Cedar Creek VA122

supportedunresolved Pond says Gordon and Hotchkiss, from the Three Top signal station, found Sheridan's left lightly picketed and saw both camps; that a Union reconnoitring brigade reported the enemy apparently retreated; and that Sheridan's absence was not known to Early. Sheridan had been warned by the intercepted Longstreet message, which Pond calls fictitious. Early believed the afternoon counterattack was only a demonstration.

Attributed knowledge from a history and an interested report; no message log inspected.

supportedunresolved Pond says the provisions and forage Early brought from New Market were nearly exhausted, forcing him to attack or retreat. Early says his men's propensity to plunder the captured camps cost him the victory; Pond quotes his report that officers joined in.

A history and interested accounts; plunder is Early's explanation, not a measured effect.

supportedunresolved Pond says Early chose to attack partly to delay the transfer of Union forces to Grant; Early's report says his movement brought back the Sixth Corps, which had begun to leave, and calls the plan a bold one. Sheridan had told Wright to make his position strong.

Stated aims from a history and interested accounts; the effect on Grant's army is campaign context.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Union victory and the live result Union Victory. Early says he surprised and routed the Eighth and Nineteenth Corps and drove the Sixth, but his left gave way to the counterattack and the rest panicked, a rout as thorough as any his army had suffered; Pond says the Union counterattack produced the greatest rout since Bull Run.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. NPS's statements on the Valley and the 1864 election are campaign and political context.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 8,575 total (US 5,665; CS 2,910); the live field reads 7682 (US 5672; CS 2010). Pond gives the Union loss as 5,764 and Early's as about 3,100, 1,860 killed and wounded with something over 1,000 prisoners by Early's account, about 1,200 taken by Sheridan; Early kept 1,429 prisoners. Early's dispatches claim 1,300 prisoners, a net loss of twenty-three guns, killed and wounded less than 1,000 in one and not more than 700 or 800 in another. Pond says 24 Confederate guns were captured.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. Early's opening report pages (561-562) are missing from this OCR.

supportedunresolved Pond says Wright, as senior officer, was left in charge while Sheridan went to Washington, and quotes Torbert's report that between nine and ten o'clock Wright, commanding the army temporarily, ordered him to move his whole cavalry force to the left of the army; Pond also says that Sheridan, returning from Winchester, formed the line and ordered the 4 p.m. advance. Early says he had cautioned his division commanders against plundering; Pond quotes Early, apparently from the memoir Pond cites in the adjoining footnote rather than the report, that Kershaw reported his division not in a condition to attack. The frozen commanders are Lieutenant General Early and Major Generals Horatio Wright and Philip Sheridan; the live page lists Wright only.

Command roles from a history and an interested report; command passed during the day, and no listed commander receives automatic sole credit. Torbert's report is quoted by Pond and not separately selected. The Kershaw passage's source is not named in it; its placement beside Pond's citation of Early's Memoir suggests the memoir.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads 52,945 total (US 31,945; CS 21,000); the live field reads 47210 (US 31945; CS 15265). Pond says Early had received reinforcements of nearly 5,000 exclusive of the Valley reserves, and that although his army was smaller than Sheridan's he had the stronger force at each point of attack. Early wrote on October 9 that without Kershaw he had about 6,000 muskets.

The frozen and live Confederate figures differ by 5,735 and no source basis is given; Early's October 9 figure excludes Kershaw and predates the battle by ten days. None is adopted as a matched opening strength.

supportedunresolved Pond says the three Union corps camped en echelon behind Cedar Creek, which could be waded everywhere, with its steep banks a defence; the Sixth Corps was not intrenched, and a thick fog hid the Confederate approach. Early's flanking column crossed the North Fork twice along the base of Three Top.

Ground described by a history; the camp positions predate the engagement but were chosen by the Union commanders during the campaign, so the claim stays unresolved. No map verification.