Dying in Line

At Brawner Farm there was little maneuvering as Union and Confederate infantry stood in parade-style lines fifty yards apart and fired volley after volley for two hours, with only a few fence rails and ruts in the field for cover. Even after sundown the shooting continued, and men aimed at the muzzle flashes. The next morning Capt. W.W. Blackford, one of Jeb Stuart's officers, described the Union position as marked by dark rows of bodies stretched out in the broomsedge field, lying just where they had fallen, with their heels on a well-defined line.

Haymarket, Virginia · United States