Southern Sharpshooters

Southern Sharpshooters. Tormenting the Attackers. Time: Late Morning , As Confederate Maj. James Breathed's cannon, positioned on the high ground some 200 yards your right, opened fire with "telling effect" on the Federal advancing in the Middle Field on the opposite side of Red Bud Rum, dismounted southern cavalry under Col. William Payne advanced into the area to your right and opened fire on the Federals as well. At the same time, Confederate sharpshooters moved to the ground in front of you to protect the guns and fire into the flank of th Federals., In the afternoon, the sharpshooters aided Confederate Gen. John Gordon in his fight against Union Gen. William Dwight's division on the south side of Red Bad Run. Battery D, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery anchored Dwight's right flank. Sharpshooters from either Gordon's division or Payne's brigade crept toward the guns under cover of the steep bank and opened fire at the gunners. The artillery responded with canister until they exhausted their supply, and then solid shot, but the Confederates did not pull back., Eventually, Confederate Gen. Fitzhugh Lee withdrew Payne's brigade and the horse artillery to resist Union cavalry advancingup the Valley Pike, leaving only a small force of dismounted troopers behind to screen the Confederate left at Huntsberry Farm. When Union Gen. George Crook led Gen. Isaac Duval's division across this ground in mid-afternoon, the remaining southerners were easily pushed aside. As Fitz Lee later noted, "The withdrawal of troops [Payne's brigade] from the front of Crook's right allowed him to advance."