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Fredericksburg's Battlefield Landmarks
Fredericksburg November 1862 Library of Congress
Fredericksburg November 1862 Library of Congress
Visitors to the Fredericksburg battlefield can get a spectacular view of the city's skyline from the NPS Headquarters at Chatham manor on the Stafford County side of the Rappahannock River. Perhaps the most captivating land marks that attract a visitor's eye, and the camara lens, have been there since 1855; a Baptist church, an Episcopal church and the Courthouse.
Although the site from Chatham has been pleasing to the eye of photographers since the civil war, I chose another view for the cornerstone of this essay. The view I selected is an image by Timothy O'Sullivan, taken in March 1863. His camera was set up about 1,300 yards down river from Chatham and overlooking the site of the middle pontoon crossing. I intentionally used this O'Sullivan photo to point out some landmarks that can't be seen from Chatham. Each of the landmarks in this war period photo still exist.
1. Prospect Hill
2. Hawison's Hill (aka Lee Hill or Telegraph Hill)
3. Marye's Heights
4. Bryam Hill
5. Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg
6. Farmers Bank
7. Fredericksburg Court House
8. St. George's Episcopal Church
9. Fredericksburg Baptist Church
10. Fall Hill
Prospect Hill
View from top of Prospect Hill looking towards Meade's break though
View from top of Prospect Hill looking towards Meade's break though
Prospect Hill was the position held by the Army of Northern Virginia's II Corps. During the early morning of December 13th., Thomas Jackson's line stretched two miles across this ridge, from Hamilton's Crossing on Jackson's right and joined with Longstreet's flank on the left. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry anchored Jackson's right.
Franklin's Grand Division assembled in the fog obstructed plain below this site awaiting orders to advance across an open field in the face of an entrenched foe. Despite Union artillery pounding prior to the advance, "Stonewall's" men held their fire until the enemy was within 800 yards. A breakthrough by Meade and Reynolds at an unprotected place in the Confederate line temporarily drove the entrenched Southerners back. Five brigades of Confederates rushed into the fray; hand-to-hand fighting shifted the tide and drove the Federals back across the railroad and into the field below the heights. The temporary Union success at Fredericksburg became a standoff.
The south lost so many artillery horses and mules during the Federal shelling; it was dubbed "Dead Horse Hill" by locals after the battle.
Howison's Hill
View of top of Howison's Hill from about three quarters from the base
View of top of Howison's Hill from about three quarters from the base
Jackson's left flank on Prospect Hill dropped gradually to Lansdown Road before connecting with Longstreet's right that ascended again to Howison's Hill.
This hill is named after Robert R. Howison who owed the estate Breahead, at the left-base of the hill. Howison's farm covered several hundred acres and a mill that stood directly behind Marye's Heights. Lee had breakfast at Breahead the morning of the December 13, 1862. The hill behind Howison's house was Lee's command position during the fighting that day. While atop Howison Hill, Lee watched Franklin's Grand Division forming for the assaults on Prospect Hill. " It is good that war is so terrible, lest we would grow fond of it" was his reaction as the Federals advanced in a parade like formation.
A Union pontoon bridge delay gave Lee time to call up two siege guns from Richmond. These guns were capable of firing 30-pound shells two miles. Before the battle the southern artillerist selected the likely sites of river crossings and placed these guns in positions of strategic importance. The gun site in the above photo, on Howison's Hill, inflected havoc on Union troops as they gathered in formation on the north side of the Rappahannock River in preparation for the middle pontoon crossing.
Some nineteenth century travelers using Telegraph Road referred to Howison Hill as Telegraph Hill because the road ran directly to the north side of the hill. After the war, it was called Lee's Hill.
Lee's winter headquarters was located about one mile directly behind the hill. Today, there are two locations identified as Lee's Hill. The one behind Breahead, where Lee was positioned during the battle and one at his Fredericksburg winter headquarters.
Howison's Hill lies about one-half mile to the left rear of Marye's Heights.
