Battle of Good's Farm explained

The Battle of Good's Farm was a short skirmish between the Confederates and the Union in Jackson's Valley Campaign in the American Civil War. During the fighting, Confederate cavalry officer Turner Ashby was killed.

Wyndham’s Attack

As Stonewall Jackson's army withdrew from the pressure of Major General John C. Frémont's superior forces, moving from Harrisonburg toward Port Republic, Colonel Turner Ashby commanded the rear guard. On June 6, 1862, a company of the 1st New Jersey Cavalry Regiment attacked Confederate scouts stationed in Harrisonburg. Chasing the enemy to Good’s Farm on the outskirts of town, the company was fired upon by infantry of the 58th Virginia concealed behind two stone walls on either side of the road. The cavalry notified their commander Colonel Percy Wyndham, who marched with his soldiers towards the scene of the ambush. They then charged some woods atop a hill where the 7th Virginia Cavalry, under Colonel Ashby, had blocked the road.

As soon as the 1st New Jersey began their charge the 58th Virginia Infantry again fired into them, this time from behind a wooden fence concealed by woods. In an attempt to remove the Infantry, Colonel Wyndham dismounted and led a charge into the woods. However, finding the enemy too well concealed and being flanked by Ashby’s Cavalry, the 1st New Jersey started a hasty and disorganized retreat. In the end they had left behind Colonel Wyndham, 3 Captains, the regimental colours, and about a twelfth of their men.

Kane’s Attack

Meanwhile, Colonel Thomas L. Kane of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves or “Bucktails”, received permission to rescue the wounded from the field from Brigadier General George D. Bayard. Soon after, Bayard, the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry, and the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves moved forward to Ashby’s position.

From his position, General Bayard saw reinforcements from the 1st Maryland Infantry (Confederate) arrive. He promptly ordered the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry to fall back and sent a messenger to Colonel Kane, who had already entered the woods with his men.

The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves hid behind trees at the edge of the woods and began firing into the Confederates, causing a number of casualties and checking their advance. Seeing his men falter, Colonel Ashby moved towards the front of the line on foot, his horse having been shot out from under him. He was attempting to rally the 58th Virginia when a combatant shot him directly through the heart, killing him instantly.

The origin of the fatal shot has been lost to history. Soldiers of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, the "Bucktails", claimed credit, though some accounts blame friendly fire. Ashby's last words were "Forward my brave men!" He had been nominated for promotion to brigadier general just ten days before his death.

The 58th Virginia and the 1st Maryland Infantry Regiment (Confederate) counterattacked. Flanked and outnumbered, the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves retreated. Colonel Thomas L. Kane, wounded in the leg, and Captain Charles Frederick Taylor were both captured by the enemy.