At the Battle of First Kernstown, Colonel Fulkerson advanced about half a mile from Barton's Woods before being forced to abandon the mission with a sharp westward turn. The point of his turn was about 100 yards north of this spot, and he, leading his brigade on his white horse, and the vanguard column of the 37th Virginia came to within about 300 yards of the Union guns on Pritchard's Hill. General Garnett, following about 200 yards behind the tail of Fulkerson's column, recognized the danger and turned his one regiment, the 33rd Virginia, west into the woods in parallel with Fulkerson's maneuver. After reaching the safety of the eastern slope of Sandy Ridge, Garnett found and consulted with Fulkerson and seriously considered redeploying back to Barton's Woods. Their combined force of about 800 Virginians had only a temporary reprieve, as heavy infantry fighting soon began a few hundred yards farther west. Looking south toward Apple Valley Road and toward the Middle Road, one sees the ground where upwards of 80 Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded.
