On the afternoon of May 23, 1862, Union troops raced to cross wagon, railroad, and pike bridges over the forks of the Shenandoah River while pursuing Confederates closed in behind them. After being flanked out of his position on Richardson's Hill, Union Col. John R. Kenly hurried his command northward to escape across the river. Once his men were over the South Fork bridges and then the Pike Bridge over the North Fork, they tried to burn the spans by piling hay on them and setting it afire, but recent rains had soaked the wooden beams and made them difficult to ignite. Confederates from the 1st Maryland threw the burning hay off the wagon bridge and crossed there, while 8th Louisiana soldiers under Gen. Richard Taylor crossed the railroad bridge on its ties, though some fell into the river. At the Pike Bridge, Kenly ordered that bridge burned too, and part of it collapsed, but Confederate cavalrymen began fording the river while others used hats and canteens to carry water and fight the flames. One Union officer was killed near this spot, and Union Sgt. William Taylor later received the Medal of Honor for persisting in the effort to burn the Pike Bridge despite being painfully wounded.