In the Nick of Time

For a few moments on the bright spring morning of May 6, 1864, Robert E. Lee faced disaster for his army as Union troops filled the woods and fields nearby and the artillery stood as the only organized resistance to a massive attack. The guns fired while cannoneers, including General A.P. Hill himself, worked the pieces frantically, until General James Longstreet's corps arrived. Though exhausted from a 26-mile march, Longstreet's columns formed a line of battle on either side of the Orange Plank Road, and as Lee, anxious to drive the Federals back, rode to Longstreet's men determined to lead them into battle, a Confederate staff officer recalled never having seen him so excited, disturbed, and plainly marked by anxiety or care.

Virginia · United States