fire from both the enemy’s batteries and
musketry. Soon all of the regiments above
named were pouring forth a well-directed
fire, which was promptly answered by the
enemy, and after a hotly contested action
of two hours, just as night closed in, the
enemy gave way and were soon completely
routed, leaving their dead and wounded
on the field, together with two pieces of
artillery and four caissons.”
In the center of the storm, the men of the
Stonewall Brigade found themselves liter-
ally engaged in the fight of their lives. Tak-
ing positions to the right of Fulkerson’s
men at the stone wall, Garnett’s brigade
helped turn back repeated Union attacks—
only to run out of ammunition as the after-
noon waned. Confederates began drifting
rearward in a growing stream. Jackson,
furious, stopped one soldier and
demanded to know why he was falling
back. When the soldier replied that he had
run out of ammunition, the general
shouted, “Then go back and give them the
bayonet!” Garnett, closer to the action at
the front, gave the order to fall back. “Had
I not done so,” he said later, “we would
have run imminent risk of being routed by
superiority of numbers, which would have
resulted probably in the loss of part of our
artillery and also endangered our trans-
portation.” At 6:30PM, he ordered the
brigade to withdraw. Fulkerson’s men
soon followed suit.
Jackson angrily made his way to the
front, where he encountered Garnett
shouting at his men to make an orderly
retreat. “Why have you not rallied your
men?” Jackson demanded. “Halt and
rally!” Garnett tried to explain the situa-
tion, but Jackson turned away and
grabbed a frightened drummer boy by the
shoulder. “Beat the rally!” he screamed.
“Beat the rally!”
Jackson surveyed the field and felt that
it was not time yet to fall back into safer
positions. “Though our troops were fight-
ing under great disadvantages,” he said
later, “I regret that General Garnett should
have given the order to fall back, as oth-
erwise the enemy’s advance would at least
have been retarded, and the remaining partof my infantry reserve have had a better
opportunity for coming up and taking part
in the engagement if the enemy continued
to press forward.”
Garnett finally located Colonel William
Harman of the 5th Virginia and directed
him to place the regiment in a defensive
position on the crest of a small hill while
the rest of the Confederates withdrew.
Thanks in large part to the disarray of the
on-charging Union troops and theapproaching darkness, Harman’s men,
joined by elements of the 42nd Virginia,
managed to stabilize the line. As night fell,
the infantry fell back behind the screening
cavalry and headed south along the Valley
Turnpike toward Bartonsville.
By 8 PM, the Battle of Kernstown was
over. Of the 12,300 men engaged in the
struggle, 1,308 were casualties. On the
Union side there were 590 casualties, whilethe Confederates suffered 718 losses,
including 263 captured. Among the latter
was one of Jackson’s own kinsmen: Lieu-
tenant George G. Junkin, a cousin of the
general’s first wife, Ellie. Jackson, dis-
mounting beside a campfire alongside the
road, stood looking morosely into the
flames. A Southern cavalryman, with ill-
advised humor, remarked to the general that
“the Yankees don’t seem willing to quit
Winchester, sir. It was reported that theywere retreating, but I guess they’re retreat-
ing after us.” Jackson’s eyes flashed. “I think
I may say I am satisfied, sir,” he snapped.
In the cold light of day, Jackson would
find himself a good deal less satisfied.
Clearly, Ashby’s faulty report on the
enemy strength at Winchester was a major
contributing factor in the defeat. Jackson’s
major mistake in sending in his reserves
during the midpoint of the battle was“I AM WELL SATISFIED WITH THE
RESULT. TIME HAS SHOWN THAT
WHILE THE FIELD IS IN POSSESSION
OF THE ENEMY, THE MOST ESSENTIAL
FRUITS OF THE BATTLE ARE OURS.”
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