DuPont and the Union Retreat

Late in the afternoon, as the Union line collapsed and retreated in great disorder, Union Capt. Henry DuPont arrived near this spot with six cannon that had been in the rear of the Federal force. Finding only a few regiments west of the turnpike still keeping their formation, he ignored contradictory orders from young staff officers and acted on his own judgment. Believing it necessary to risk the loss of some of his guns to cover and protect the retreat, he divided his artillery into three two-gun sections and, with no infantry support and a thick curtain of smoke over the field, positioned them along the Valley Turnpike. The guns fired on the pursuing Confederates and then leapfrogged backward along the pike. Their audacity led at least one Confederate to believe the battery had strong infantry support, causing a pause to form line before advancing. DuPont's stand bought enough time for Union Gen. Franz Sigel to establish a new position with late-arriving troops on Rude's Hill, one thousand yards away, and Confederate Gen. John C. Breckinridge, partly convinced by this resistance that Sigel would make a stand, halted for nearly an hour to rest and rearm his men. DuPont later distinguished himself throughout the 1864 campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley and received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Virginia · United States