Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville - Part2
Aldie - Snikersville Pike
The 1st Mass. Cavalry was sent up the Snickersville Pike to secure the Union right flank. As they advanced up the road, they came upon a stone wall in front of the Furr House. Here, 15 men of Company C, 2nd Va. Cavalry under Lt. William Walton were posted. Union sharpshooters became engaged and were reinforced. The twenty men of the 3rd Squadron of the 4th Va. Cavalry under Lt. Alexander Payne had been pushed back to here and now counterattacked and pushed back the Union sharpshooters. A Union force now pushed the Rebel horsemen beyond the wall but was forced to flee when attacked by Rosser's 5th Va. Cavalry which had been brought north from protecting Breathed's guns.
Reinforcements arrived on both sides, with Union cavalry deploying in the fields to the left and right of the road. The Confederates posted sharpshooters at another wall 150 yards away behind the Furr House with a single gun behind them and mounted cavalry on the road behind the wall. The 1st Mass. and 4th NY Cavalries attacked, forcing Walton's men back to the now forming line beyond the Furr House.
Furr House
Aldie - The Stone Wall
Confederates behind this wall repulsed the Union attack, inflicting heavy casualties. Lt. Col. Watt's 2nd Va. Cavalry attacked and repulsed a group of the 4th NY Cavalry which had lapped around the wall's right side. Just as the 4th NY was falling back, Lt. Charles Davis led the 75 men of Companies A and B, 1st Mass. Cavalry straight up the road in column of fours. They were immediately hit with flanking fire from the wall to their right and from the left side of the road. Of the 75, only 13 were counted after the battle. The regiment had lost 181 of its 300 men.
The 4th and 5th Va. Cavalries attacked the shattered Federals and advanced about a mile to near Randol's guns north of Aldie but were pushed back to the wall behind the Furr House by the newly arrived 1st Maine Cavalry. The 1st Maine deployed along the road through the Furr's yard and into the field beyond. As the regiment charged, Colonel Douty and a group of men reached the hole in the wall and dismounted. The Colonel was killed, but his men repulsed a counterattack and flanked the enemy line, ending the battle as night approached.