Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 31.djvu/76

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68 Southern Historical Society Papers.

probable that he would have gained the battle of Winchester even against such odds.

Wright and Emory had been fought out, and it was only with Crook's fresh corps and the two cavalry divisions of Merritt and Averill, which, with Wilson's, were equal in numbers to Early' s Infantry, that Sheridan was enabled to gain the victory.

We may now see some ground for Early 's opinion that, " instead of being promoted, Sheridan ought to have been cashiered for this battle."

It was my intention to add some account of the battle of Fisher's Hill, which has been called ' ' the aftermath ' ' of Winchester, but this article has already extended to too great length, and that battle, if noticed at all, must be reserved for some future occasion. Besides the references given above, the reader should add Pond's The Shenandoah Valley of 1864, an interesting book, but one containing the usual exaggerations of Confederate numbers, and Senator Dan- iel's address in Richmond, December 13, 1894, on General Early's Valley campaign.

THE CONFEDERATE STATES' FLAG. Its Evolution.

HOW THE FLAG WAS MADE.

[See also Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. XXVIII (1900), page

89, et segJ]

A Richmond (Va.) special to the New York Herald, of December 15, 1903, says:

General W. L. Cabell, formerly of the Confederate Army, has contributed an article to the official organ of his old comrades, giv- ing a history of the battle-flag of the Confederacy, about which there has been more or less controversy. The General says: