The Third Battle of Winchester
The West Woods
You are standing near the center of General Early's infantry line at what has come to be called the West Woods. Although these particular trees were not here during the Battle of Third Winchester, some are in the same location as those that stood on that day.
At 11:40 a.m., the Union Sixth and Nineteenth Corps marched toward you to confront Early's troops positioned to your left and right. As Union Gen. Horatio Wright's Sixth Corps advanced along the Berryville Pike, it veered southward exposing breaks in the line between itself and the Nineteenth Corps. Confederate Gen. Robert Rodes' Division was positioned behind you with Gen. Stephen Ramseur's Division to his right: both braced to defend their lines against the oncoming attack. The Union Sixth Corps launched a successful attack, but Confederate units regrouped and executed a powerful counterthrust. Rodes was reported to have yelled "Charge them boys! Charge them!" before a shell exploded over his head and he fell dead from his horse.
Confederate Gen. Cullen A. Battle assumed command of the division as his Alabama Brigade advanced toward a break in the Union line. The rest of Rodes' Division and all of Gordon's Division followed. With a famed Rebel yell, they pushed the Union Sixth and Nineteenth Corps back to the First Woods.
Marker can be reached from Redbud Road (County Route 661), on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
