Infantry Against Infantry

At Malvern Hill, although Federal artillery had outstanding fields of fire, the wrinkles and hollows in the ground in front of the West House offered attacking Confederates some protection. On this side of the road, Union General Darius N. Couch of the Fourth Corps placed his infantry in front of the cannon to hold the ground. Couch and his three brigade commanders, Howe, Abercrombie, and Palmer, brought a combined 88 years of army experience, and their men were issued 60 rounds of ammunition. Confederate infantry surged up the front of the hill from the Parsonage, and toward dusk men from Stonewall Jackson’s wing joined the fight and formed a firing line on the ridge 200 yards ahead. Both sides exchanged heavy fire until well after sunset, but the struggle ended without decisive results.

Virginia · United States