Digging In Under Fire

Digging In Under Fire. . Union soldiers constructed this portion of earthworks while under fire from Confederates across Totopotomoy Creek, 650 yards behind you to the west. Union Lt. Robert Robertson observed: "It was difficult to keep the men at work under the galling fire which the rebels kept up. They would cast up a shovel full of dirt and then lie down in the wheat until the bullets which the throwing up of the earth attracted had passed over, then resume their labor.", Federal cannon also took up positions nearby under "a constant shower of bullets." Dueling artillery killed and injured men from both sides with inconclusive tactical results., Union infantry stationed here advanced across the creek on May 30 and 31, 1864. They gained a foothold each time, but were then repulsed and returned to their previous positions., Unable to secure an advantage, General Grant continued his series of flanking maneuvers by moving south and east toward Cold Harbor., (captions) , From his vantage point in the upstairs of the Shelton House, Harper's Weekly illustrator Alfred Waud sketched this view of Union skirmishes in action. Library of Congress., The entrenchments we see today are remnants of a much larger network of defenses, visible here in a detail from an 1860s map. The Shelton family, together with paid laborers, continued to farm the land for more than a century after the battle, leveling much of these earthen obstacles. Library of Congress.