During the Battle of New Market, Confederate Gen. John C. Breckinridge used his artillery as a powerful mobile striking force. He first placed cannon on Shirley's Hill to shell the Federals in an unsuccessful effort to provoke an attack. When he advanced, he divided his artillery into three groups: Jackson's Battery remained with Gen. Gabriel Wharton on the west side of the battlefield, McClanahan's Battery accompanied Gen. John Imboden around Smith's Creek, and the main force of 10 guns under Maj. William McLaughlin moved onto the Valley Turnpike with Breckinridge. Breckinridge ordered Capt. George B. Chapman to move his guns forward, and Chapman brought them through town at a sweeping gallop and unlimbered them here, where they were joined by the 2 guns of the VMI Cadet section and Lt. Carter Berkeley's section. From this position, the Confederate artillery poured deadly fire into Union infantry on Rice's Hill, helping rout them, and fought Federal guns under Capt. Alfred von Kleiser near the Rice House 500 yards away. The Confederate cannon overwhelmed the Federal artillery, disabled one gun, and forced a withdrawal. Breckinridge kept pushing his guns forward aggressively, using them, in Col. J. Stoddard Johnston's words, as almost a skirmish line of infantry. Their fire battered Federal guns, mauled Union infantry, and helped repel a Union cavalry charge at a turning point in the battle. Historian William "Jack" Davis judged that no other battle of this size in the war saw cannon maneuvering and firing play so important a part in the outcome.

Photo: Bradley Owen

New Market, Virginia · USA