Lying in Wait

Lying in Wait. "A Bengal Tiger Ready to Spring". , Midday , Confederate Gen. Isaac Trimble’s brigade were first positioned a half mile behind you. Unhappy with that ground, Trimble personally scouted ahead and found this strong defensive position behind a fence, with a field of clover in front. At the time of the battle the ground around and behind you was wooded, offering concealment for Trimble’s men., Trimble moved his regiments forward through the trees and deployed them on this line. The 21st Georgia arrived first and laid down behind the fence. The 16th Mississippi deployed to the Georgians’ right, crawling forward on their “hands and knees” before poking “their guns through the fence.” The 15th Alabama moved to the far right, anchoring the line on a ravine, “concealed from the enemy’s view.”, The Union advance, led by the 8th New York Infantry, soon approached. Confederate skirmishers in the open ground fell back and joined the main line. The Federals themselves deployed no skirmishers, a costly mistake that meant they had no warning of the peril that lay ahead., Col. James Cantey, commander of the 15th Alabama, told his men, “Hold your fire, boys, until you can see the white of their eyes.” Col. John Mercer of the 21st Georgia bluntly declared “that if and man fired before he gave the order to fire, he would have him shot.”, As the Union troops advanced, they marched into the depression in the ground in front of you and temporarily disappeared from view. “There we lay,” Pvt. William McClendon recalled, “as a Bengal tiger when he crouches down ready to spring upon his unsuspected prey.” When the northerners advanced out of the hollow and came back into view, they were mere yards to your front. The decisive moment of the Battle of Cross Keys had arrived., (captions) , Confederate Col. John Mercer, 21st Georgia. He was later killed in action at Plymouth, North Carolina. , Confederate Lt. James Ellison, 15th Alabama. He was later killed during the attack on Little Round Top at Gettysburg. , (map) You Are Here, This marker was made possible through the generosity of Irvin and Nancy Hess.