boy soldier, brought a gun into
action within seventy paces of Gibbon's line, yet the front of fire,
flashing redly through the gloom, neither receded nor advanced. A
flank attack on either side would have turned the scale, but the
fight was destined to end as it had begun. The Federal commander,
ignorant of the enemy's strength, and reaching the field when the
fight was hottest, was reluctant to engage his last reserves. Jackson
had ordered Early and Forno, moving through the wood west of the
Douglass House, to turn the enemy's right; but within the thickets
ran the deep cuttings and high embankments of the unfinished
railroad; and the regiments, bewildered in the darkness, were unable
to advance. Meanwhile the fight to the front had gradually died away.
The Federals, outflanked upon the left, and far outnumbered, had
slowly retreated to the road. The Confederates had been too roughly
handled to pursue.

The reports of the engagement at Groveton are singularly meagre.
Preceded and followed by events of still greater moment, it never
attracted the attention it deserved. On the side of the Union 2800
men were engaged, on the side of the Southerners 4500, and for more
than an hour and a half the lines of infantry were engaged at the
very closest quarters. The rifled guns of the Federals undoubtedly
gave them a marked advantage. But the men who faced each other that
August evening fought with a gallantry that has seldom been
surpassed. The Federals, surprised and unsupported, bore away the
honours. The Western brigade, commanded by General Gibbon, displayed
a coolness and a steadfastness worthy of the soldiers of Albuera. Out
of 2000 men the four Wisconsin and Indiana regiments lost 750, and
were still unconquered. The three regiments which supported them,
although it was their first battle, lost nearly half their number,
and the casualties must have reached a total of 1100. The Confederate
losses were even greater. Ewell, who was shot down in the first line,
and lay long on the field, lost 725 out of 3000. The Stonewall
Brigade, which had by this time dwindled to 600 muskets, lost over
200, including five field officers; the 21st Georgia, of Trimble's
brigade, 178 men out of 242; and it is probable that the Valley army
on this day was diminished by more than 1200 stout soldiers. The fall
of Ewell was a terrible disaster. Zealous and indefatigable, a stern
fighter and beloved by his men, he was the most able and the most