Brigadier General James Jay Archer followed Branch through the thick woods, then obliqued northward and came up on the North Carolinian’s left. There, off to their right front, stood the 10th Maine. The New Englanders, brigaded with Crawford’s sanguinary regiments, had missed the charge an hour earlier and had advanced into the wheat field to cover the withdrawal. The Yankees were taking murderous fire from Branch’s North Carolinians and trying desperately to return the volley. Archer’s amalgamated brigade of Tennesseans, Alabamians and Georgians gleefully added their weight of iron to the fight, and the Federals began to fall in great heaps.

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Mercifully, the order to withdraw was given, and the New Englanders bolted for the sanctuary of the woods east of the wheat field, near Culpeper Road. As the ranks were breaking up, another Fed-
eral brigade, Brig. Gen. George Gordon’s, was making its way through the woods toward the wheat field, while a battalion of the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry came charging down the road, streamed into the wheat field and proceeded to get itself slaughtered in as glorious and ineffectual a cavalry effort as any that occurred dur-
ing the war.

The galloping Pennsylvanians rode past Branch’s infantry and experienced firsthand the bitter effects of Southern marks-
manship. The horsemen turned in a sweeping arc past Archer’s troops and suffered mightily at their hands, as well. In all, the 1st Cavalry lost 34 of the 164 men who had begun the charge.

In the northern portion of the wheat field, the Stonewall Brigade was busy killing Crawford’s fleeing troopers and sealing the Confederate left. Most of the Union soldiers making a run for safety were either shot down or taken prisoner. The arrival of Gordon’s brigade deflected the Virginians’ attention and helped some Union soldiers escape. Ironically, some of the Northern troops who an hour earlier had participated in the murder of Confederate soldiers who had honorably surrendered, now found themselves in a killing field from which the heavy hand of judgment provided no succor. They fell in heaps. The 5th Virginia captured the battle flags of the 5th Connecticut and 28th New York, along with a number of prisoners who were, by all accounts, humanely treated. Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Dorsey Pender’s brigade moved up on the Stonewall Brigade’s rear.

Jackson’s center had been secured for more than half an hour. The efforts of the 14th Georgia of Thomas’ brigade had resulted not only in blunting Crawford’s spearhead but also in providing a rallying point, near the gate, for broken regiments. There, Lt. Col. Robert W. Folsom, commanding the 14th Georgia, had rallied nearly 800 muskets, which provided an effective resistance to the surging Federals.

Walker’s 13th Virginia, which had earlier fought out of a pocket at the original brigade line, was joined by a fragment from the 31st Virginia. Together, both regiments, acting in concert with the 14th Georgia, sallied toward Culpeper Road, driving elements of Crawford’s and Geary’s Federals before them. The three regiments arrived at the road in time to volley into the charging Pennsylvania horsemen.

Meanwhile, at Cedar Mountain, Forno’s and Trimble’s brigades began their sweep across the battlefield, while north of their position, in the bloody wheat field, the antagonists prepared to play out the final act in the drama.

Gordon’s Federals laid their cartridge boxes beside them and awaited the Confederates. Archer’s men came forward, followed by the Stonewall Brigade and, on their left, Dorsey Pender’s seasoned fighters. The Federals volleyed, but the Rebel assault halted only momentarily.

“Take aim. Fire low! Fire!” a Confederate officer screamed, and the roar of 1,100 muskets echoed across the parched field. Archer’s men came on, running hard. On Gordon’s right, Pender’s North Carolinians, eager to join the fray, volleyed into his flank. The Federals broke as Archer’s men came crashing into the fence line.

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