Portions of six Confederate infantry units from five different states had stood together on Matthews Hill for about one hour of hard fighting. Now they were little more than a defeated mob. Some men ran in search of safety, some walked, and many others simply sat down. All the while, their officers attempted unsuccessfully to reorganize them for combat. Regimental structures had ceased to exist in any recognizable form because the soldiers were too intermingled to be easily extricated and reorganized. It appeared to most observers that the battle had been fought and the war was over.
Ironically, neither Confederate army commander was yet present on that sector of the field. Both Gens. Joe Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard were still near Mitchell’s Ford. Beauregard believed the major Federal thrust would fall against his center and right flank, and he still wanted to attack with his own right. Johnston was anxious to move to the left and the prolonged firing from that direction, together with reports from messengers, convinced him that he should. He rode off to the northwest with the words, “I am going there.” Beauregard finally agreed. It was about 11:00 a.m. They ordered Jubal Early’s Brigade to follow them, along with two South Carolina regiments from Gen. Bonham’s Brigade and Captain Kemper’s Alexandria battery.1
Other units were also marching for the left. Thomas Jackson’s Brigade and Wade Hampton’s Legion were approaching Henry Hill. Col. Hampton’s 600 soldiers arrived first, having just detrained from Richmond. Hampton formed them into a battle line near the Robinson house about one-half mile from the enemy. Hampton was shocked by what he found: on the far side of the Warrenton Turnpike were heavy lines of Federal infantry with bayonets fixed. While sitting his horse in the Robinson yard, in the full presence of his men, an artillery projectile slammed into the soil under Hampton’s mount, throwing him hard to the ground. The stunned colonel remounted and continued in command of his troops. About 11:30 a.m. Hampton moved forward to support Bartow’s 7th Georgia holding a hollow (the turnpike) in front of the Robinson house. Before putting his men in motion, Hampton yelled, “Men of the Legion, I am happy to inform you that the enemy is in sight!” The South Carolinian formed his soldiers in front of the Georgians. Hampton’s men impressed one Georgian, who recalled that they arrived “in their best clothes and clean linen.” His own comrades did not look as good, he admitted: “[We] were in our shirt sleeves, and all bedraggled and soiled with the dirt of our hard march.”
New orders soon arrived for Hampton to move forward toward the Robinson house. During this leg of their journey, an increasingly intense small arms and artillery fire ripped through the South Carolina ranks. The advance continued along a lane leading toward Warrenton Turnpike. Hampton watched as what looked to be a regiment of Federal troops moved eastward along the turnpike in his direction. He ordered his men to stop and open fire, which they did to good effect.2
Federals north of the Warrenton Turnpike were preparing to advance on Henry Hill to complete what looked soon to be a total victory. Col. Porter’s brigade under his adjutant Lt. William Averell (Porter was leading the division after Hunter fell) moved southeast toward the intersection of the Warrenton Turnpike and Manassas-Sudley Road, as did Griffin’s battery. The guns unlimbered in a field within the angle formed by both roads and opened fire. Porter’s men were bone-tired after their nearly eight-hour march to the field, the last mile at the double-quick. The men were so “exhausted that we could hardly stand up,” recalled one New Yorker.
Instead of launching the entire brigade at Henry Hill, Averell ordered only one of the four regiments—the 27th New York—toward the Stone House on the Warrenton Turnpike. The men threw off all unnecessary accouterments except for ammunition, musket, and bayonet, formed into line, and advanced with great vigor. In their way were survivors from Col. Egbert’s 4th Alabama, who had halted for a few minutes to rest. “The men, though greatly fatigued and exhausted, gallantly attacked and drove the enemy from the house, who retired in disorder behind their battery,” noted a major in the 27th New York. The Alabamians continued their retreat up Henry Hill.3