The Federal Artillery Barrage

The Federal Artillery Barrage. . On April 6, 1865, the fighting in Amelia County continued along the line of march heading west toward Farmville. Days of rain had swollen the streams in the path of the armies and turned dirt roads into quagmires, making travel through the area difficult for both man and beast alike. On both sides, cold, wet, footsore men waited in weary anticipation for the next round of combat., Around 4:30 p.m., in muddy fields behind the Hillsman House, preparations for an engagement began. As medical staff readied the house to receive the wounded, thousands of Federal soldiers of General Horatio Wright's Sixth Corps arrived. As two divisions of infantry formed up, gunners moved 20 pieces of field artillery into position on the high ground near the house., The Federal artillery barrage aimed at soldiers of Lt. General Richard Stoddard Ewell's command commenced 5:15 p.m. The Confederates, gathered on a ridge 800 yards to the south were defenseless. Without artillery, their guns having been captured in the previous day's fight near Paineville, 10 miles to the northwest, the Confederates were unable to return fire. Their rifled muskets were useless against the distant Federal artillery., In his after action report, Brevet Major Andrew Cowan, commanding the federal artillery bombardment wrote "... a most effective fire was kept up until the enemy was routed. Prisoners stated that it was the most terrific fire they were ever exposed to. So many killed and wounded from the fire of artillery has seldom been seen... in so small a space.", In the eerie quiet that followed the 30 minute bombardment, blue clad figures began their advance, moving down the hill, toward the rain swollen stream. Shouted orders and the cracking musketry rang through the air. By 7:30 p.m., as darkness gathered, the desperate fight was over. In the aftermath, one Federal observer wrote that the dead were scattered across the hillside like autumn leaves.