Battle of Cedar Mountain

Battle of Cedar Mountain. "Jackson is with you!".

"The rattle of musketry, the shouting, cheering and yelling was deafening. The smoke of battle … made it impossible to see but a short distance. The leaves and small limbs were falling thick and the bark from the timber flying in every direction. … This was the most hair-raising fix I had ever struck.", Lt. John Blue, CSA, "Reckless valor and desperation marked the progress of the fight … I have witnessed many battles during this war, but I have seen none where the tenacious obstinacy of the American character was as fully displayed.", New York Herald correspondent

, Stonewall Jackson could no longer restrain himself when he saw his panicked men streaming rearward. He spurred his horse forward and tried to unsheathe his sword, which had rusted into its scabbard from disuse. Jackson raised the sheathed sword over his head, seized a flag from a nearby color bearer, and skidded to a halt in the woods in front of you, crying "Jackson is with you!" His men stopped and turned to pour musketry into the onrushing Federals., Just then, Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill's division, last in the order of march, reached the Crittenden Gate. Hill, a Culpeper native, drove his men into the maelstrom around Jackson without taking time to deploy. Tired, outnumbered, and now virtually surrounded, the Federals retreated., As Confederate Gen. Richard S. Ewell's command advanced from the shelf of Cedar Mountain, Hill drove through a rearguard thrown up by the 10th Maine Volunteers, repulsed a last ditch cavalry charge, and pursued the Federals until Union Gen. James B. Ricketts's reinforcements stopped the Confederates north of Cedar Run. Darkness ended the infantry battle with Jackson in control of the field, although artillery fire continued until about 10 P.M., Banks's defeat prompted Pope to abandon his offensive toward Gordonsville. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee quickly seized the initiative and defeated Pope's army in its entirety three weeks later at the Second Battle of Manassas., [Captions:] , Jackson's stand shaped a new firing line in front of the disorganized Federals, who lost their momentum and were soon forced to withdraw., Hand-to-hand fighting raged through the woods visible in the background of this historic photograph. - Courtesy Library of Congress, These men of the 10th Maine Infantry fought a desperate action alone in the wheat field as the Union army withdrew. Note the dead horse on the right - the first pictures ever taken of dead horses on a battlefield were taken at Cedar Mountain. - Courtesy Library of Congress