SOLD OUT!
“From the Jaws of Defeat”
The Battle of Cedar Creek & Its Legacies
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Alfred Waud’s sketch of General Philip H. Sheridan’s arrival north of Middletown late on the morning of October 19, 1864. (Library of Congress)
Among the 326 engagements fought in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War, none was more significant and had wider-reaching consequences than the Battle of Cedar Creek. The triumph achieved on October 19, 1864, by Union general Phillip H. Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah wrested the strategically vital Shenandoah Valley from the Confederate control, significantly aided President Abraham Lincoln’s bid for reelection. This fall, Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute will explore the Battle of Cedar Creek, examining how the Army of the Shenandoah “snatched victory from the jaws of defeat,” the effects of the battle on the lives of soldiers and their families, the impact on Middletown’s civilians, and how Sheridan’s veterans and their Confederate counterparts remembered and memorialized the battle.
Schedule
- 10-10:30 a.m. Check-in at Henkle Hall, Hester Auditorium, Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia
- 10:30-11:30 a.m. Welcome and lecture by Prof. Jonathan A. Noyalas “To Become a Soldier”: The Making of General Phillip H. Sheridan
- 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Lunch at Shenandoah University’s Allen Dining Hall (lunch included with registration)
- 12:30-4:30 p.m.: Caravan tour of sites associated with the Battle of Cedar Creek
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Registration fee of $25 covers the cost of morning lecture, handouts, lunch, and afternoon guided caravan tour. Carpooling is required for the afternoon tour as mass transportation will not permit access to certain sites.
This seminar and tour is sold out. To be placed on the waiting list, email jnoyalas01@su.edu.
Registration fee of $25 covers the cost of morning lecture, handouts, lunch, and afternoon guided caravan tour. Carpooling is required for the afternoon tour as mass transportation will not permit access to certain sites.
For questions or to be placed on the waiting list please email Prof. Noyalas at jnoyalas01@su.edu or phone 540-665-4501.
Interested in learning more about the Battle of Cedar Creek prior to the fall seminar and tour, check out The Battle of Cedar Creek: Victory from the Jaws of Defeat written by MCWI’s director Jonathan A. Noyalas. The Battle of Cedar Creek