Tigers from the Woods

Early in the afternoon, just before the Federals launched their main attack, Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon's division arrived on the battlefield, with Gen. Zebulon York's small brigade of 650 Louisiana veterans, known as the Louisiana Tigers, on the right of Gordon's line along the eastern edge of the West Woods. When Confederate commander Gen. Jubal A. Early saw Union Gen. Cuvier Grover's large 19th Corps division advancing into the Middle Field, he personally directed the Louisiana soldiers to advance into the field and meet them halfway. Supported by Confederate artillery on a height west of modern I-81, York's men engaged Col. Jacob Sharpe's U.S. brigade in a clash in which both sides charged and traded volleys at short range. Gen. William Terry's Virginians then joined the fight on York's left and delivered devastating fire into the attacking Federals while Confederate artillery pounded the Union lines, causing Sharpe's brigade to break from right to left and stream back to the First Woods after heavy losses. Although most of the brigade had been shattered, Lt. Col. Alfred Neafie's 156th New York rallied in the woods, rejoined the fight with the 6th Corps, moved forward with its bald eagle mascot soaring overhead, and helped force Gordon's division back. The New Yorkers held their position until Rodes's counterattack forced the entire Union line back to the First Woods, and by then 111 of them had been killed or wounded in the Middle Field.

Virginia · United States