The Third Battle of Winchester

At 11:40 a.m. in the West Woods during the Third Battle of Winchester, the Union Sixth and Nineteenth Corps advanced to confront General Early's infantry line as General Horatio Wright's Sixth Corps moved along the Berryville Pike and veered southward, opening gaps between it and the Nineteenth Corps. Behind this position stood General Robert Rodes' Division, with General Stephen Ramseur's Division on its right, both prepared to meet the attack. The Union Sixth Corps struck successfully at first, but Confederate forces regrouped and launched a strong counterattack. After Rodes reportedly shouted, "Charge them boys! Charge them!" a shell burst over his head and he fell dead from his horse. General Cullen A. Battle then took command of the division, and as his Alabama Brigade advanced toward a break in the Union line, the rest of Rodes' Division and all of Gordon's Division followed, driving the Union Sixth and Nineteenth Corps back to the First Woods with a Rebel yell.

Virginia · United States