confederates
reeled southward again in total disarray,
losing prisoners and cannon as they went.
Early's defeated fragments did not stop until
they had scampered more than 50 miles
(80km). An onlooker heard a weary
Confederate chanting a home-spun ditty
that began, 'Old Jube Early's gone up the
spout.' Early blamed his army for the rout.
When a passing soldier yelled irreverently
at the army commander, Early spat back,
'Fisher's Hill, god damn you,' believing that
the very name of that embarrassment was
opprobrium enough.
Sheridan had cause to believe that he
had forever removed Early's little army
from serious consideration, and set about
destroying the valley systematically. His
men killed thousands of animals, burned
countless barns and mills, and destroyed