Artillery Duel at Romney - Day 6 - Afternoon Phase

Colonel William Taliaferro's Brigade moved out of Romney in the afternoon of Day 6, accompanied by two batteries. They discovered Colonel Nathan Kimball's Brigade and Captain Joseph Clark's Battery "E," 4th US Artillery guarding the covered bridge over the South Branch of the Potomac from the opposite bank. The Confederates took position and an extended artillery barrage ensued.

Captain Clark's battery of six 10lb Parrott Rifles is arguably the best battery in the campaign theatre. The Union gunners unleashed shells and shrapnel to deadly effect on Taliaferro's men and the Confederate gun crews. One of the Confederate batteries on the opposite side of the South Branch was Captain Carpenter's Allegheny Artillery, which had already taken heavy losses from Clark's Battery the previous day. Several of Carpenter's gun crews were manned primarily by infantry, who could not stand up to the heavy shelling and retreated.

Taliaferro's infantry advanced to the edge of the river and engaged some of Kimball's infantry on the opposite bank, before falling back. The action appeared to be intended to keep Kimball in place. Captain John Keys, Ringgold Cavalry, reported that two Confederate infantry brigades and a battery were fording the river to the north of Evans' Farm. Taliaferro and his accompanying batteries fell back to a new line at the Mileson Farm, further away from the enemy guns.

When darkness fell, all units were holding their positions, leaving Romney contested for a second day. The presence of Confederate infantry on the west bank of the South Branch, however, as an ominous prospect for Colonel Kimball to consider when Day 7 of the campaign dawns.