Matthews Hill

Officers tried to hurry the long Union column down the road past Matthews Hill because McDowell's flanking plan depended on speed and surprise, but a sudden rattle of musketry ahead and wounded men stumbling out of dense smoke showed that the fighting had already begun. As Union infantry and artillery pushed forward, they heard the enemy starting to charge upslope, while Confederate reinforcements came into view in the distance near Henry House, and the chance for surprise was gone.

Virginia · United States