“The Strongest Line of Works Ever Constructed”

Confederates established an extensive defensive network here, with the main line of entrenchments forming only one part of it. Southern soldiers removed all the trees in front of their works to create a clear field of fire, using the wood to strengthen fortifications, build winter quarters, and provide fuel for heating and cooking. In front of their lines they placed obstructions including abatis, interlaced rows of pointed tree branches and tangled brush designed to pin down attackers at optimum rifle range, and fraise, thick sharpened limbs and branches buried in the ground at an angle to block an assault. They also sometimes strung telegraph lines as trip wires across the open fields. In 1865 this ground was nearly as barren as a desert, creating a stark visual relationship between Confederate defenders and Union attackers.

Virginia · United States