Sunken Road Battle Summary

towards Dunker Church. This pattern would repeat throughout this battle; infantry assaults seized the momentum of the skirmish until the friction of battle and diminishing support of friendly artillery allowed the enemy defensive force to regain momentum and launch an effective counterattack, resulting in a stalemate. Without reinforcements provided at that critical moment of stalled momentum, the Union would continue to throw men into the northern flank meatgrinder throughout the day. Mansfield’s XII Corps was tasked reinforce the assault, but inexperienced Mansfield positioned his forces too far from Hooker’s position. XII Corps arrived two hours late to the battle, just as Hooker’s assault was being repelled.
Watching the northern flank assault disintegrate, McClellan dispatched General Sumner’s two …show more content…
General French lost contact with Sumner in his attack. Lacking any further instruction, French seized initiative and swung his formation south to protect General Greene (I Corps) flank. In so doing, French encountered a v-shaped defense in a sunken wagon trail called “Sunken Road”, in which the Confederate troops held a defensible position with excellent fields of fire over open terrain. French’s numerical superiority (over 2:1) was immediately nullified by the advantage of the Sunken Road battle positions. His forces were decisively engaged in a firefight which lasted well over an hour with no appreciable advance. Oblivious to his unprotected flank by both French and Sumner’s forces to the north, Greene confidently cleared westward and seized Dunker Church, driving into West Woods. He remained in an isolated position there, repelling harassing fire in a discontinuous line for well over an hour. Receiving neither support nor direction, eventually Greene’s brigade was beaten back in a disorganized retreat, surrendering Dunker Church back to rebel

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