ame into action, and
Trimble moved round to take the enemy in flank. But Jackson,
meanwhile, was bringing matters to a crisis on the left. The Federals
still held fast in front; but the Louisiana, Taliaferro's, and
Scott's brigades, retained hitherto with Elzey in reserve, were now
ordered to turn the enemy's flank. Moving to the left in rear of the
Stonewall Brigade, these eleven regiments, three forming a second
line, faced to the front and climbed the heights.

General Gordon, in anticipation of such a movement, had already
transferred two regiments to his right. The fire of this force,
though delivered at close range, hardly checked the Confederate
onset. Closing the many gaps, and preserving an alignment that would
have been creditable on parade, Taylor and Taliaferro moved swiftly
forward over rocks and walls. The Federal infantry gave way in great
disorder. The cavalry in support essayed a charge, but the
Confederates, as the squadrons rode boldly towards them, halted where
they stood, and the rolling volleys of the line of battle drove back
the horsemen with many empty saddles. Then, as Taylor resumed his
advance, the Stonewall regiments, with Elzey in close support, rose
suddenly from their covert, and the whole line swept forward across
the ridges. The bright sun of the May morning, dispersing the mists
which veiled the field, shone down upon 10,000 bayonets; and for the
first time in the Valley the rebel yell, that strange fierce cry
which heralded the Southern charge, rang high above the storm of
battle.

(MAP OF THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER, VA. Sunday, May 25th, 1862.)

It was impossible, before so strong an onset, for the Federals to
hold their ground. Infantry, artillery, and cavalry gave way. From
east, west, and south the grey battalions converged on Winchester;
and as the enemy's columns, covered by the heavy smoke, disappeared
into the streets, Jackson, no longer the imperturbable tactician,
moving his troops like the pieces on a chess-board, but the very
personification of triumphant victory, dashed forward in advance of
his old brigade. Riding recklessly down a rocky slope he raised
himself in his stirrups, and waving his cap in the direction of the
retreating foe, shouted to his officers to "Press forward to the
Potomac!" Elzey's, the reserve brigade, was ordered to take up the
pursuit; and within the town, where the storehouses had been already
fired, the battle was renewed. The Federal regiments