Battle Of McDowell

Battle Of McDowell. The Heart of the Battlefield. You are standing at the center of the McDowell battlefield. Throughout the afternoon of May 8, 1862, hundreds or Union soldiers advanced doggedly uphill toward your position, loading and firing as they came. On either side of you, Confederate soldiers were returning fire with grimy musket barrels and suffering heavy casualties., Union Gen. Robert H. Milroy had turned the tables on Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. His attack up the mountain surprised the Confederates, and he directed his men into ravines to minimize their exposure to the defenders' fire as they trudged uphill. From the ravines, Milroy's men launched several bayonet charges that pushed the Confederates farther up the hill., The Federals also were generally equipped with rifles, which enabled them to fire more accurately at longer ranges than could the Confederates with their inferior muskets. Even though they were fighting their way uphill, a major disadvantage, the Federals inflicted 532 casualties on their foes while suffering only 259 themselves., Confederate reinforcements rushed to this point through a storm of Union bullets. The Southerners held the line until nightfall, when the Federals withdrew down the mountain to McDowell., "There's old Johnson, let's flank him!" , , Unnamed Union soldier, "Yes, damn you, flank me if you can!" , , Gen. Edward Johnson, CSA, (captions) , Union assaults nearly fractured the Confederate line on Sitlington's Hill. Only Confederate reinforcements, and a corresponding lack of Federal reinforcements, preserved the line., Downhill to your right, the Union 3rd [West] Virginia Infantry clashed with the Confederate 31st Virginia Infantry (whose flag is shown here). Many of the men on one side had known men on the other before the war. When the firing began, the soldiers "called (each other) by name, and proceeded with the slaughter." Courtesy West Virginia University, Confederate Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson held this sector of the field. Leading from the front, he was wounded and almost captured in a Federal charge. Courtesy Library of Congress