Tempest At Ox Hill: The Battle Of Chantilly by Welker David A

Author:Welker, David A. [DAVID A. WELKER]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2011-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Morrison’s men advanced down the long, gentle slope to the base of the hill. As they marched steadily on at the common time, the first shells from, Benjamin’s guns screamed overhead and slammed into the woods in their front. In the ranks of Stevens’s division the men could hear the first claps of thunder intermixed with the booming guns and saw the first flashes of lightning slicing through the darkened sky. Rain that had been so annoying minutes before now grew in intensity, stinging the men’s faces. The storm that had been brewing all day was about to break on them, in full.29

Word of the advancing Federal line surged throughout the Confederate ranks on the northern end of the Reid fields. All along the line the order to load was given—if it hadn’t already been done—and men steadied themselves for the impending fight. The Yankees had taken barely a dozen steps when their artillery, posted well to their rear but in plain view of the Southern line, opened fire. As the Union infantry line drew closer to their position, so did the deadly artillery shells. Their accuracy was aided by the clear view the Federal gunners had, and within moments of the first shells falling near the Confederate ranks, Southern officers ordered their men to lie down and take cover—a more needless order was never given.

Stevens’s men pressed on. Within moments they crossed the marshy flats between the two slopes and started up the longer, more gradual slope toward their destination atop this rise. Passing through the marsh temporarily obscured their view of the enemy and as Morrison’s men advanced to within sight of the woodline once more, they were surprised to find no sign at all of the Confederates. Throughout Morrison’s ranks the men buzzed excitedly of this revelation. Hazard Stevens, on the right of the line with the 79th New York, recalled, “Not a sight nor sound betrayed the presence of the enemy. There was nothing to be seen but the open field, extending two hundred yards in front and closed by the wall of woods, with an old zigzag rail fence at its edge,”

“There is no enemy there,” Captain William Lusk exclaimed to Hazard, marching by his side in the rear of the 79th New York’s line. “They have fallen back; we shall find nothing there,” Lusk offered hopefully. The men of Morrison’s brigade had now reached within a few dozen yards of the woodline and the sight of trees, shrubs, and the fence line empty of any enemy that greeted them could only fill them with hope. Perhaps there would be no fight today after all.30

But the words had barely slipped from Captain Lusk’s mouth when suddenly a Rebel line rose from behind the rail fence and delivered a volley into the front of Morrison’s line. The shock of the Confederate presence was nearly as great as the damage inflicted by the volley. Morrison’s ranks shuddered as the minie balls sailed through the line, cutting down dozens of front rank men in the process.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.