Thunder in the Thicket

Thunder in the Thicket. Cannon Unleashed. After six hours of bloody fighting, a strong Union force still held the dense oak thicket choking the center of the battlefield. Confederate leaders realized infantry alone would not break this force. Needing more might, they began to shift artillery batteries to engage the Union strong point. As battery commanders brought forward guns from various parts of the battlefield, they soon amassed the largest concentration of field guns yet witnessed on a North American battlefield, more than 50 cannons deployed along a half-mile frontage, extending from this point south (front). For more than an hour, the Confederate guns pounded the thicket. This great storm of firepower kept the Union defenders pinned down while Confederate infantry moved to encircle the thicket, eventually forcing surrender., The enemy's right gave way...but the center and the left held. I...set to work to gather...fragments of batteries, scattered about in all directions, and held them under cover of a skirt of woods on the further side of a...field until all were ready. The order was that when the piece on the left advanced and fired all were to come into action. The fire opened beautifully. , Captain Francis A. Shoup , Chief of Artillery, Hardee's Corps, (captions) , Captain Francis A. Shoup, 1 . Confederates deploy more than 50 cannons along a half-mile frontage , 2 . Union troops attempt to escape the Confederate encirclement.