Fisher’s Hill

Near the extreme left flank of Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early’s army at Fisher’s Hill, Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur’s division held a thinly stretched line of infantry on September 22, 1864. Confederate observers used a large lookout tree there throughout the day to watch Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s movements, but while many Confederates focused to their front, Gen. Bryan Grimes looked west toward Little North Mountain and saw Union Gen. George Crook’s columns moving up the mountain’s eastern face. Ramseur at first dismissed Grimes’s warning as a fence row, but after looking through binoculars he saw the infantry line clearly. Grimes urged him to shift troops at once to strengthen the division’s left, yet Ramseur refused to redeploy until consulting Early, who would not allow any movement. After the war, Early said he had already begun preparing a withdrawal and believed shifting troops might increase the chances of a Union assault. The Confederate left flank therefore remained weak and was ultimately unable to repel Crook’s attack.

Virginia · United States