The Night Before the Battle

The Night Before the Battle. "We fired in their faces.". , You're standing on Manor's Hill, a key position during the May 15, 1864, Battle of New Market - and during fighting on May 14, the day and night before the main battle., While the main Union and Confederate armies were still marching towards New Market on May 14, advance elements of both forces first clashed on May 13 and 14. By nightfall on May 14, the Confederates, commanded by Gen. John Imboden, were positioned in a line anchored on Shirley's Hill, the height you see in the distance - and the Federals, commanded by Col. Augustus Moor, were on a line anchored here on Manor's Hill. The two sides exchanged artillery fire, the shells soaring between the heights., That night the Confederates launched harassing attacks in the darkness on the Federals here on Manor's Hill. One southerner said they "crawled up close to their [Union] line and fired into their faces." One Federal wrote, "They advanced on us at dark. The infantry drove them back." Another recalled, "[We] were in a cold rain here skirmishing with some heavy firing every few minutes.", Another Confederate remembered, "[General] Imboden sent out a body of infantry... they were so close to the Yankee camp that they could hear chickens squawking and cooking utensils rattling as the Yankees were preparing their supper.", As the Federals returned fire, one Confederate laid with his head behind a large post. "That post showed up from the flash of the guns and the Yankees supposed it to be a man," a southerner recalled. "The splinters just showered off that big post at every volley, while he was as flat to the ground as he could get.", Later that night, Imboden pulled his troops several miles south… but the Confederates returned in force before the sun rose.