An official, high in rank in that army, and at this writing high in position under that Government, wrote that the Valley should be so devastated “that a crow flying over would be obliged to take its rations.” And faithful and vigorous were the efforts made to carry out that policy. The Vandals, whose name has become a synonym for ferocious cruelty, were accustomed to spare the ungarnered crops not required for their own maintenance; but by official orders from army headquarters, Sheridan’s army in the Valley of Virginia obscured the light of day, and illuminated the darkness of night, with the smoke and flames of the conflagration that devoured alike the dwelling and the stable, the barn and the mill, stored with hay and grain, and the yet ungathered crop standing on the ground. Whole fields of corn were wantonly fired in the shock, and in many instances horses and cattle in their stalls, and swine in their pens, were heartlessly burned alive. For two weeks and more did their fires fiercely burn, while the brave officers commanding this corps of murderers and incendiaries made report of their noble achievements, and the Yankee nation applauded. It was rebels, rebels against this most beneficent Government, who suffered, and in their pangs was offered a sacrifice holy and acceptable on the altar of _Freedom_. Truly _Vandalism_ should be expunged from our vocabulary, and _Yankeeism_ written instead. General Hunter, whose chief monument was the smoke from the Virginia Military Institute, and the private dwellings burned by his order, had the honor of inaugurating this system of warfare in the Valley, which was afterwards so fully adopted and elaborately carried out by the Yankee Government. All these brutal wrongs the First Maryland cavalry witnessed, and where powerless to prevent, they did not forget to avenge where opportunity offered. Other wrongs they had to remember and avenge, such as their whole prior experience had never before known—the cold-blooded murder of their comrades. In October, 1864, Churchill Crittenden and John Hartigan, privates of company C, were detailed to procure provisions for their company, which could only be obtained from the neighboring farm houses. The regiment was lying then in Page county, and as the country between the two armies had not been foraged so closely of its supplies, because of its being a middle ground, these two men, so detailed, sought the required rations between the two lines. Whilst getting their supplies at a farm house, a large scouting party of the enemy came suddenly upon them. They attempted to escape, and a running fight ensued, which resulted in the death of two or three of the enemy and the wounding of Crittenden severely, and the capture of both himself and Hartigan.