“Shrapnel Rained On Us”

“Shrapnel Rained On Us”. The Union Attack Across Redbud Run. , Time: Mid-Afternoon, At 3 pm, Union Gen. George Crook advanced Col. Isaac Duval's division through the fields of the Huntsberry Farm on the north bank of Red Bud Run, which you can see directly across from you. On this side of the run, Union Col. Joseph Thoburn's division advanced to the western edge of the First Woods, then waited fop Duval's appearance., "Suddenly [Duval's] men...dashed at the enemy... Taking up the cry, we joined in the charge." , -Col. William S. Lincoln, 34th Massachusetts, Thoburn's Division , (Nicholas P. Picerno Collection), Duval's advance forced the remaining Confederate cavalrymen and horse artillery from the Huntsberry Farm. As the Federals approached, Confederate General John B. Gordon deployed part of his command to meet the threat. A Union officer later recalled, "Everything on the enemy's left was turned on us. Bullets, shot, shell, and shrapnel rained on us like hail." Duval's men weathered the storm and raced down the slope toward what they thought would be instant victory. Instead, they found themselves stopped cold by a swampy stretch of Red Bud Run, which they remembered as "the morass.", With Duval's attack stalled, Thoburn assaulted Gordon here on the south bank, forcing him to fight in two directions. "After moving about 300 yards through the open field," reported Thoburn, "the enemy's artillery and musketry opened very briskly upon my lines, but its effect was to increase the impetuosity of the command, and with deafening yells and cheers the men rushed forward and reached the wood to find the enemy breaking and running in confusion.", Duval's men struggled through the morass to join the attack. Union commander Gen. Philip H. Sheridan now ordered a general assault and threw the 6th Corps into the battle, setting the stage for Union victory at Winchester., This sign made possible through funds donated by the Millbrook High School Cross Country Team