Howlett Line Gun Position

Howlett Line Gun Position. The Bermuda Hundred Campaign. The ground you are standing on would have been a very dangerous place from May of 1864 until the fall of Petersburg in April of 1865. In front of you is one of the many gun positions that the Confederates used to protect the Howlett Line. This position juts out from the trenches on either side of it. This allowed the guns here to sweep the left, right and front with deadly fire., Just 100 yards in front of this site was the Confederate picket line. A mere 600 yards away was the opposing Federal picket line. Beyond that the Federal cannons at Fort McConihe and Fort Carpenter were only 1,000 and 1,400 yards away respectively., A Confederate attack launched from this area would have to capture both of those outlying forts in order to make it to the main Federal line approximately 1 mile from here. A Federal attack would have to push through the Confederate picket line and then chop their way through three lines of obstructions, all while under heavy fire from the guns here and Confederate riflemen behind well prepared earthworks., The photos to the right were taken in Hanover County. They show the Confederate line overlooking the North Anna River after being occupied by Federal troops. While not taken here, they give a very good visual representation of what life in the Howlett Line would have looked like for the typical Confederate soldier., (captions) , The gun position in front of you would have looked very similar to the one in this photo. , Makeshift shelters in the trenches. , This sign was sponsored by Jessica and Harry Thaete, Coronado, CA