Pickett Farm - 6:00 a.m. - May 10th

At 6:00 a.m., Col. Dibble advanced his skirmishers to engage the 21st Ohio west of the Pickett house. Dibble supported his lead regiment and drove the 21st back to Pickett's Knoll, where it formed a short line with the 16th Missouri, under the watchful eyes of Col. Herling and the cavalry division commander, Brigadier General Robert Ewing.

Herling's men had no intention of holding for long. Dibble's Brigade alone significantly outnumbered the two regiments, but coming up behind the cavalry were two full divisions of infantry guiding center on the Willow Road.  Shells began exploding around the Pickett house, as Confederate batteries on Tulip Ridge and Federal guns along Princeton Road opened fire. Herling pulled back to the east, behind the safety of XXVI Corps lines that were barely visible in the woods east of Tulip Creek.  The Confederate infantry, led by Georgia, Alabama brigades south of Willow Road and Kentucky and Missouri brigades north of it advanced eastward towards Willow Creek...