In the weeks leading up to the November 28th raid on New Creek, Union intelligence in the Department of West Virginia was plagued by conflicting reports and a false sense of security. Following Major General Philip Sheridan's decisive victories over Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Shenandoah Valley during October 1864, Union high command largely believed the Confederate threat to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had been neutralized for the winter.
However, the official correspondence from mid-to-late November paints a picture of growing unease at the local level. Brevet Major General George Crook and Post Commander Colonel George R. Latham received numerous tips from loyalist citizens and returning scouts that Confederate cavalry forces were massing near Moorefield. Despite sending detachments, including the 6th West Virginia Cavalry, to probe the mountain passes, Union scouts routinely failed to identify the true size and intent of Major General Thomas L. Rosser's column.
These compiled reports show how Rosser masterfully used the rugged terrain of Hardy and Hampshire counties to screen his movements, taking advantage of delayed Union telegraphs and scattered pickets to position his strike force just days before launching his devastating attack on Fort Kelley.
General Early has fallen back with his main army toward Staunton, establishing his cavalry headquarters near Mount Jackson. We have reports that portions of his cavalry under Rosser and Lomax are foraging heavily in the direction of the South Branch of the Potomac. I have directed General Crook to keep a sharp lookout from the direction of Cumberland and New Creek, as the enemy may attempt a raid on the Baltimore and Ohio road to secure supplies, of which they are in desperate need.
P. H. SHERIDAN,
Major-General.
GENERAL: I have received information from citizens fleeing from Hardy County that a considerable force of rebel cavalry is moving down the Valley toward Moorefield. I have ordered Colonel Latham at New Creek to send out a strong scouting party to ascertain the truth of these rumors and to hold his garrison in readiness. It is difficult to distinguish whether this is a regular advance or merely local partisan rangers gathering cattle.
GEORGE CROOK,
Brevet Major-General.
GENERAL: My scouts have returned this evening from the vicinity of Burlington and the Moorefield grade. They report seeing no large bodies of the enemy, only small squads of what appear to be McNeill's rangers observing our pickets. Citizens report that Rosser's division is still in the Shenandoah Valley, though there are rumors of a concentration near Petersburg [West Virginia]. I will keep patrols active on the roads south, but at present, there appears to be no immediate threat to this post or the railroad.
GEO. R. LATHAM,
Colonel Sixth West Virginia Cavalry, Commanding.
GENERAL: You will proceed with your division of cavalry, and such elements of Payne's brigade as are fit for the march, across the mountains into Hardy County. Your objective is the enemy's depot of supplies at New Creek and the railroad structures at Piedmont. You must move with all possible celerity and secrecy to surprise the garrisons there before reinforcements can be sent from Cumberland by rail. Secure all horses, mules, and commissary stores possible, and destroy what you cannot bring off.
J. A. EARLY,
Lieutenant-General.