Confederate Futility

Confederate attacks reached their final fury just before sunset as the men rushed forward when urged, then swayed back like a field of corn before the wind. When especially bold units neared the line of Union cannon, Federal infantry rushed out in front of the artillery to repel them, and no Confederates reached the guns. Pinched into a narrow attack front by steep cliffs on either side, Southern soldiers felt the full devastating blast of Federal artillery, and to a numbed eyewitness it seemed as though everything was at war with everything else, with death and destruction the game of the whole.

Sandston, Virginia · United States