Battle of Cedar Mountain

Battle of Cedar Mountain. The Gray Line.

"The boys threw themselves upon the ground … with a hail-storm of grape, canister, and shell falling thick and fast around them. … During that fatal period death assumed a real character, while life seemed but a dream." , Maj. George Wood, 7th Ohio Infantry, USA

, Undeterred by the storm of artillery fire, Stonewall Jackson directed his men into a mile-long battle line that stretched from the trees to your left to the shelf of Cedar Mountain on your right. Jackson placed his cannons in three groupings. One collection of cannons was near the Crittenden Gate, filling a 400-yard gap in the infantry line between Garnett's and Taliaferro's brigades. Another artillery position was in a grove of cedar trees near the Crittenden Farm buildings. The third artillery position was on the shelf of Cedar Mountain. The Confederate gunners were soon hurling shot and shell back at the Federal across the field., The artillery duel raged for two hours as Ewell's and Winder's Divisions came onto the field. Many shells flew long and exploded amidst the Confederate infantry, compelling them to leave the road and move through the trees to reach their assigned positions.,

"A shell passed through [Gen. Charles S. Winder's] side and arm, tearing them fearfully. He … lay quivering on the ground. He had issued strict orders that morning that no one, except those detailed for the purpose, should leave his post to carry off the wounded, in obedience to which I turned to the gun and went to work." , Cannoneer Ned Moore, CSA

, Union Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks had only 8,000 men in his command to contend with Jackson's total force of more than 22,000. But Gen. A.P. Hill's Division, the largest of three divisions comprising Jackson's army, had not yet reached the field when Banks ordered his attack. As the artillery fire lifted at about 5 p.m., the Ohioans, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and Marylanders of Gen. Christopher C. Augur's division stepped off to strike the center of the Confederate line where you now stand., (captions) , A photograph taken from approximately this location just days after the battle shows the Crittenden Lane running toward the Gate. The Confederates deployed in a line parallel to the road. The well, visible on the left, can be found capped, just off the modern road. Courtesy Library of Congress, The chaos of the artillery duel at Cedar Mountain is shown in Edwin Forbes's sketch of Knap's Union Battery in action on the ridge to the right of the silo in front of you. - Courtesy Library of Congress, Jackson wanted to attack Banks while he was isolated from the rest of Pope's army. By launching his own attack, Banks forced Jackson to react to advancing Federal brigades.