Counterattack!

Counterattack!. “Rodes Stops the Federal Breakthrough”. , Time: Early Afternoon , You're standing at the point of the pivotal Confederate counterattack that dramatically changed the course of the battle., By 12:30 pm, the tide of the battle had turned in favor of the Union. The Confederate troops of Gen. John B. Gordon and Stephen D. Ramseur were falling back, pursued by jubilant Federals. Just in time for the Confederates, Gen. Robert E. Rodes arrived on the field with his division and launched a counterattack into the center of the Union line , right where a large gap had developed between the 6th and 19th Corps., "Charge them, boys!" Rodes shouted. The counterattack plunged into the gap, struck the exposed flank of both Union corps, and checked the breakthrough. Gen. Phillip Cook's Georgia Brigade spearheaded the assault in this area, capturing many prisoners and three Union battle flags. Gordon and Ramseur rallied their men and joined the attack, which drove the Union forces back hundreds of yards before U.S. reserves blunted the Confederate counter strike., Unfortunately for the southern cause, Rodes fell mortally wounded when a shell fragment struck him in the head. "He leaned for an instant," recalled Confederate Pvt. Marcus D. Herring, "then fell headlong from his horse.", Rodes was taken to a home in Winchester and died shortly thereafter. His troops did not learn of his death until much later and continued their attack. Famed mapmaker Jedidiah Hotchkis wrote, "We have never suffered a greater loss save in the great [Stonewall] Jackson. Rodes was the best division commander in the Army.", (caption) , Death of Rodes. This sketch showing Rode being loaded into an ambulance during the Confederate retreat is inaccurate. Rodes was dead by the time the Southerners retreated. (Image courtesy the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio), Gen. Robert E. Rodes, This sign made possible through funds donated by the Millbrook High School Cross Country Team