Struggle to the Heights

During the second night of battle, General A.P. Hill’s Confederates dragged two thousand-pound cannon up this ravine and other nearby ravines at night, an essential part of “Stonewall” Jackson’s plan to flank the Union army on the crest of Bolivar Heights. After hauling the artillery upward, Hill’s men rolled the cannon into position in the open field behind this spot, and although the names of the soldiers who performed this labor were not recorded in military reports, their work soon changed the course of the battle.

West Virginia · United States