Battle of Tom's Brook

1864 battle of the American Civil War

Part of the American Civil War

Date	October 9, 1864 (1864-10-09)
Location	Shenandoah County, Virginia
Result	Union victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

Alfred Torbert

Thomas L. Rosser

Strength

6,300 ^[1]

3,500 ^[1]

Casualties and losses

57 ^[1]

350 ^[1]

Sheridan's
Shenandoah Valley campaign

The Battle of Tom's Brook was fought on October 9, 1864, in Shenandoah County, Virginia, during Philip Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of the American Civil War. It resulted in a significant Union victory, one that was mockingly dubbed The Woodstock Races for the speed of the Confederate withdrawal.^[2]

After his victory at Fisher's Hill, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan pursued Jubal A. Early's Confederate army up the Shenandoah Valley to near Staunton. On October 6, Sheridan began withdrawing, as his cavalry burned everything that could be deemed of military significance, including barns and mills. Reinforced by Maj. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw's division, Early followed. Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Rosser arrived from Petersburg to take command of Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's Confederate cavalry division and harassed the retreating Federals. On October 9, Brig. Gen. Alfred Torbert's Union troopers turned on their pursuers, routing the divisions of Rosser, whose cavalrymen were repulsed by Custer in a flanking maneuver along the base of Spiker's Hill off of Back Road, and Lunsford L. Lomax, who was positioned in the vicinity of the Valley Pike, at Tom's Brook. With this victory, the Union cavalry attained overwhelming superiority in the Valley.^[2]

That's General Custer, the Yanks are so proud of,
and I intend to give him the best whipping today that he ever got,
— Confederate Major General Tom Rosser on the eve of the battle.^[3]

Jubal Early later commented sourly about Rosser's Laurel Brigade, "The laurel is a running vine".^[4]

Battlefield preservation

The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved 516 acres (2.09 km²) of the Tom's Brook battlefield.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d National Park Service Battle Summary
^ ^a ^b National Park Service battle description
^ Wittenburg, Eric J., The Battle of Tom's Brook North & South - The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society, Volume 10, Number 1, Page 30.
^ McDonald, William (2002). A History of the Laurel Brigade: Originally the Ashby Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia and Chew's Battery. JHU Press. p. 7. ISBN 9780801869525. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^ [1] American Battlefield Trust "Saved Land" webpage. Accessed May 29, 2018.

National Park Service Battle Summary
CWSAC Report Update

Origins	Timeline leading to the War Bleeding Kansas Border states Compromise of 1850 John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry Kansas-Nebraska Act Lincoln–Douglas debates Missouri Compromise Nullification crisis Origins of the American Civil War Panic of 1857 Popular sovereignty Secession South Carolina Declaration of Secession States' rights President Lincoln's 75,000 volunteers
Slavery	African Americans Cornerstone Speech Crittenden Compromise Dred Scott v. Sandford Emancipation Proclamation Fire-Eaters Fugitive slave laws Plantations in the American South Positive good Slave Power Slavery in the United States Treatment of slaves in the United States Uncle Tom's Cabin
Abolitionism	Abolitionism in the United States Susan B. Anthony James G. Birney John Brown Frederick Douglass William Lloyd Garrison Lane Debates on Slavery Elijah Parish Lovejoy J. Sella Martin Lysander Spooner George Luther Stearns Thaddeus Stevens Charles Sumner Caning Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad

Combatants
Theaters
Campaigns
Battles
States

Combatants

Union	Army Navy Marine Corps Revenue Cutter Service
Confederacy	Army Navy Marine Corps

Theaters

Major campaigns

Major battles

Involvement

States and
territories

Cities

Leaders

Confederate

Military	R. H. Anderson Beauregard Bragg Buchanan Cooper Early Ewell Forrest Gorgas Hill Hood Jackson A. S. Johnston J. E. Johnston Lee Longstreet Morgan Mosby Polk Price Semmes E. K. Smith Stuart Taylor Wheeler
Civilian	Benjamin Bocock Breckinridge Davis Hunter Mallory Memminger Seddon Stephens

Union

Military	Anderson Buell Burnside Butler Du Pont Farragut Foote Frémont Grant Halleck Hooker Hunt McClellan McDowell Meade Meigs Ord Pope D. D. Porter Rosecrans Scott Sheridan Sherman Thomas
Civilian	Adams Chase Ericsson Hamlin Lincoln Pinkerton Seward Stanton Stevens Wade Welles

Aftermath

Constitution

Reconstruction Amendments

Reconstruction

Post-
Reconstruction

Monuments
and memorials

Union	List Grand Army of the Republic memorials to Lincoln
Confederate	List artworks in Capitol memorials to Davis memorials to Lee Removal

Cemeteries

Veterans

Related topics

Military	Arms Campaign Medal Cavalry Confederate Home Guard Confederate railroads Confederate revolving cannon Field artillery Medal of Honor recipients Medicine Naval battles Official Records Partisan rangers POW camps Rations Signal Corps Turning point Union corps badges U.S. Balloon Corps U.S. Home Guard U.S. Military Railroad
Political	Committee on the Conduct of the War Confederate States presidential election of 1861 Confiscation Act of 1861 Confiscation Act of 1862 Copperheads Emancipation Proclamation Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 Hampton Roads Conference National Union Party Politicians killed Radical Republicans Trent Affair Union Leagues U.S. Presidential Election of 1864 War Democrats
Music	Battle Hymn of the Republic Dixie John Brown's Body A Lincoln Portrait Marching Through Georgia Maryland, My Maryland When Johnny Comes Marching Home Daar kom die Alibama
Other topics	Baltimore riot of 1861 Battlefield preservation Bibliography Confederate war finance Confederate States dollar Espionage Confederate Secret Service Great Revival of 1863 Juneteenth Naming the war Native Americans Catawba Cherokee Choctaw Seminole New York City Gold Hoax of 1864 New York City riots of 1863 Photographers Richmond riots of 1863 Gender issues Supreme Court cases Tokens U.S. Sanitary Commission Women soldiers
Related	List of films and television shows about the American Civil War