The first bloody battle of the war turned into a stunning Confederate victory and featured the rise of a then little known colonel who thereafter was known as Stonewall Jackson. It was the first time the Union Army would hear the infamous rebel yell, but certainly not the last.



For most of the day the Union army had control of the field and it appeared to be well on its way to victory. In the early afternoon captains Rickett and Griffin deployed artillery forward to Henry House Hill in an attempt to enfilade the Confederates and, with infantry support, attempt to finish the battle. That support was not to materialize. At 2:30 pm Jackson’s 33rd Virginia overran these guns and in a moment, the fate of the battle changed. The painting in this piece by Sidney E. King entitled “The Capture of Ricketts’ Battery” captures that moment. Jackson pressed the attacks, and the guns would change hands several times during the course of the fight. Other matters took place at the same time on the other end of the field too as reinforcements arrived by train from the Shenandoah Valley.



What appeared to be a near certain Union victory at 2:30 pm that day became a complete rout two hours later and virtually insured that the war would be a long and bloody one.