New Market Heights and the Campaign Before Richmond 9/26-28/2014

Here's article from the Richmond paper on it. I was not able to make it out yesterday due to family commitments but the weather was perfect this weekend.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/l...cle_3f535116-2c92-5e7f-b81d-5db8c110f669.html

Glad to see the local press getting into it. Hopefully this will spark some interest in preservation of the New Market Heights battlefield. From what I've heard, and seen on a recent visit, virtually nothing has been preserved, and virtually everything is threatened. Although I found some nice preservation of Fort Harrison and Fort Gilmer, all I found at New Market Heights was this (and even it has some serious inaccuracies):

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Friends,

My grandson and I returned from the Battle of New Market Heights reenactment at half-past midnight last night.

I promise as soon as I recover my strength, shower, shave, and remember my name, I will post stories, comments, and of course, pictures.

Be patient and I will be back.

Sincerely,
Unionblue
 
Continued from above...

Dear Readers,

I will try and convey the events and actions I have witnessed over the past several days, as in as much as my poor powers of observation can tell such a tale of mayhem, destruction, victory and bitter defeat.

I managed to find my way to Federal Headquarters on Friday, September 28, 1864, at 3:30 o'clock in the afternoon. I introduced myself to the staff I found there and was issued a 3-day pass by the Provost Marshal, authorizing me to move about camp and to follow the staff into battle so that I could make timely reports on the actions to come.

I was then free to set up my own tent near the Federal staff, a location that permitted me to observe the planning of the upcoming battles and to hear the instructions given to battalion and company commanders by the staff. After my tent was in place and my belongings comfortably arranged, I took it upon myself to observe activities in camp and to view the ground that was to be the scene of so much desperate fighting.

I am certain that most of you, dear readers, recall that my initial assignment was to track and record the progress of my grandson, Corey, after he enlisted in the Union army. Although this is still my primary goal, the actions that I witnessed over the next few days deserve a telling all by themselves.

It was at this place I had the chance to view the battlefield in great detail, long before any action was taken. My first sight that attracted my attention on this hot, Friday afternoon, was my view of Fort Harrison, still in Confederate hands. As I viewed it through my field glasses, it looked formadible, it's large, slopping, earthen walls rising up many feet, with a deep ditch all around it. High above the fort, on a very long pole, flew a Confederate flag, proclaiming to all who occupied the fort and signaled a strong intent to hold that place. I further observed two openings for cannon, but saw only one gun in place.

Beyond this, further down the road from the fort, I saw a strong line of dug entrenchments, fortified with head logs with many openings for muskets to fire through. There was no cover by way of brush or trees to give any attacking force aid, only a few depressions in the ground here and there. It would be deadly work indeed for any force that wished to charges these works in an attempt to capture them.



More to follow...
 
Excellent UnionBlue! I'm enjoying! I was there early Friday at registration but left, as I had delivered the paperwork and supplies to the intended.

M. E. Wolf
 
Excellent UnionBlue! I'm enjoying! I was there early Friday at registration but left, as I had delivered the paperwork and supplies to the intended.

M. E. Wolf

M. E. Wolf,

Glad you like them. Hope you enjoy what's coming. I took over 200 photos!
(Don't worry, I will only post the best of what I took :wink: )

Sincerely,
Unionblue
 
Dear Readers,

I confess that reporting my grandson's progress in the Union army was not my only reason for wishing to report on this upcoming action. There is a topic of major interest, not only to me, but to many readers in Columbus, Ohio, and indeed, the entire North.

Although colored troops have been an official part of the Union army for a year (since 1863), many, in the country, and the Union army itself, still question if they will fight. I was determined to go and see these men and their white officers, to see what they had to say on the matter.

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As I wandered through the camps of these 'USCT's' (United States Colored Troops) I heard laughter, animated conversations, songs and felt a quiet confidence that pervaded every black soldier I encountered.

I spoke to their white officers, asking if the men would fight, if they could meet the challenge of the upcoming battle. To a man, they said their troops were eager for the chance to prove themselves and felt they would conduct themselves in a gallant manner when called to fight.

Major M. A. Schaffner with his Sergeant Major observes an officer addressing the men of the USCT.
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The men are ordered to load their muskets.
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Major M. A. Schaffner addresses his battalion.
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