Marye's Heights
Marye's Heights from about 60 yards from the Stone Wall at Sunken Road
Marye's Heights from about 60 yards from the Stone Wall at Sunken Road
Fredericksburg from the center-left of Marye's Heights. Stafford Heights is in the background with left to right
As indicated by the arrows are Fredericksburg Baptist Church, St. George's Episcopal Church, Fredericksburg Court House
The hill was named after John Marye, who in 1820, built his home, Brompton, on the north side of this hill overlooking the city. The hill was maned by the famed Washington Artillery in December 1862.
Prior to the battle, Chief Artillerist Edward Porter Alexander met with the battery commanders to plan and place the guns in a coordinated strike on the enemy as a cohesive unit, vice independent and indiscriminate firing. On December 11th, they used markers on the outskirts of Fredericksburg to hone their guns to maximum effect. Shell fuses were timed to explode within the advancing ranks. It was the first battle during the war the ANV artillery acted as one unit vice independently.
Thomas Cobb's Georgians and Joseph Kershaw's South Carolinians were stacked four ranks deep behind the Stone Wall running the length of Sunken Road, sending rapid, direct and well-placed rounds down range in the face of the enemy.
During the war, Telegraph Road was the primary route from Washington D.C. to Richmond. Today modern travelers can use much of the same route by driving on US Route 1 from Washington D.C. to Richmond. In 1862 Telegraph Road traversed the north side of Fredericksburg, just as US 1 does today. It cut east across the entire length of the city, then turned south after clearing Marye's Heights. After the battle of Fredericksburg the portion of Telegraph Road that ran across the back of town became known as Sunken Road.
Courtesy National Archives (possible Brady photo)
Nineteenth century, travelers using Telegraph Road (Sunken Road) at Fredericksburg, found amities such as shelter for the night and black smith services in the vicinity at the base Marye's Heights. Entrepreneurs such as Henry and Sophia Ebert lived with their three children and ran a grocery, Mrs. Sission's ran a dry goods store, Allen Statton ran a wheelwright shop. His enterprise consisted of two principal structures, a blacksmith's forge and a carpentry shop all connected by a smaller joining structure, one side of Statton's business faced Telegraph Road (Sunken Road), one faced Sisson's Store. It was the 19th century equivalent of a modern-day interstate exit.
Bryam Hill
Artillery works at Bryam Hill just to the (Confederate) left of Marye's Heights along William Street
Most old-time residents of Fredericksburg, properly and more accurately, divide the ridge immediately behind Fredericksburg into three principal parts Marye's Heights, Byram Hill (aka College Heights) and Fall Hill.
For most battlefield visitors, Marye's Heights is a common start or ending destination, leaving two-third of the ridgeline directly behind Fredericksburg overlooked. Just a short distance from the Innis house on Sunken Road, the Stone Wall ends. But only three city block north is Bryam Hill. In late Autumn and Winter, Bryam Hill and Fall Hill provide a spectacular view of the plane below where Union troops advanced on Marye's Heights.
William Street in Fredericksburg traverses from the Rappahannock River, and becomes Plank Road once it clears the city. It nearly splits in half Marye's Heights and Bryam Hill. Richard Anderson's line stretched across Bryam Hill and the outer reaches of Fall Hill. There are still well-preserved artillery works on these sites constructed by the Donaldsonville (Louisiana) Artillery.
During the late morning of December 13th, as Barksdale Mississippians relinquished ground in the city and moved towards Marye's Heights, Federal troops then secured Kenmore (home of Feilding Lewis and his wife Betty, sister to George Washington) to guard their right flank. The location gave the Union army a rare, welcomed site to post artillery to support the attacks against the Sunken Road and effectively held the Southern left in check. One Union officer wrote: "The 122nd Pennsylvania Volunteers deployed as skirmishers upon the Fall Hill Road, between the two canals, above the city, and upon the crest of the ridge upon which stands Mrs. Washington's monument, and two companies of the 124th New York Volunteers were advanced in front of Kenmore mansion, supported by the Twelfth New Hampshire Volunteers..."
(Note :I intend to make a separate post, at a later date, providing more detail of the action on this part of the battlefield.)
The Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg
The congregation dates to 1805. This Greek Revival building was constructed in 1833. It was shelled during the fighting at Fredericksburg and two cannon balls in the front left pillar are reminders of the destruction brought upon this once peaceful town.
