10 May 62, Giles Courthouse, WV - Battleground 5: Antietam
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| SM: | 3 |
| Turns: | 13 |
| Type: | Custom |
| First Side: | CSA |
| Second Side: | Union |
| Downloads: | 33 |
10 May 1862, Giles Courthouse, WV [Curt Cabbage]
On May 6th, future President Rutherford B. Hayes took his 23rd Ohio regiment forward from Princeton through the formidable, but as of yet undefended, Narrows of the New River, and encamped just beyond Giles Courthouse, now Pearisburg. Twenty three miles from the main body at Princeton, the important railroad bridge at Central Depot, defended by Henry Heth, was around twenty miles away.
Hayes had placed his 600 man command south of town on this ridge, an extension off the much larger Angel Rest Mountain on the right of the picture. The Union force was made of nine companies of Hayes' 23rd Ohio to the right of the road, and some cavalry on the left.
Heth's 1,800 men approached Hayes along this road early on May 10th and bombarded the Union position, to which the artillery-less Federals had no response. The Confederate infantry approached to with 150 yards and began firing, which was enough to convince the 2nd (W)Va. Cavalry to flee. Flanked on both sides, Hayes fell back to another position. Col. George Patton of the 22nd Va., an ancestor to a more famous man of the same name, was wounded as the Confederates routed the Yankees from this later position, and the Northerners unsuccessfully tried to burn a bridge behind them.
The Narrows, with barely enough room for a road between the mountain and the New River, was the next logical place for the Yankees to make a stand. But when Heth brought up some guns, Hayes was wounded, and the Federals fell back again.
At the cost of 2 killed and 4 wounded, Heth had inflicted 20 killed and 50 wounded on the Federals. Cox's advance was stopped, and now the Confederates plotted his destruction.
On May 6th, future President Rutherford B. Hayes took his 23rd Ohio regiment forward from Princeton through the formidable, but as of yet undefended, Narrows of the New River, and encamped just beyond Giles Courthouse, now Pearisburg. Twenty three miles from the main body at Princeton, the important railroad bridge at Central Depot, defended by Henry Heth, was around twenty miles away.
Hayes had placed his 600 man command south of town on this ridge, an extension off the much larger Angel Rest Mountain on the right of the picture. The Union force was made of nine companies of Hayes' 23rd Ohio to the right of the road, and some cavalry on the left.
Heth's 1,800 men approached Hayes along this road early on May 10th and bombarded the Union position, to which the artillery-less Federals had no response. The Confederate infantry approached to with 150 yards and began firing, which was enough to convince the 2nd (W)Va. Cavalry to flee. Flanked on both sides, Hayes fell back to another position. Col. George Patton of the 22nd Va., an ancestor to a more famous man of the same name, was wounded as the Confederates routed the Yankees from this later position, and the Northerners unsuccessfully tried to burn a bridge behind them.
The Narrows, with barely enough room for a road between the mountain and the New River, was the next logical place for the Yankees to make a stand. But when Heth brought up some guns, Hayes was wounded, and the Federals fell back again.
At the cost of 2 killed and 4 wounded, Heth had inflicted 20 killed and 50 wounded on the Federals. Cox's advance was stopped, and now the Confederates plotted his destruction.
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