A Fatal Reconnaissance

At about 9 p.m. on May 2, 1863, when "Stonewall" Jackson reached this point, he stood at the peak of his military career. Four hundred yards ahead, a shaken Union army hastily built earthworks to halt the Confederate advance, while one hundred yards behind, Jackson's troops formed along the Bullock Road for what he hoped would be the final and climactic night attack against the faltering Federals. As the Confederates prepared, Jackson and a small group of attendants rode forward on the Mountain Road, little more than a woods path, to this point. He could hear Union soldiers' axes as they fashioned earthworks ahead. When one of his staff officers warned him to turn back, Jackson replied, "The danger is over. The enemy is routed. Go tell A.P. Hill to press right on!" He then continued his fateful ride toward the front.

Lake Wilderness, Virginia · United States