On May 1, Union infantry reached the farthest point of their advance at Chancellorsville and from there poured a murderous fire into a disorganized Confederate line. The Confederates under Gen. William Mahone soon regrouped for battle on the ridge ahead. A Union officer remembered that his men advanced steadily and with determination despite sharp musketry and artillery fire, but Confederate fire halted the attack. Federal troops then fell back to the Lewis house and held off the enemy from behind the ridge, though the battle soon took an unfortunate turn for the Union.