In the heat of the battle no one noticed George lying off to one side. When Big Al sounded the alarm they had all jumped for cover. George must have been startled and confused for he turned his head to look and was struck by a Minnie Ball. He fell back into his original firing position.
The battle was raging, neither side being able to overcome the other. Although the Union forces outnumbered the Confederates two to one, the Confederates were fighting from well fortified positions while the Union soldiers had to charge over open fields and their every charge was repulsed with great losses.
Just as Sam turned back to the battle, the Confederate artillery fired a concentrated barrage that opened a gaping hole in the Union lines. He saw a Confederate officer leading a force of soldiers in a counter attack through that gaping hole. Sam quickly trained his Sharpes on the officer and fired. He hit the officer square in the head. He was dead in the saddle, at the same time his horse was also hit and sank to the ground. The troops he was leading stopped their charge and started a slow orderly retreat, evidently stunned at the sight of their fallen officer. Later Sam was to learn that he was given credit for killing General Jones.
The death of General Jones marked the collapse of the Confederate lines and caused the withdrawal of the Confederates southward down the East Road to Fisherville. The battle was a disaster for the south and exposed supply depots and other facilities in Staunton. The upper Shenandoah was open for invasion for the first time.
The northern victory came just in time to help President Lincoln get the support he needed for a second term.
The Confederate casualties at Piedmont were sixteen hundred killed or wounded The Union suffered eight hundred seventy-five killed or wounded.
As the Confederates retreated down the East road Sam turned his attention to his men. He had not heard any shots from George’s rifle over to his left. He walked over to where George still lay in a prone firing position. He was about to ask George if he had run out of ammunition when he noticed blood on his neck. He bent down to George and turned him over. “Oh no,” he moaned. By this time Joe and Big Al were behind him. The three knelt beside George, silently mourning their loss. Big Al had tears in his eyes for he and George had become fast friends. Sam and Joe felt sorrow for the loss of their friend but they had lost friends before and had trained themselves to except the loss of a comrade as part of life.
While they were kneeling they heard moans coming from the direction of the fallen Confederates. Sam went back to investigate. He returned supporting a wounded Confederate private. He looked down at them still kneeling over George. “There are two more wounded Rebs, the rest are dead. Go get them and bring them over here in the shade so we can treat their wounds.” He laid the wounded Confederate soldier beside his fallen friend and started to tend the wounds of an enemy soldier who might have fired the shot that killed his friend.
It turned out that the three Confederates were walking wounded. After tending to their wounds, Big Al picked up the body of his friend George and the group started down the hill. They were a strange looking group; a huge Union soldier carrying the body of a fallen comrade, walking beside two other Union soldiers supporting two wounded Confederate soldiers, while behind them hobbled a third wounded Confederate soldier supported by a makeshift crutch. When they reached Piedmont a detail of Union soldiers was gathering the dead for burial in a small field near the bend of the Middle River.
Across the way a small detachment of Confederate soldiers was picking up their fallen comrades for burial next to the Middle River Church. They dropped their wounded prisoners off at the field hospital and carried George to the battle cemetery where a detail of men were digging graves.
As they approached one man shouted. “Put him down over here.” He pointed to a neat row of twenty or so dead Union soldiers.
Sam replied, “No, we will bury him ourselves. Can we borrow a couple of shovels?”
The man pointed to a small wagon. “Help yourselves.”
Sam and Joe walked over to the wagon, each picked up a shovel. No one spoke as they started to dig. It had rained the day before and the earth was soft. Big Al stood holding the body of George because he didn’t want to lay him down on the wet ground. After Sam and Joe had dug the grave they carefully wrapped George in his shelter half and lowered him into the grave. Big Al fell to his knees to pray. Sam and Joe followed suit. The soldiers digging the other graves stopped digging and remained silent.
Big Al looked up at the sky. “Oh God, George was a good man. We commend him to your care, Amen.” A chorus of “Amens” came from the group. The three remained kneeling, paying respect to their fallen comrade. The grave diggers went back to work. After a brief period of silence the three rose and without a word silently walked over to East Road and started north.
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