The present church bell replaced one that was given to the Confederacy, to be melted down for making cannons. The church has a triangular, gable-end pediment surmounting a wide entablature which surrounds the entire building. The front facade features four wide, wooden Doric order columns, and two wide Doric order columns each set at the front edge of the recessed portico. During the Civil War the church served both Union and Confederate soldiers. There is a plaque on the church that states Clara Barton treated the wounded here. She may have, but extensive research, including Barton's diary failed to mention it. Research showed she gave aid at the First Methodist church a block east and at the Fredericksburg Baptist Church office building four blocks north.
Two cannon balls in the left pillar
Farmers Bank
Directly across George Street from The Presbyterian Church is the Farmers Bank. It was built in 1819–20, and is a two-story rectangular red-brick building in the Federal style. It features a slate-covered front gable roof with a lunette window in the front pediment, wide valance, three pairs of brick chimneys, and engaged pedestal columns on the front facade. The front portion of the main floor was used for banking purposes since its construction, and until 2015, while the rooms at the rear and those on the second floor housed the bank's cashiers and their families from 1820 to 1920.
The picture presented in this essay has the east side facing the camara. This entrance was commonly used by the residents for traditional banking business. In April 1862 as Union forces occupied Fredericksburg, General Marsena Patrick took over the Farmers Bank for his military headquarters. On April 22, 1862, President Lincoln addressed soldiers and citizens from these steps.
Early in 1862, ardent town's officials arrested several residents who would not swear allegiance to the new Confederate government. They were subsequently sent to Richmond, to be incarcerated. In April of that year, these imprisoned Unionists came to the attention of Federal authorities when the Union army occupied Fredericksburg. In response, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered the arrest of Fredericksburg's mayor, Montgomery Slaughter, and eighteen other prominent citizens. These Fredericksburg prisoners were held briefly at the Farmer's Bank. They were eventually sent to Washington D.C., to be held in the Old Capitol Prison until the Unionist prisoners were released. This Federal action had the desired effect when townspeople petitioned their Confederate government in Richmond to help solve the problem they had created. The Union army moved on to campaigns elsewhere, but an exchange of hostages finally came about in September.
The building still carries at least three scars of war, but unlike its Presbyterian Church neighbor, these scars are graffiti etched into the exterior brick by soldiers passing by the stately structure.
The banks name became National Bank after the war. In June 2015 the building ceased to exist as a bank and was sold. In 2016, after completing renovations to the inside, the building was converted into a restaurant while keeping the existing bank vault as a private dining area.
In 2001, Mort Kunstler produced a painting "Changing of the Pickett's", using the west rear of Farmers Bank as the center focus. In that work, he superbly illustrated the bank, St. George's Episcopal Church and The Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg in his work.
Fredericksburg Court House
The Fredericksburg Court House was built in 1852 under the design of architect James Renwick who also designed the Smithsonian Castle. It is the only Gothic Revival court house in Virginia. Within the cupola is a bell from the Revere Foundry in Boston, presented to the town by Silas Wood, in 1828. Wood married Julia Anne Chew Brock, of Fredericksburg, and explained his gift as an exchange of a bell for a belle.
During the Civil War, the cupola provided a point of observation during two battles (December 13, 1862 and May 3, 1863). While the first battle of Fredericksburg raged, Captain Louis Fortescue narrated his ascension to the fourth level of the cupola. Arriving there, he described how the signalmen who had preceded him knocked out the covers [and probably blinds] that filled four circular openings in the cupola. Fortescue wrote of watching the distant lines of battle virtually stuck in the bloody plain before the Sunken Road on the afternoon of December 14;
"3 o'clock in the afternoon, two companies of infantry became tired of lying in the mud, and concluded to make a break for the town, regardless of the fact that retreat was more dangerous than to remain. At a signal they arose and started pell-mell for the city. Scarcely had they risen when a line of fire opened on them from along the stone wall. The running of this gauntlet of hundreds of mots would have been ludicrous but for the mortal suffering inflicted upon many of them. One after another could be seen pitching headlong from a shot, and until night closed down upon us we could see many of them writhing in agony with no possible chance to afford them relief. It was sad to witness their terrible plight…."
