Battle of Cedar Mountain

When General Charles Winder fell at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, General William B. Taliaferro took command of his division on the left half of the Confederate line. After a reconnaissance, Taliaferro saw that Garnett's brigade had a dangerously exposed flank and sent the 10th Virginia to extend the line, but Union General Samuel Crawford's troops attacked before the regiment could get into position. Union soldiers overwhelmed Garnett, pushed south into the rear of Confederates along the Culpeper Road, and then fought Ohioans in the cornfield to their front. Chaos followed as men battled hand-to-hand in the woods with no quarter given, and the Confederate line collapsed. Crawford's men drove the retreating Confederates across the Culpeper Road and through the woods across Crittenden Lane, pushing back brigades and batteries alike, until the timely arrival of Colonel Lawrence Branch's North Carolina brigade stabilized the line, advanced over this ground, and cleared the woods of exhausted Federals, while those unable to retreat were taken prisoner. The fighting in and around these woods caused over 1,200 casualties, one-third of the battle's total losses.

Virginia · United States