Hunter's First Attack

Hunter's First Attack. "A Blinding, Death Dealing Deluge of Bullets". , Morning, Union commander Gen. David Hunter ordered his army to attack, unaware that Confederate Commander Gen. William E. Jones had brought thousands of reinforcements from southwest Virginia and east Tennessee., After an initial advance by Union cavalry under Col. John Wynkoop was thrown back to your left (see map), Col. Augustus Moor's infantry brigade of Ohio, New York, and Connecticut soldiers advanced out of the woods (no longer existent) beyond the crossroads in front of you and charged toward the Confederate position behind you., The 116th Ohio advanced through this location, only to be greeted by devastating rifle fire from Confederate Col. William H. Browne's brigade, posted along the edge of the woods to the south. The close-range fire tore into the Ohioans, forcing them to retreat. The Buckeyes lost 181 men killed and wounded in two charges across this ground., The Federals were repulsed all along the line, which ran several hundred yards to your left. When the 1st West Virginia was ordered to extend Moor's line in that direction, they too were greeted by a "blinding, death dealing deluge of bullets" that threw them back., With the failure of the infantry, Hunter's artillery roared into action. Union Capt. Henry A. DuPont had positioned 24 cannon on high ground located about 1,200 yards to your right front. Those guns thundered into action, unleashing a brutal hailstorm of metal that silenced the Confederate batteries and wreaked havoc upon the southern infantry. After the battle, DuPont described how the Confederate artillery positions "were marked by fragments of wheels and other materiel, dead horses, abandoned harnesses, projectiles and bloody clothing.", (Captions):, Union Gen. David Hunter was a close ally of President Abraham Lincoln. , Courtesy Library of Congress., Col. Augustus Moor. , Scott Pachan private collection., Union Capt. Henry DuPont., Confederate Maj. William Stringfield, Thomas Legion.