Some resistance, however, was made by our brigade, the only one in the division not surprised; we fell slowly back, the broken ranks of the other brigades, rallying upon our line; we soon came upon the 19th corps that, by this time had got into line, and, meeting their first division, we made a good stand, giving them several well directed volleys, that checked their advance, but soon being flanked on the left, were compelled again to give way; here our division commander, Gen. Thoburn, and his Adjutant General, were killed. A running fight was now kept up for about four miles, when meeting the 6th corps drawn up in line, with their artillery in position, the retreat was checked. The 19th corps took position on their left, our corps joining their’s, with a good body of cavalry on our left. Up to this hour it had been the darkest day of our army life; flushed with victory in two great battles within a month, supposing ourselves invincible against anything in the valley, thus to be driven almost in a rout from our works, was a little too much for our philosophy. But now retreat was no longer thought of; Gen. Wright of the 6th corps had our lines well established, and the enemy decidedly checked, when Gen. Sheridan arrived on the field, he having ridden from Winchester, “Twenty miles away,” since the battle commenced. New life seemed at once to animate the whole army. Some slight changes were made in the line, particularly with the cavalry—when the order was given, “Forward along the line,” and away we went, with a heavy line of skirmishers, armed with repeating rifles, supported by strong lines of infantry, against whose steady and determined advance there was no resistance. In less than an hour the Rebel horde was flying back over the ground they had so lately traversed, flushed with success. The cavalry now swooped down from their positions, on the right and on the left, and as the enemy’s lines were turned, and in wild retreat, the scene that ensued along that valley pike beggars description. It was a grand sight to see that army, lately shattered and stricken nigh unto annihilation, thus reform their columns and boldly move out to the charge; in all the battles of the great rebellion, no parallel is presented. Back through our camps which they had swept in the morning, the beaten Rebels ran, throwing away their guns and knapsacks, and everything that in any way impeded their headlong flight. The cavalry kept up the pursuit for sixteen miles, recapturing all of our trains, and capturing the greater portion of their’s. We stacked our muskets behind the works occupied in the morning, and slept that night, as we had fought that day, without food.