At approximately 6:30 p.m., Gibbon ordered the 2nd Wisconsin to quietly advance toward the Rebel guns, fire, and then capture the guns from the "surprised" Confederates. Unknown to the Union leaders, skirmishers from Starke's Confederate Brigade were watching the Wisconsin troops with muskets cocked and ready to fire. The 2nd Wisconsin made it half way up the hill when Rebel troops sent scattered shots into the right flank, forcing Colonel Edgar O'Connor to wheal the regiment toward the right. During this confusion, the Confederate guns withdrew to safety. Companies A and B of the 2nd Wisconsin were sent forward in skirmish order with the remaining troops following in line, and they pushed the Rebs over the crest of the ridge only to find a supporting line of Jackson's men facing them. Then came the shock. Confederate infantry came out of the woods in great numbers and the Federal troops stared in disbelief as they came to realize that Jackson was not at Centreville as expected, but right in front of them! The Stonewall Brigade formed the front line for the Confederate attack, with other regiments and brigades falling in behind them. O'Connor, not realizing that he was facing the elite of the Rebel army calmly awaited their approach and ordered his troops to fire only when the gray clad enemy were within shouting distance. The Rebels returned the fire in what became a determined contest of bravery on both sides. For precious minutes the 2nd Wisconsin kept the Stonewall Brigade at bay while Gibbon sent the 19th Indiana and the rest of the Iron Brigade to support the lone Union regiment. The 19th Indiana was the first to reach the field, coming in to cover the left flank of the 2nd Wisconsin. Opposite them lay the 4th Virginia, hidden behind a fence. Neither of the opposing regiments could see each other because of an intervening ridge until they were less than 100 yards apart. The 19th, overlapping the flank of the 4th Virginia poured a devastating fire into the Rebel troops, securing the 2nd Wisconsin's left flank. At this point the 7th Wisconsin came into line on the right flank, and the 6th Wisconsin moved up to the right of the 7th, but with a large gap between the two badger units that was large enough for several Rebel regiments to pass through. Battery B of the 4th U.S. Artillery, with 6 Napoleons in tow moved to cover this gap with shell and case shot. As the light began to grow dim in the twilight hours the two sides kept up an amazing level of fire. The Union troops heard the Rebel yell for the first time and not to be outdone, made as much noise as their own voices could generate. The din of the yells and musketry prevented officers from being heard clearly. Some of the men would later state that all they could hear was an occasional officer's command of, "Give them hell boys, give them hell!" Gibbon sent messages asking for help to division headquarters. Of course, King was still in the midst of his seizures and sent no response, so Gibbon was forced to ask Marsena Patrick and Abner Doubleday for help. Doubleday finally ordered the 56th Pennsylvania and 76th New York forward with no other orders than to "support Gibbon". Captain Campbell asked for infantry support for his U.S. Battery and Doubleday responded by sending his only other regiment, the 95th New York , to support the guns, accompanying these troops so as to be close to all of his regiments. With these troops now in line, and the guns of Doubleday's artillery coming to assist, the Federal troops were able to halt the Stonewall Brigade at a rail fence. Thus stalemated for the time being, Jackson ordered the remainder of his force into the attack. Brawner Farm was about to become an inferno. By about 7:00 p.m. Jackson was looking to roll back one of the Federal flanks. Confederate artillery had been moved to threaten enfilade fire and two companies of the 19th Indiana had left the main line to try to drive off the Rebel gunners. Captain John Pelham, one of the young and bright lights of Jackson's force, led two rifled guns to a position that could fire onto the flank of the 19th Indiana line. Union skirmishers kept up a steady rain of musketballs, forcing the artillery back. However, the skirmish companies were so occupied with firing on the artillery that they didn't notice Colonel Taliaferro's three Virginia regiments advancing on them until it was almost too late. The 19th was pulled back some ten yards to a rail fence behind an "offset in the ground", and proceeded to pour a deadly fire into the ranks of the Virginians. Taliaferro's horse was shot from under him and he had to lead the Rebel withdrawal on foot. On the right of the Union line, the 2nd Wisconsin was being whittled away by casualties. Colonel O'Connor had been wounded in the arm and groin and the group of soldiers that were carrying him to the rear lost more than a half dozen men in the process. Of the eight men of the color guard, only one was left. Color Corporal Joseph Minor had already been wounded in one leg and now received a musketball in the other. The colors fell to the ground and remained there everyone else was too busy firing to pick it up. Tales of great bravery abounded in the regiment. A good example of this can be found on page 81 of Brave Men's Tears: 'Cole says that he was beside young Stickney during the fight, and the first intimation he had that he was wounded was Stickney's remark: "There, my little finger is gone, but I can shoot yet." In a few minutes he remarked," I am shot through the arm, but I can shoot yet." In perhaps five minutes more he (Cole) looked around and saw Stickney's head fall over on his shoulder, and he jumped and caught him, and found that he was dead; just shot through the head.' Bravery Bravery was not limited to the soldiers in blue. Tremendous casualties were also being inflicted on the Stonewall Brigade and many of the wounds were in the left hand or arm as a result of these parts being exposed when firing their muskets. The Confederate officers were being mowed down in great numbers. Already, Taliaferro had been hit three times (but refused to leave the field), Col. Grigsby of the 27th Virginia had been wounded, Col. John Neff of the 33rd Virginia had been killed, and Lt. Col. Lawson Botts of the 2nd Virginia was mortally wounded. Two more men who assumed command of the 2nd Virginia were also made casualties in a short period of time. When the 6th Wisconsin had come into line it fired onto the flanks of the 31st and 61st Georgia regiments, who, being surprised by the volley, ran away from the Union troops. The rebels believed that they were surrounded and that the cause was lost, and