Military career of Muhammad Quraysh that a Muslim attack was imminent, a Meccan relief force of 1000 men, many of them wearing mail armour, was sent. Abu Jahl, who led the relief army, pressed northwards to where he expected the Muslim army to be: at Badr. While marching, however, around 200–400 warriors left his army and headed back to Mecca. Muhammad was unaware of the Meccan army until one day before contact, when his men captured two Quraysh waterbearers. The Muslims took up a defensive position. The battle started off with a duel between three Muslim and three Meccan champions, which the Muslims decided
Union Army of the Shenandoah the Shenandoah Valley to produce foodstuffs for the Confederacy, torching farms and more than 2,000 mills. Reinforced again in reaction to the threat of Sheridan's 31,000-man army, Early moved against Sheridan once more. After a decisive cavalry victory by Union forces under Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of Tom's Brook, Early’s army launched a surprise attack against Sheridan at the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19. Initially successful, the Confederates were repelled by a Union counterattack and the Valley was firmly under Union control. Following their victory, portions of the Army of the Shenandoah were detached