Gordon's Attack Falters
Union reinforcements rushed to the sound of fighting as twilight turned to darkness in these gloomy woods. The Confederates lost direction and momentum in the smoky gloaming, and eventually the firing died away. Gordon's attack had achieved only a local, if spectacular, success.
What might have happened if the assault had begun earlier in the day? Gordon believed that "it would have resulted in a decided disaster to the whole right wing of General Grant's army, if not in its entire organization." Jubal Early wrote that "It was fortunate...that darkness came to close the affair, as the enemy, if he had been able to discover the disorder on our side, might have brought up fresh troops and availed himself of our condition." Gordon's men built and occupied these trenches on the night of May 6.
Marker can be reached from Constitution Highway (State Highway 20), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