they refused to obey their officers' commands to rally. General Ewell personally grabbed one of the regimental flags and shouted to the gray clad southerners to rally around him. Shamed by their division general's courage, the troops came together and marched back toward the Federals. It was now dark and the 26th Georgia moved forward with Jackson riding behind them to urge them on. The darkness prevented anyone not in battle already from being able to distinguish friend from foe. The Georgia soldiers saw a body of men without a regimental flag and poured an intense volley into them, killing several men. The problem was that this "enemy" happened to be the 2nd Virginia. Some of the Virginia men tried to run towards the Georgians to tell them of their mistake, but these too were shot down. Finally, the Virginians were able to identify themselves and the unfortunate incident came to a conclusion. Now firing on the Wisconsin troops, the 26th Georgia was ordered to charge, and with their Rebel yell, the regiment surged forward. Lt. Col. Charles Hamilton spotted the Confederates and ordered the 7th Wisconsin to wheel and move forward. These men delayed their fire until the Confederates were about 30 yards away. At the same time, the 2nd Wisconsin increased its fire on the Georgians and within minutes eight of ten company commanders had been made casualties and the color guard nearly wiped out. Less than sixty men could be found to rally around the colors of the 26th Georgia, and a supporting Confederate regiment from Lawton's Brigade was also whittled down from enfilade fire from the 76th New York. Jackson's dream of breaking through the Union line died along with the Georgia troops. Stonewall Jackson was not at his best this day. Seriously outnumbering the Union force, he should have been able to overpower them. He had not counted on the fierce determination of the men of the Iron Brigade and this was compounded by sending the Confederate brigades in piecemeal fashion, each being shot up in its turn. It was now Trimble's Brigade that was being called upon to carry the Federal line. His four regiments moved forward, but again the night darkness proved to be a problem. A false report reached the commander of the 15th Alabama that they were firing on other Confederate troops. According to one soldier, for over forty minutes they were given conflicting orders as to whether or not the troops in front were Union or Confederate. They would fire a few volleys, be told to halt fire, and then would receive a new order to shoot. Since no uniforms or actual men could be made out by the Rebels, they were forced to fire at the musket flashes in front of them. Trimble now ordered his four regiments to charge. Unfortunately, only the 21st Georgia and 21st North Carolina received the orders, the 15th Alabama and 12th Georgia somehow being excluded. The two Confederate regiments gave a rebel yell and charged over a fence and moved down a swell in the ground. However, their forms were outlined in the night sky and the men of the 56th Pennsylvania and the 76th New York "rose up and delivered a most deadly fire." The Wisconsin regiments on either side were able to give a fierce oblique fire into the mass of Confederates and the Rebels were soon forced to withdraw. According to Alan Gaff, "Only a handful of men in each regiment were rallied after the abortive charge. Trimble's attack had been a failure and his brigade was shattered." It was after 8:00 p.m. and the battle was winding down due to darkness. Jackson had ordered A.P. Hill's units into the fight but Hill and his men could not be found. General Maxcy Gregg's South Carolina brigade had been ordered to report to General Ewell, but Ewell had been badly wounded and Gregg was unable to find him to receive orders. Archer's and Branch's brigades had been providing support for the Confederate artillery firing on Hatch's Union brigade, but were never engaged. The only other Confederates to reach the field in time were part of Beverly Robertson's cavalry brigade, but the fight was all but over when they arrived. Instead of finding the Union forces retreating, it was the Stonewall Brigade that had retired. Now, however, Gibbon ordered the 19th Indiana to move back from the Brawner Farm house and the 5th Virginia took over that position. It was a bit past 9:00 p.m. and the shooting died down to an occasional musket crack. Jackson had lost his opportunity to crush King's division. This, of course, would not matter to some extent because of the Confederate victory at 2nd Bull Run, a battle that followed right after Brawner Farm. Casualties had been extremely heavy on both sides. All four colonels of Gibbon's brigade had been made casualties and the brigade had lost eight out of twelve field officers, a stunning loss of command by any account. Rufus King decided to abandon the battlefield, probably changing the course of history as regards the upcoming battle of Manassas. He would later face a board of inquiry for his actions (and lack thereof) on August 28th. Casualties were incredible considering the short duration of the actual battle. The 19th Indiana had lost 210 of 423 men, the 2nd Wisconsin 276 of 430, the 6th Wisconsin 75 of 504, the 7th Wisconsin 164 of 580, the 56th Pennsylvania lost 136 of about 300 men, and the 76th New York lost 100 out of 250 men. The aggregate loss for King's division was 1025 wounded, killed, or missing. Total Confederate casualties exceeded 1250, with the Stonewall Brigade having lost approximately 340 of 850 engaged. Ewell's division sustained even worse casualties, having lost 724 men. The Ist Georgia suffered 71% casualties and the 26th Georgia lost 72% of its effectives in the battle, percentages that were surpassed by only two other Confederate regiments during the entire war. The loss in field officers led to Trimble's brigade being led by a captain on the day after the battle! There are several lessons a student of Civil War tactics and facts can learn from this battle. The first is that command ability of leaders is quite an integral part of "winning or losing" a battle. Even the best troops, if not properly led, can be held off or defeated. A second point is that troops often withstood an amazing number of casualties without running away. The final lesson is that casualties were frequently inflicted by friendly troops, especially when visibility was poor. Battle of Brawner Farm: Prelude to 2nd Manassas Battle of Brawner Farm: Setting Up a Scenario Back to The Zouave Vol I No. 5 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1987 The American Civil War Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com