Advantages of Terrain

Heavy woods now cover the vast rolling wheat fields where the armies fought, and timber also conceals the steep slopes and jagged ravines that protected the flanks of the Union position. The rough ground forced most Confederate troops to advance across the flat open fields along the Willis Church road, though parts of two Confederate divisions tried to move through a drainage leading directly to the Union line. The steep slopes shielded Southern infantrymen from most Union artillery fire, but a few well-placed Union cannons swept the ravine. By nightfall, a vigorous counterattack by a Federal brigade had cleared the ravine of Confederates and preserved the Union position.

Virginia · United States