Confederate Artillery

Confederate Artillery. "Move your guns to the front where they could kill somebody.". , During the Battle of New Market, Confederate Gen. John C. Breckinridge made innovative use of his artillery, employing his guns as a powerful mobile striking force., Breckinridge first had his cannon on Shirley's Hill shell the Federals in a fruitless attempt to provoke the northerners into attacking. When he took the offensive, Breckinridge split his cannon into three groups. Jackson's Battery stayed with Gen. Gabriel Wharton on the west side of the battlefield. McClanahan's Battery went with Gen. John Imboden on a sweeping movement around Smith's Creek. And the main artillery force, 10 guns commanded by Maj. William McLaughlin, moved onto the Valley Turnpike., Breckinridge accompanied the group on the pike. Riding up to Capt. George B. Chapman's battery, he told him to "move his guns to the front where they could kill somebody." Chapman brought his guns rumbling through the streets of town "at a sweeping gallop" and unlimbered them here, on the ground in front of you, where they were joined by the 2 guns manned by the VMI Cadet section and those of Lt. Carter Berkeley's section. From here, the southern cannon unleashed a lethal fire into Union infantry on Rice's Hill - helping to rout that force - and engaged in a duel with Federals guns under Capt. Alfred von Kleiser in front of the Rice House just 500 yards in front of you. The Confederate cannon overwhelmed the Federal guns, knocking a wheel off one piece and forcing them to withdraw., Breckinridge continued to move his guns forward aggressively, using them, in the words of Col. J. Stoddard Johnston, as "almost a skirmish line of infantry." Their fire wreaked havoc on the Federal guns, savaged the Union infantry, and played a key role in repulsing a Union cavalry charge at a turning point in the battle., In the words of historian William "Jack" Davis, "There was not another battle of this size in the war in which the maneuvering and firing of cannon played so important a part in the outcome.", (Caption):, Post-war image of Major William McLaughlin, who commanded the Confederate artillery during the battle. , Image courtesy Washington and Lee University., This marker was made possible through the generosity of Mark and Karen Perreault.