[color="Navy"][SIZE="6"][CENTER]The Battle of Gainesville[/CENTER][/size][/color]
General Asboth had his three divisions in place for the final assault at precisely 4:00pm. Union artillery had been hammering away at the Confederate line along the sunken road for the past hour and a half. The damage was limited, but what Asboth hoped would strain was the Rebel morale in the face of such a barrage and subsequent onslaught.
For the attack, General Nelson was ordered back into action to forme the vanguard of the advance. General Runyon's tired Pennsylvania volunteers, the light infantry, would form up on Nelson's right flank. With the still shaken, but resolute men of Miles Division in support.
Confederate gunners were nearly out of case and shell shot so the Union troops were able to advance with relatively light resistence across the field. However the morale of the Federal troops was shaken as they passed over their wounded and dead comrades laying on the open plain. Many of their friends bodies lay mutilated by Confederate cannonade....others were still attempting to crawl to the safety of Gainesville...many would reach a hand and pull at the trousers of the men passing over them for help. Some men, still un-conditioned to the product of war, stopped to help their comrades and the Union lines became disorganized before reaching muskey range.
Magruder's weary troops watched in awe from the Sunken Road. A Private with the 5th Virginia Regiment was remembered to have leant over to one of his comrades and ask, "Is them yanks insane? I thought they'da had enough by now...". Magruder told his brigade commanders not to allow their troops to fire until the enemy was within 100 yards. However Confederate cannon, with plenty of close range ordinance, begun unloading on the advancing Union troops with double shot cannister, plowing holes in their ranks.
Huge swaths of the Union ranks utterly seemed to dissapear in the face of the terrible barrage. Confederate sharpshooters rained precise shots down upon the advancing federals, killing many officers and men. The Union lines wavered again, but continued forward. General Nelson, in an uncharacteristic act of bravery rode ahead of his division, up and down the line as men fell all around him and others mowed down by rebel cannon. He urged his Division forward, an act which emboldened the entire Union advance. The General turned to face the enemy in the Sunken Road and with his sword pointed toward them, exclaimed to his soldiers..."There they are!! The fools who thought our proud resolve could be diminished! NOW AT THEM boys!!! Heros are made this day!!" With that the general jumped off of his horse, unholstered his side-arm and began firing blindly into the Confederate ranks as he jogged toward their line. His men were utterly moved by the display and let out a loud cheer before kicking forward at the double quick. The troops of Runyon's Division rushed forward as well. A rebel private later reported that his best friend, witnessing the display was shot dead by the seemingly mad general.
Confederate resovle was shaken after the roar of voices from across the field reminded them that there was still dirty work to be done. Longstreet and the other brigade commanders ordered their units up again, for one last time, they said..."Up, FIRE men, FIRE and send them back to their homes and we shall be free!". With that the confederates lining the Sunken Road opened up the hottest exchange seen on the field to that point. Once the command to "Fire at Will" was given, one union officer said, "It was as if the very air you breathed was made of bullets."
Union regiments advanced to within 20 yards of the Confederate Line and finally halted....they leveled a volley upon the defenders that, for the first time, sent many of them reeling into the woods behind them. The Confederate line was faltering. The Sunken Road may be within Asboth's grasp. Union troops continued the hot exchange as smoke filled the air around them. After about 15 minutes an officer from a New York Regiment described, "the boys could only aim at the enemy's muzzle flashes." The smoke was so dense that each man could only see a few yards in front of him and each man that was hit seemed to have been struck by some phantom in the mist let alone a minie ball.
Magruder received great news soon after. Early's Brigade had arrived. And it was these fresh troops that would win the day. Early's regiments immediately plugged all gaps in the Confederate line and offered an added barrage of musketry to the already weary ranks of the advancing Union divisions.
It was all the Union troops could handle. They began falling back as their comrades continued falling all around them. It took an act of God to keep them from routing, but General Asboth finally came to terms. The battle was lost. General Tyler's relatively rested Division was ordered to form around Gainesville and cover the retreat of the 3 other divisions. The Union would have to find another way route to Richmond.
The battle was a bloody one...Union casulaties approached 5,000 in all. Approximately 1,113 men lay dead...another 3,388 lay wounded and the rest were missing or unaccounted for. Confederate casualties were considerably less, but still telling. 2,800 in all. The Sunken Road was literally layered with bodies, wounded, dead and dying. The fields west of Gainesville were also a minefield of moaning Confederate casualties. Total, the rebs had lost 745 killed, nearly 2,000 wounded and the rest missing. It was a bloody affair for both sides.
Bohnam decided that nothing more could be gained by pursuing the Federals back through Gainesville. His troops were very fatigued. Not only had the vicious battle taken its toll, but the hot July sun as well. The only fresh units Bohnam had at his disposal were Whiting's and Early's brigades, hardly enogh to mount any sort of effective offensive. So Bohnam left Whiting in command of three brigades to secure Gainesville and returned to positions along Bull Run Creek with Magruder's Divsion for some much needed rest.
By 7pm, much of the Union army had departed, only sporadic gunfire could be heard from either side. Tyler's Union cannon could still be heard covering the retreat. McDowell recieved news of the defeat during dinner and reportedly slammed his fists on the the table, shocking his guests and spilling his plate of food all over the floor. He was lucky to have retained his army in order, he thought later however. They were still fit for a fight and he had other plans.
[CENTER]
A regiment of Tyler's Division holds off a Confederate advance by General Ewell's Virginia Brigade
[/CENTER]
General Bohnam forms up his old Brigade in preparation for an advance on Gainesville
[CENTER]
A New York Regiment of Irishmen advance on the Sunken Road in the sweltering July heat
[/CENTER]
[CENTER]Union Cavalry attempt to break Confederates along the Sunken Road[/CENTER]
[CENTER]
[/CENTER]
[CENTER]Bohnam's tired Rebel Brigade moments before the withdrawal to wooded areas to the rear[/CENTER]
[CENTER]
[/CENTER]