Union Breakthrough

At 1:30 p.m., little more than an hour after Union troops began their assaults on Marye’s Heights, Gen. George G. Meade’s division penetrated “Stonewall” Jackson’s line at Prospect Hill. Meade’s 3,800 Pennsylvanians advanced toward a tongue of trees that extended beyond the railroad, 500 yards ahead. Because the ground there was marshy and considered impassable, Jackson had covered the area with only a thin line of skirmishers. Meade’s men sloshed through the lightly defended gap, scattered a Confederate brigade, and seized a military road that ran along the ridgetop. For more than an hour they struggled to maintain their foothold in Jackson’s line. Confederate reserves poured out of the woods, screaming the rebel yell. Disorganized, outnumbered, and unsupported, the Pennsylvanians tumbled back out of the woods, pursued by Jackson’s men. The Union’s best chance for success had failed.

Virginia · United States