On the morning of September 14, 1862, a small Confederate force under Colonel Thomas Munford defended Crampton's Gap, forming a line along Mountain Church Road at the base of the mountain behind stone walls and fences. Approaching them was the Union Sixth Army Corps commanded by Major General William B. Franklin, whose men arrived from the east outside Burkittsville around noon, quickly drove Confederates out of the town, and took possession of it. Although Franklin outnumbered the Confederate defenders almost ten-to-one, he waited for hours before continuing the attack up the mountain. Late in the afternoon, as fighting intensified along Mountain Church Road, Confederate reinforcements under Brigadier General Howell Cobb arrived in the gap from Georgia and North Carolina and deployed on the mountainside as a second line in an attempt to repel the Union attack. Cobb's Brigade was soon heavily engaged as the Confederates along Mountain Church Road were forced from their position and began a disorganized flight up the mountain.
