Battle of First Kernstown

On March 23, 1862, at approximately 2:00 PM, during the Battle of First Kernstown, General Jackson met Colonel Fulkerson and ordered his brigade to turn a Union battery on Pritchard's Hill, which he perceived as the Union's right flank. The order called for a flanking movement rather than a direct assault, intended to neutralize the Union cannons or force them to retreat. The 16 Union guns on Pritchard's Hill, under Chief of Artillery Lt. Col. Philip Daum, opened fire on the Confederates while they were concealed in the woods. Despite this, Colonel Fulkerson formed his men in a column by division, with a front 30 to 75 yards wide and 200 to 250 yards deep, then led them forward with the cry, "Men, follow me!" As the Confederates advanced across the field, supported by a single regiment under General Garnett, the Union batteries redirected their fire on them. At first the artillery did little to stop the advance, and some inexperienced Union gunners, startled by the steadiness of the Confederate infantry, began to abandon their guns in fear until Lt. Col. Daum drove them back to their positions with the tip of his sword.

Virginia · United States