The Union Line Collapses

The Union Line Collapses. A sight to chill the blood of any soldier". , Time: Mid to Late Afternoon , In the afternoon, the first Confederate assault on Bushong's Hill had been repulsed with heavy casualties. Parts of the 51st Virginia and 30th Virginia had broken, leaving a gap in the Confederate line., The 26th Virginia Battalion, who had been squeezed out of the front line by the bend in the Shenandoah River, surged forward to help fill the gap with their commander, Col. George Edgar, waving his sword and crying "Forward! Men Forward!" To their right, the VMI Cadets, who had been held as Confederate Gen. John C. Breckinridge's only reserve, moved towards the gap on the Bushong Farm under "a terrible fire of artillery." One shell passed through the VMI flag carried by Sgt. Oliver Evans - whose face was full of the "joy of battle." Under withering fire, the cadets moved around the Bushong house (450 yards to your front) and through an apple orchard to a fence where they exchanged fire with the Federals about 300 yards away., With the southern line - including rallied parts of the 51st and 30th - now stabilized, badly coordinated Union counterattacks were repulsed with heavy losses. A company of the 26th Virginia on the bluffs above the river began to shoot down Union cannoneers, prompting Union Gen. Franz Sigel to have the guns withdrawn, dramatically reducing his defensive firepower. (Sharpshooters from Woodson's Missourians had also taken a toll on the gunners.), Breckinridge now ordered a general assault, dashing along the line and shouting "Charge! Charge! Charge!" As rain poured and thunder crashed, the southerners advanced through intense fire, some cadets losing their shoes in the thick mud. The smoke of the Federal guns hung so low that the Confederates saw "the legs of the enemy...under the smoke." All along the line, the Confederates outflanked and overwhelmed the Union defenders. Union Col. George Wells described the surging southerners and waving battle flags as a "sight [that] would... chill the blood of any soldier." The Federals were swept from their positions and sent tumbling north along the Valley Pike., "Our dogs ran frolicking" , When the 34th Massachusetts advanced during the Union counterattack, Col. William Lincoln described how, "Our dogs, of whom we had a small army, ran frolicking and barking before us, as they had so often done, on drill. Receiving the fire of both lines, they were nearly all killed.", (Captions):, Keith Rocco's painting, "Lions of the Hour," portrays the VMI Cadets on the Bashong Farm during the final, decisive Confederate assault. , Courtesy Keith Rocco, Tradition Studios., VMI Cadet Sgt. Oliver P. Evans was the color bearer for the cadets. Fellow cadet Porter Johnson described how Evans "carried that banner so gloriously and shook back his golden locks... a very "God of Battle'." , Image courtesy VMI Archives., Union Col. George D. Wells commanded the 34th Massachusetts. , Nicholas Picerno Collection.