Fortescue recorded a much more personal struggle to evacuate a wounded soldier from the bloody plain.
"...after this fusillade had died away my attention was called to two men on the left of the plain, who while lying down were endeavoring to place a wounded man on a stretcher near them. After much labor they succeeded in getting the helpless man comfortably placed, and summoning courage, they each rose, grasped a handle, and started for the rear, trustfully hoping that the nature of their errand would shield them from the deadly aim of the sharpshooters. But flushed with victory, and careless of the humanitarian boldness of the two men in an effort to succor a comrade, the shots from the wall rang out and soon brought down the leading carrier. The other dropped a moment afterward and we thought him mortally hurt but in a few minutes [we] observed him creeping slowly away until about fifty feet had been covered, when he started at full speed and reached the houses safely."
St. George's Episcopal Church
Directly across Princess Anne Street from Farmer's Bank is St George's Church. It stands as a fine example of the Romanesque Revival style of architecture popular in the mid-19th century. Robert Cary Long and H.R. Reynold of Baltimore designed and built the sanctuary in 1849. It was the third church to be constructed on this site. The first was a wooden structure built in the 1730s; the second, a more substantial brick building, was erected in 1815.
During the earliest period in St. George's history (1738) the family of George Washington moved to the area. George's father, Augustine purchased Ferry Farm which is located on the north shore of the Rappahannock river, at the site that would become the middle pontoon crossing. In time, the Washington's, as well as friends and relations famous in the founding of this country, attended services here. Throughout the more than 285 years of its existence, St. George's Church has been an active force in the community. During the Colonial Period, the Church was responsible by law for the welfare of orphans, widows, the sick and the needy in the community. From 1795 to 1802, the Church established male and female charity schools. Before the civil war, it operated Sunday Schools for enslaved children. During the same war, it was used as a hospital and for revival meetings. The exterior focal points are the three main arched doors and windows. The central tower and steeple, long familiar city landmarks, have survived the ravages of time and war. The clock in the tower was set in place in 1851 and restored in 1854 after fire damage by the City of Fredericksburg, which is still responsible for its maintenance.
Inside the sanctuary, the plan follows the ancient cathedral layout, with the nave and columns forming court-like space on three sides, and supporting a rear gallery. The original "basic box" simplicity was first altered in 1876, with the removal of the high pulpit from the center of the east wall (where it stood above the Holy Table and reading desk). This opened the altar wall, allowing for the addition of the chancel. The lectern was placed on the left, the pulpit on the right. The lectern is in the shape of an eagle, the symbol of St. John the Evangelist and his Gospel of Love. Galleries were added in 1854, and the plain glass windows began to be replaced by stained glass with in the early 20th Century.
On July 23, 1859, Bishop Phillips Brooks, who wrote the words to the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem," preached his first sermon in this church.
On December 13 one federal artillerist on Stafford Heights used the steeple clock as a target, hoping a hit would bring down the steeple. The first attempt curved slightly right just as it reached the clock. The second attempt was further off the mark and the steeple stayed in tack, although damaged by at least twenty-five other hits. Scars from those shelling attempts are still present from inside the steeple.
While Union troops occuped the town days prior to the commencement of the battle, the four-piece silver communion set was stolen. One piece was returned almost immediately after it was stolen. Following the attacks along Marye's Heights, the church was pressed into service as a hospital. One of those patients was Lieutenant Colonel St. Clair Mulholland of the Irish Brigade. He wrote the following description while inside the church:
"In the lecture room of the Episcopal church eight operating tables were in full blast, the floor was densely packed with men whose limbs were crushed, fractured and torn. Lying there in deep pools of blood, they waited very patiently; there was no grumbling, no screaming, hardly a moan, many of the badly hurt were smiling, and chatting, and one-who had both legs shot off-was cracking jokes with an officer who could not laugh at the humorous sallies, for his lower jaw was shot away. The cases here were nearly all capital, and amputation was almost always resorted to. Hands and feet, arms and legs were thrown under each table, and the sickening piles grew larger as the night progressed. The delicate limbs of the drummer boy fell along with the rough hand of the veteran in years, but all, every one, was brave and cheerful.
