Near Fredericksburg in Spotsylvania County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Slaughter Pen Farm
Into the Field
Photographed By Craig Swain, July 25, 2009
1. Into the Field Marker
Inscription.
Slaughter Pen Farm. Into the Field. You are standing near the center of the most successful Union attack at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Two Union divisions, Gen. George G. Meade's on your left and Gen. John Gibbon's on your right, advanced into this field and soon encountered the "Virginia ditch fence" visible on your right and left. The ditch fences, dug by farmers to divide their fields and to promote drainage, were much steeper, deeper, and wider during the battle. Union soldiers scrambled across this and other obstacles however they could., After Union troops crossed the ditch fences, converging Confederate artillery fire stopped them cold. The Federals laid down in the fields in front of you as Union cannons replied in kind. Both sides suffered heavy losses in men, horses, and equipment. When the fire was too hot for the men of one Confederate battery, its commander "wrapped his battle flag around him, walking up and down among his deserted guns" to shame his gunners back into position.,
"The trees around our guns were literally torn to pieces and the ground plowed up. I have been several times covered with dirt, and had it knocked in my eyes and mouth." , "Ben," Pee Dee (South Carolina) Artillery, CSA, "Being no breeze to carry away the smoke of our guns, the gunners on firing would quickly run to either flank to clear the great volume of smoke hanging in front of their muzzles that they might see where their shells were going." , Pvt. Bates Alexander. 7th Pennsylvania Reserves, USA
, (captions) , As the Union troops advanced into this field, terrain slowed them and Southern cannon fire brought them to a halt., "We blew up one of their caissons," remembered one Union soldier, "causing a cheer to break forth from our lines. But soon thereafter they blew up one of ours." This 1863 image was taken on Marye's Heights, a few miles to the north. - Courtesy National Archives, Just prior to the Union assault, 24-year-old Confederate Major John Pelham advanced one cannon a mile to your left and wrought havoc on the Union lines. Dangerously exposed and outgunned, Pelham disrupted the Union attack for nearly an hour and emerged unscathed. Of Pelham's actions, Gen. Robert E. Lee said, "It is glorious to see such courage in one so young." - Courtesy Library of Congress
You are standing near the center of the most successful Union attack at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Two Union divisions, Gen. George G. Meade's on your left and Gen. John Gibbon's on your right, advanced into this field and soon encountered the "Virginia ditch fence" visible on your right and left. The ditch fences, dug by farmers to divide their fields and to promote drainage, were much steeper, deeper, and wider during the battle. Union soldiers scrambled across this and other obstacles however they could.
After Union troops crossed the ditch fences, converging Confederate artillery fire stopped them cold. The Federals laid down in the fields in front of you as Union cannons replied in kind. Both sides suffered heavy losses in men, horses, and equipment. When the fire was too hot for the men of one Confederate battery, its commander "wrapped his battle flag around him, walking up and down among his deserted guns" to shame his gunners back into position.
"The trees around our guns were literally torn to pieces and the ground plowed up. I have been several times covered with dirt, and had it knocked in my eyes and mouth." — "Ben," Pee Dee (South Carolina) Artillery, CSA
"Being no breeze to carry away the smoke of our guns, the gunners on firing would quickly run to either flank
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to clear the great volume of smoke hanging in front of their muzzles that they might see where their shells were going." — Pvt. Bates Alexander. 7th Pennsylvania Reserves, USA
(captions)
As the Union troops advanced into this field, terrain slowed them and Southern cannon fire brought them to a halt.
"We blew up one of their caissons," remembered one Union soldier, "causing a cheer to break forth from our lines. But soon thereafter they blew up one of ours." This 1863 image was taken on Marye's Heights, a few miles to the north. - Courtesy National Archives
Just prior to the Union assault, 24-year-old Confederate Major John Pelham advanced one cannon a mile to your left and wrought havoc on the Union lines. Dangerously exposed and outgunned, Pelham disrupted the Union attack for nearly an hour and emerged unscathed. Of Pelham's actions, Gen. Robert E. Lee said, "It is glorious to see such courage in one so young." - Courtesy Library of Congress
Erected 2009 by Civil War Preservation Trust and Virginia Civil War Trails.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Civil War Trails series list.
Location. 38°
Photographed By Benjamin Harrison Allen, December 13, 2020
2. American Battlefield Trust replacement marker
15.753′ N, 77° 26.565′ W. Marker is near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in Spotsylvania County. Marker can be reached from Tidewater Trail (U.S. 17), on the right when traveling south. Located on the American Battlefield Trust's Slaughter Pen Farm trail. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 11232 Tidewater Trail, Fredericksburg VA 22408, United States of America. Touch for directions.
The north seeking arrow points to the lower right.
Photographed By Craig Swain, July 25, 2009
5. Second Wayside on the Slaughter Pen Farm Trail
Photographed By Craig Swain, July 25, 2009
6. Looking Southeast Down the Virginia Ditch Fence Today
Photographed By Craig Swain, July 25, 2009
7. The Northwest Leg of the Fence
This side of the fence appears more a barrier to passage, perhaps due to contrast with the surrounding corn.
Library of Congress
8. Major John Pelham
Just prior to the Union assault, 24-year-old Confederate Major John Pelham advanced one cannon a mile to your left and wrought havoc on the Union lines. Dangerously exposed and outgunned, Pelham disrupted the Union attack for nearly an hour and emerged unscathed. Of Pelham's actions, Gen. Robert E. Lee said, “It is glorious to see such courage in one so young.”
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 26, 2009, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,432 times since then and 12 times this year. Last updated on January 12, 2023, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. Photos:1. submitted on July 26, 2009, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 2. submitted on February 23, 2022, by Benjamin Harrison Allen of Amissville, Virginia. 3. submitted on July 26, 2009. 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on July 26, 2009, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 8. submitted on September 23, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.