A Murderous Fire

A Murderous Fire. Confederate Horse Artillery on Huntsberry Farm. , Time: Late Morning , (sidebar) , Six Confederate cannon were positioned here during the battle, erupting with flame and smoke as they sent a rain of deadly shells across Red Bud Run. The noise would have been deafening. This was one of the key positions during the fighting, critical to the Confederates' ability to hold off the larger Federal army throughout much of the day., When Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan launched his main attack at 11:40 a.m., Confederate Gen. Fitzhugh Lee had two brigades of cavalry (under Col. Thomas Munford and Col. William Payne) and his six-gun horse artillery battalion under the command of Maj. James Breathed here at the Huntsberry Farm. Although the Federal attack drove Gen. John B. Gordon's division back from its position on the south side of Red Bud Run, Breathed's gunners punished the Union attackers as they moved across the Middle Field. While the woods on the edge of the field obscured their view of the Federal troops, one Union officer said that "they sighted their guns by the sound.", The "death-dealing" messengers took a terrible toll. "A more murderous fire I never witnessed," Col. Munford remembered. "The field was strewn with their dead and wounded.", Breathed and Payne continued to assist the Confederate infantry to the south as they counterattacked and drove back the Federals. In the early afternoon, Lee detached Munford's cavalry brigade and two pieces of artillery to the southern end of the battle line to confront the Union cavalry threatening to sever the Confederate line of retreat. Breathed and Payne remained at Huntsberry Farm, harassing the Union forces on the south bank of Red Bud Run, until Union Gen. George Crook moved across the ground later in the afternoon., (captions) , Union horse-drawn artillery, Maj. James Breathed, You Are Here. Arrow indicated viewing direction, Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, This sign made possible through funds donated by the Millbrook High School Cross Country Team