Ramseur's Brigade

At dawn on May 12, 1864, Union troops overwhelmed Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson's Division at the muleshoe salient. Brig. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur's North Carolina Brigade, including the 2nd, 4th, 14th, and 30th North Carolina troops, counterattacked across these earthworks and by 7:30 a.m. regained the portion of the salient opposite this point. For the next twenty hours Ramseur's men held their ground against determined Union assaults, then withdrew to a new defensive line one-half mile to the rear. This stand helped thwart the Union advance and saved Lee's army from disaster.

Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia · United States