Payne would move with Gordon with the mission of capturing Sheridan at his headquarters at the Belle Grove Plantation house near Middletown. Lomax would move via Front Royal to Newtown (later named Stephens City), where he could cut off a Union retreat down the Valley Pike. During the time Gordon had command of the column of three divisions, Brigadier General Clement A. Evans would command Gordon's Division. On October 18, the Confederate leaders synchronized their timepieces. They planned to be in position for the attack at 5:00am. Battle Confederate attacks Early's infantry began to form into three columns on the evening of October 18. Gordon's column consisted of the divisions of Gordon (commanded by Evans), Pegram, and Ramseur, plus Payne's Cavalry Brigade. It had the farthest to march, and departed about 8:00pm, just after it became dark. The men left behind anything that might rattle, and followed the narrow trail in single file. The other two Confederate columns, commanded by Wharton and Kershaw, departed at about 1:00am on October 19, and Early rode with Kershaw to Cedar Creek. As they hoped, the Confederates' quiet approach was aided by the presence of heavy fog. All three columns were in position by 3:30am. The two Confederate cavalries were also in position. Rosser's dismounted cavalry (less Payne's Brigade), was near the ford at Cupp's Mill. His men skirmished briefly with Custer around 4:00am. Lomax's cavalry was east near Cedarville and Front Royal. His command was as far as from Early's infantry, making cooperation difficult. Early joined Wharton around 5:15am. Army of West Virginia Kershaw's Division attacked the trenches of Thoburn's Union 1st Division around 5:00am. Surprise was virtually complete and most of the Army of West Virginia troops were caught unprepared in their camps—many were asleep in their tents. The Union 1st Division lost most of its organization as most of its men fled—if they could. Its First Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Wildes, kept two of its three regiments organized. The partial brigade conducted a fighting withdrawal to the Valley Pike that took over 30 minutes. Union Captain Henry A. du Pont, chief of Colonel Crook's artillery, saved nine of his sixteen artillery pieces while he kept them in action as he withdrew toward Middletown. Du Pont's efforts and Wildes' two regiments were only thing (other than fog) slowing the initial Confederate thrust by Kershaw's Division. The Union 1st Division commander,