The Stone Wall at Fredericksburg

[Blockaderunner]

I have a question aimed at anyone who has studied this battle in depth, and is familiar with the modern day battlefield. How far did the stone wall extend? If I was standing beside the interpretation board facing the visitor centre, how far to my left and right did the line extend? I would also be interested to know, at which point were the Union attacks directed? All along the wall, or at the point where the visitor centre stands?

[gary]

Darn Good Question. Goes to show that as much as you learn, you can never know it all & I even wrote two articles ("The Skirmish Line" published by N-SSA) and didn't even think to investigate it. Contact the National Park Service at Fredericksburg. If anyone knows, the park rangers would.

[memphis]

The wall was only a couple hundred yards long. It started roughly where the visitor center is and extended behind it along the road. There was a lot of heavy fighting at the wall itself. Meaghers Irish Brigade got the closest, about 50 yards. But no one breached the wall in that area. The casualties at the wall were very high for the Union troops. For an area so small, it was estimated that at least 800 were killed. The Second South Carolina Infantry held that section on Marye's Heights. One of the reasons why the casualties were so bad for the Union forces was that the Confederates were lined up three deep behind the stone wall. The Front rank fired and the rear two ranks were reloading the muskets thereby keeping up a tremendous rate of fire.

There is a small section of the original wall that still exists, its behind where Kirkland's statue is. The rest of what you see is a reconstruction.

Keep in mind that the entire Confederate line was about 7 miles long. many people seem to think the stone wall traversed most of the distance. It did not. Original trench works are still along the length of Lee Drive. Toward the end of the Confederate right flank out in the field is a monument signifying the Northern penetration in that area by Meade. He almost turned Jackson there, but not quite. By the way, when I was there, the Historian told me that Jackson was on the extreme right with Longstreet's Corps on the left CLOSER to Lee, because Lee trusted Jackson's instincts to act alone better than Long Street.

I have not been there in 30 years. But in my youth, I was a Park Technician there, portraying a soldier in Pickett's Division which was further east on what is now Lee Drive. It's been a long time and I'm trying to visualize everything. But I believe my memory is correct.

I don't know how true it is, but I heard rumors that the Park Service was contemplating reconstructing the entire Sunken Road along that portion of the battlefield. If they are, someone at the visitor's center should certainly be able to give you a more accurate picture than my fuzzy memory can.

Regards,

Bill

[Blockaderunner]

Thanks Bill. Do you know what was to the right of the stone wall? In modern day Fredericksburg there is only the road and across from that a gift shop and cafe.

[memphis]

Man you are really testing my brain cells. Lets see, the Line really started at Mary Washington College i.e. the Sunken Road where it turned into telegraph road.(Visitor Center) It left Telegraph road where it crossed Hazel Run. Telegraph road ran west at this point, of no use to the Confederates. That is close to where Lee Drive is today. There is (or was) a Traffic circle on Lee drive where Pickett's Division was. The line ran south from there across Deep Run toward Hamilton Crossing.

The trenches ran along a shallow ridge which overlooked the R,F & P Rail Road toward the Rappahannock.

I'm sorry, but I can't remember the name of the road(trail) that the extreme right of the Confederate line was on. Today its Lee Drive all the way to Hamilton crossing if I remember correctly.

Bill

[ole]

Interesting questions and answers gentlemen. I'm bouncing back and forth with your posts but have knowledge of it approaching zip. So I will encourage your exchange because I appreciate it. And will henceforth keep my mouth shut because I know nothing about it.
Ole

[Blockaderunner]

Thanks again Bill. Thats pretty good for not having been there in 30 years. Can I risk just one more question? Accounts of the attack on the stone wall mention a hollow where Union troops took shelter. How far from the stone wall was this? The hollow and I suppose the old canal are now covered by modern housing.

[memphis]

You cannot see it from the stone wall. Homes go right up to the visitor center. During the battle, there was roughly a half mile of open ground from the town's boundries to the sunken road. The ditch was about a four hundred yards or so from the stone wall.

It presented a real quandary for the Union troops. If you stayed in the ditch and hugged the ground you were safe from the low level ground fire that the Confederates were raking the field with. Therefore seeking safety would halt the progress of the troops, rendering the attack a failure. Most of the officers realized this and encouraged the men to keep moving past the ditch but as we all know by know, the fire from the Confederate troops was too devastating and no blue troops reached the Confederate lines at the sunken road.

"Nevertheless, Union soldiers had to leave the city, descend into a valley bisected by a water-filled canal ditch, and ascend an open slope of 400 yards to reach the base of the heights. Artillery atop Marye's Heights and nearby elevations would thoroughly blanket the Federal approach. "A chicken could not live on that field when we open on it," boasted on Confederate cannoneer."

Bill

[Blockaderunner]

Another account of the battle, written by an Artilleryman on Lee Hill also mentions the ditch. A large rifled cannon, a 32pdr if I remember rightly, was positioned on the hill. This was a siege gun, too big for battlefield use, but brought to Fredericksburg from Richmond for the battle. The long range of this gun enabled it to fire obliquely down the length of the ditch. The artilleryman reported that if the shell exploded, the ditch was cleared. If the shell did not explode, a red lane marked its path. Fortunately for the sheltering Union soldiers the gun barrel burst after about twenty rounds. Lee and Longstreet were standing by the gun but were not hurt. This incident is shown in the movie Gods and Generals.

[samgrant]

Originally Posted by Blockaderunner

Thanks again Bill. Thats pretty good for not having been there in 30 years. Can I risk just one more question? Accounts of the attack on the stone wall mention a hollow where Union troops took shelter. How far from the stone wall was this? The hollow and I suppose the old canal are now covered by modern housing.

And it is my recollection that that shelter (further described prevously, was indeed a shelter from the bullits, but the Rebs took advantage by lobbing shells into that place. ???