two more hours he was able to withstand repeated Federal attacks from mounted cavalry, as well as the 16th Michigan Infantry, which sent skirmishers and sharpshooters forward to pick off the Confederate gunners. Ahead of the advancing Union soldiers, the Confederate artillerymen hooked up their guns to their teams and raced off, but a Blakely Rifle flipped over as its crew hurried to get away. The gun was captured, the first artillery piece ever lost by Stuart's cavalry. However, with two of his three remaining guns soon also disabled, Stuart withdrew and headed westward toward Upperville, still fighting delaying actions where favorable. Upperville John Buford's Federal column had detoured to attack the new Confederate left flank near Upperville, while J. Irvin Gregg's and Judson Kilpatrick's brigades advanced from the east along the Ashby's Gap Turnpike. Buford soon encountered "Grumble" Jones and Chambliss's Confederate brigades, escorting Stuart's supply train just north of Upperville, and attacked. Meanwhile, Kilpatrick's troopers attacked Hampton and Robertson on a ridgeline east of Upperville known as Vineyard Hill. Some of the Union cavalrymen made it as far as the village before being repulsed. After furious mounted fighting, Stuart finally withdrew to take a strong defensive position in Ashby's Gap, even as Confederate infantry began crossing the Potomac River into Maryland. As cavalry skirmishing diminished in the next few days, Stuart made the fateful decision to strike east and make a circuit of the Union army as it marched toward Gettysburg. Upperville was significant in that Stuart's successful delaying tactics prevented Pleasonton from making an accurate assessment of the location of Lee's infantry divisions, thereby depriving the Federals of much valued intelligence of their enemy's whereabouts and objectives. Battlefield preservation The Civil War Trust (a division of the American Battlefield Trust) and its partners have preserved of the battlefield by acquisition or conservation easement. Notes References National Park Service battle description O'Neill, Robert F. The Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville: Small But Important Riots, June 10–27, 1863. Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard, 1993. . CWSAC Report Update Upperville Upperville Upperville Upperville Upperville Upperville Upperville 1863 in Virginia June 1863 events