STOP 8
Hite Road

From the church, proceed up the hill (north) on CR 624. In .1 mile, the road crosses Meadow Brook.

Battery D, First Rhode Island Artillery, pulled back through here to set up on the high ground to your left in support of Wheaton's Division.

Proceed about another .3 mile to a trailer house on the right at the top of the hill. Stop just beyond the trailer house.

The VI Corps trains were located in the open to the left (west) of the road. They were successfully withdrawn in frantic haste by the time fighting reached Meadow Brook. The road parallels the line formed by Wheaton's Division. Fighting extended east of Meadow Brook nearly to Belle Grove. At one point, six guns, three each from the First Maine Battery and Battery M, Fifth U.S., were fought over between the ridge and Belle Grove. Pressure from Gordon's Division gradually forced Wheaton's Division back to Dr. Shipley's where you can see the modern quarry buildings. There the Third and First Divisions of the VI Corps reorganized at about 0830 and began to move farther to the rear (north) in conjunction with the XIX Corps Divisions. By 0900, they were no longer in contact.

Earlier, George Getty's Second Division, VI Corps had left its bivouac and moved down the quarry road outlined by the telephone poles you can see to your right front as you face away from the trailer. When Getty reached 624, he sent his Second Brigade (Grant's Vermont) out as skirmishers into the open area between the Pike and 624. He then moved his other brigades onto the plain to form a line of battle behind the Vermonters. His plan was to tie with Wheaton's Division to form a corps line. However, Wheaton was unable to hold and withdrew, leaving Getty on the plain. Getty pulled back onto the high ground just south of Middletown near the yellow building. Pressure from Pegram's and Ramseur's Divisions soon pushed him back to a hill west of Middletown where the town cemetery is located.

Continue north on 624. Just beyond the railroad tracks, look to your front.

The ridge line you see is the cemetery position occupied by Getty's Division. The red outbuildings you see mark the approximate center of Getty's crescent-shaped line. He placed Lamb's Ohio Battery there, flanked by units from the Vermont Brigade. His right, or westernmost, brigade, Warner's, linked with the Vermonters about where you see the green shingle-covered house to your left (west) front (not the house to your far left on the quarry road). The other Brigade, Bidwell's, curved around the hill to face Middletown. You have stopped west of positions taken up by Wharton's Confederate Division between 0800 and 0900. Kershaw's Division, squeezed out of the leftmost position by Cedar Creek and by Gordon's advance, was in positions to your left front; Ramseur's Division was on your right front at the southwestern edge of Middletown.

Go to Stop 9

RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS