Shortly after noon on August 9, the first of Jackson's men completed a ten-mile march to the gated intersection of the Culpeper Road and the Crittenden Farm Lane, known locally as the Crittenden Gate, as temperatures neared triple digits and parched soldiers on both sides fell out of formation. As the Confederates advanced, Gen. Jubal A. Early saw Union cavalry along the ridgelines and fields by the lane and maneuvered his brigade around nearby trees to engage them in open fields to the south. His veteran regiments executed the movement skillfully and scattered the inexperienced Federal troopers. Union cannons posted along Mitchell's Station Road then opened fire, and Confederate gunners on ridges behind this position and on the Cedar Mountain shelf answered with fire on the Federal cavalry skirmishers and cannoneers, beginning the Battle of Cedar Mountain. Early advanced to a position along Crittenden Lane, where shells soon swept through his ranks and into the woods as tree trunks shattered, limbs splintered, and men fell.