The Third Battle of Winchester

During the Third Battle of Winchester, fighting in and around the Second Woods was so rapid and chaotic that many participants disagreed on the details and order of events. At 11:40 a.m., Gen. Cuvier Grover's Union Division attacked with fixed bayonets across the Middle Field, catching the Confederates unprepared, with apparently only Gen. Clement Evans' Brigade of Georgians positioned in and behind the Second Woods. A desperate fight followed, and Evans' men broke and fell back for the first time without orders. Union success was brief, however, as Confederate Gens. John B. Gordon and Robert E. Rodes organized a swift counterattack. Rodes was killed within minutes, but Gen. Cullen A. Battle's Alabama Brigade struck a weak point in the Union line, and Gordon's men, along with the rest of Rodes' Division, drove Union troops out of the Second and West Woods and back across the Middle Field. The Confederates pressed on in an effort to split Sheridan's army in two, and the battle might have become Jubal Early's greatest victory if key Union reinforcements under Gen. David A. Russell had not arrived. Although Russell died within minutes, his advance slowed and then halted the Confederate attack, forcing the Confederates to fall back to the edge of the woods.

Virginia · United States