Moving Uphill

Moving Uphill. The Battle of McDowell (May 8, 1862). At 5:30 pm during the Battle of McDowell, the second line of Confederate infantry moved through this area as they climbed to the top of Sitlington's Hill to reinforce the defenders who had been battered by the initial assaults., The Federals had begun their attack around 4:30 pm, as Union Gen. Robert H. Milroy's 2,300 men climbed up the steep western slope of Sitlington's Hill and attacked the first line of Confederate defenders. Confederate commander Gen. Stonewall Jackson had not expected an assault by the outmanned Federals. As the battle grew in intensity, and with the Confederates pressured along the line, he deployed his reserves on the slopes around you, and men rushed uphill to reinforce the threatened points along the line., As the troops started up the hill, some passed near a field hospital, and saw "the ground strewn with the wounded, the dead, and [the] dying" as the surgeons did "all they can to save suffering and life." Moving through here, they saw other stricken soldiers coming "down the ridge from the front, wounded and red with blood," some carried on litters, others stumbling along as best they could., Ahead of them, looking up the mountain, they could see the thick smoke of battle, and hear officers shouting commands, the crash of gunfire, the oaths and cries of soldiers engulfed in battle, and the shrieks of those hit by shot and shell., The sights and sounds were sobering. Confederate Sgt. Osborn Wilson of the 31st Virginia no doubt spoke for many of his fellow soldiers as they marched towards the fighting: "God of many help and make us brave and prudent.", (Caption):, Confederate troops on the march, as seen by Southern artist Allen C. Redwood. Image courtesy of The Project Gutenberg.