Fisher’s Hill

To strengthen Fisher’s Hill’s defenses, Confederate skirmishers from Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur’s division took positions on the ridge in front and constructed “bull pens,” makeshift structures of fence rails covered with earth. At about 1 P.M. on September 22, 1864, to distract Gen. Jubal A. Early’s attention from Gen. George Crook’s flank march, Gen. Philip H. Sheridan ordered Gen. James B. Ricketts’s Third Division, VI Corps, to attack the bull pens. Col. Joseph W. Keifer’s brigade spearheaded the assault and within an hour forced the Confederate skirmishers back to their main line behind the ridge. Keifer wrote that the enemy fought hard to hold the ridge, but repeated charges pushed them along it until they abandoned it, crossed the Run, and took refuge within their works. After the Federals occupied the ridge, Ramseur sent troops through a ravine to the left to dislodge Keifer’s brigade, but the plan failed.

Virginia · United States