In 1863 religious revivals were held here for Southern soldiers. During the battle of the Wilderness, it was again pressed into service as a Union hospital where at least 10,000 received medical attention.
In 1866, a second piece of the communion set was returned by the New York City police department. In 1869 a third piece was returned by someone living in Jamestown New York. That same year, the final piece was returned by someone in Massachusetts along with $50.
The present bell is the third in the church's history. The original bell, given by Alexander Spotswood, Jr., was replaced in 1788. The second bell had to be replaced after wind storm damaged it in 1856. The present bell was made in West Troy, New York, in 1858, by the Meneely's Company.
When the City of Fredericksburg was established in 1728, two lots were set aside for the church and graveyard. The present church and graveyard occupy one of the original lots. Although some graves were removed to make room for the present church building in 1849, others were not disturbed. In 1892, the Ladies' Cemetery Guild of St. George's Church undertook to document the history of the cemetery. The earliest legible date to which they could attest without question was 1752, on the grave of an otherwise unknown John Jones. Two years later, there was an Archibald MacPherson, aged 49; and two years after that, Colonel John Dandridge, father of Martha Washington. William Jones, brother of John Paul Jones, was buried there in 1774. The latest ascertainable date is 1924, on the grave of Virginia B. Patton. At the time of the ladies' survey, 164 tombstones could be identified; some had no dates, others, no ages. There are 35 known burials without stones.
Fredericksburg Baptist Church
James Garner Image - LoC
This sanctuary was constructed in 1854-55. When it was built, the street had already established its self as the religious and government center of town. Other churches included St. George's Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church. The same street included the Town Hall (1814) and the Court House and Farmers Bank. Each of these buildings are portrayed in Mort Kunstler's art work "Lee at Fredericksburg".
During the First Battle of Fredericksburg, Union troops arrived before the battle and stated to clear the church for use as a hospital. All the pews were thrown outside through the windows, then chopped and used for fire wood. The chapel and the sanctuary became densely packed with wounded men as surgeons did their best to attend to them while shells stuck nearby and screamed overhead. The chief surgeon here was Dr. Frank Hamilton, one of America's premier surgeons, who had been lured out of military retirement to help treat the wounded in Fredericksburg. The entrance through the front door, is at ground level and two flights of stairs lead up to the sanctuary. Wounded had to be carried up those steps to be treated.
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Resident H.W. Willenbucher later testified to the damage .
"Before the battle the church was intact, but after the battle was over, I came back to town. I was out in the country with my family during the battle. I came back the morning after the battle. I saw arms and legs in the rear of the building and there was blood on the floors and mattresses inside and outside of the building. The pews had all been taken out of the building and broken up; there was not a whole bench in the place to be found; they had been used for firewood and there was evidence that they had been removed with axes. And some of the doors in the basement part of the building were gone…. The buildings were in such condition that it could not be used for church purposes until after it was repaired.
Clara Barton's cousin, Ned fell wounded at the Wilderness and was brought to the home of Maria Wolfe, located directly beside the church. She made note in her diary of visiting him there. The home was replaced by the church office in the early 1960s.
During the follow up battles at Second Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania the three churches in this essay, and five others in Fredericksburg received at least 26,000 casualties a week in those conflicts.
Fall Hill
Photo courtesy Wikipedia
The present mansion at Fall Hill is believed to have been built by Francis Thornton V (1760–1836) probably around 1790 when he married Sally Innes. It is still privately owned.
Its proximity to the Rappahannock River made Fall Hill a strategic point during the Fredericksburg Campaign. According to Butler Franklin, a previous owner, fortifications were built along the river at the house to protect the crossing. However, I was told by a retire NPS historian, that he visited the site on one occasion and did not recall seeing signs of fortifications on the property. Just 1800 yards west of the house on American Battlefield Trust property is one such well-preserved gun emplacement.
The property that Fall Hill was built on, had been in possession of the Thornton family, for over 280 years. Butler Franklin, who died in 2003 at the age of 104, was the last of the Thorntons to own the property.
Sources
Chronology of Highlights
In the History of St. George's Church
Local Historical Markers
Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc.
Central Rappahannock Heritage Center
Mysteries and Conundrums
History Fredericksburg Baptist Church
Bringing the