eight o'clock
The rest of the Federal troops here , throwing away muskets and guns , fled in wild confusion . Steadily the Confederates pressed on , driving the enemy before them , and capturing position after position , until the whole right wing of the Federal army was routed and disorganized . For three hours the Confederates continued their march without a check ; but owing to the denseness of the wood , and the necessity of keeping the troops in line , the advance was slow , and night fell before the movement could be completed . One more hour of daylight and the whole Federal army would have been cut off and captured , but by eight o'clock the darkness in the forest was so complete that all movement had to be stopped . Half an hour later one of the saddest incidents of the war took place . General Jackson with a few of his staff went forward to reconnoiter . As he returned toward his lines , his troops in the dark mistook them for a reconnoitering party of the enemy and fired , killing or wounding the whole of them , General Jackson receiving three balls .