Seeking Cover

For Union soldiers who attacked Marye's Heights, the open plain ahead offered only two sources of cover: the brick Stratton house on the left side of the street and the swale, a slight drop in the landscape just beyond the house. For three days, Union soldiers stubbornly clung to their position in front of the stone wall, pinned down by Confederate riflemen in the Sunken Road. Some soldiers lying in the swale tried to protect themselves by pushing dirt in front of them, while others sought shelter behind the bodies of fallen comrades. Only night brought protection, as every moving thing in sight was riddled by enemy fire.

Fredericksburg, Virginia · United States