Fisher’s Hill

As Ramseur’s division gave way under the weight of the Federal attack, Gen. Jubal A. Early arrived on the high ground on the opposite side of present-day Interstate 81 to organize a defense. He first decided to redeploy Gen. Gabriel C. Wharton’s division from the extreme Confederate right to the left flank. Because the maneuver would take time, however, Early attempted to slow his line’s disintegration. With Ramseur’s division essentially obliterated, Early ordered the next division in line—Gen. John Pegram’s—to stem the Union assault. Early also ordered the 13th Virginia Infantry, Pegram’s left-most regiment, to slow the rout by shooting any of Ramseur’s men who refused to make a stand. The Virginians declined to obey Early’s order. Soon, the 13th Virginia as well as Pegram’s other regiments gave way. The collapse resulted not only from the general panic that Crook’s assault created, but also because of Union Gen. George W. Getty’s attack against Pegram’s front. Getty wrote that Pegram’s men “poured in one tremendous volley … then broke and fled in the wildest disorder.” With both Ramseur’s and Pegram’s divisions routed, the remaining Confederate divisions at Fisher’s Hill fell like dominoes from west to east, and the Federals secured the “Valley’s Gibraltar.”

Virginia · United States