Battle of Cedar Mountain

Battle of Cedar Mountain. Crittenden Gate. ,

"I saw [men] with their legs and arms shot off and saw that they was tore all to pieces with a shell. We stood two hours within 30 rods of the enemy and there was a [continuous] roar of infantry". , Pvt. Judson Tandy, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, USA, "Colonel Walker's skirmishers commenced firing, as did the regiments on the right, and the cavalry scampered off." , Gen. Jubal A. Early, Ewell's Division, CSA

, Shortly after noon on August 9, the first of Jackson's men completed a ten-mile march to reach this gated intersection of the Culpeper Road and the Crittenden Farm Lane. Locals called the junction "the Crittenden Gate." The temperature was nearing triple digits. Throughout the morning, parched soldiers on both sides tumbled out of formation., As the Confederates advanced, Gen. Jubal A. Early saw Union horsemen along the ridgelines and fields along the lane. Early maneuvered his brigade around the trees to your right to engage the cavalry in open fields to the south. The veteran gray regiments executed the maneuver skillfully, scattering the inexperienced Federal troopers., The emergence of the Southern infantry triggered a rapid response. Union cannons posted along Mitchell's Station Road, visible beyond the silos in front of you, came into action. Confederate gunners, positioned from ridges behind you and on the Cedar Mountain shelf, responded with fire on the Federal cavalry skirmishers and cannoneers. The Battle of Cedar Mountain had begun., Early advanced to a position along Crittenden Lane and soon shells swept through his ranks and into the woods where you now stand. Tree trunks shattered, limbs splintered, and men began to fall. [Captions:] , Confederate cannons were placed on the high ground on the shelf of Cedar Mountain. Going into battery in Rev. Philip Slaughter's front yard, the position dominated the battlefield. This photo was taken days after the battle. - Courtesy Library of Congress, Jubal A. Early rose to division command and played a critical role in the December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg and in the Overland Campaign. Early led Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley during the fall of 1864. - Courtesy Library of Congress, Gen. Jubal A. Early's brigade cleared Union cavalry screening Bank's arriving corps before taking position near the Crittenden Farm Lane.