On the morning of Dec. 13, 1862, Union Gen. John G. Foster’s
troops encountered Confederates along the Wilmington Road near
Woodington. Foster ordered his units into battlefield formations
about three-quarters of a mile from the creek. The following is
taken from Foster’s official report: “On Saturday, the 13th — We
reached Southwest Creek, the bridge over which was destroyed,
and the enemy posted on the opposite bank, some 400 strong, with
three pieces of artillery. The creek was not fordable, and ran
at the foot of a deep ravine, making a very bad position for us.
I ordered a battery in as good a position as could be obtained,
and under fire the Ninth New Jersey, which had the advance,
pushed gallantly across the creek by swimming, by fragments of
the bridge and by a mill-dam, and formed on the opposite bank.
At the same time, the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania, of General
Wessells’ brigade, forced a passage by the felling of trees and
fording about half a mile below bridge, and engaged the enemy’s
left, who the