Civil War Defenses

In December of 1862, with a Federal attack imminent, General Robert E. Lee deployed his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia along a series of hills around Fredericksburg. Brigadier General Cadmus M. Wilcox and his Alabama brigade took position around the house known as Fall Hill. Union artillery bombarded the town on December 11th, and soldiers watched residents flee west along this roadway. The Confederate defenses included infantry trenches on the lower slopes and gun pits for supporting artillery near the tops of the hills. These earthworks marked the far left of the Confederate line at Fredericksburg. During the battle, troops in this area faced occasional artillery fire from across the river, and Wilcox recalled that many shot and shell were thrown into the woods occupied by his men.

Fredericksburg, Virginia · United States