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A chicken could not live on that field when we open on it. -Confederate Colonel E. Porter Alexander
At about the same time General Meade began his advance against the Confederate right, General Edwin Sumner prepared his grand division for an attack against the left. As the morning fog lifted, the orders for Sumners men to advance were called out. They marched through the streets of the town toward the heights occupied by the Confederates. Marye's Heights was the nearest, about 600 yards outside of Fredericksburg (Goolrick, 1985). The terrain was similar to that which the Confederates would march across the following July at Gettysburg: a wide-open plain with few trees and houses from which to gain shelter and fences that would slow the advancing troops' movement. Additionally, there was a small canal 200 yards toward the Heights that could only be crossed on three bridges. This advance, of course, would also be hindered by incessant artillery fire coming from Longstreet's batteries on Marye's Heights. The Confederate position was arguably the most secure and formidable of any position held by either side at any point of the War. Near the base of Marye's Heights was a sunken road lined with a stonewall on the side of the Federal advance. Using the stonewall for protection, the Confederate troops had maximum cover from enemy fire, for the road was sunken enough that the soldiers could stand and fire and all but their heads were shielded from Federal bullets. This shoulder high protection, coupled with the openness of the field the Federals had to cross, rendered the Confederate position practically impregnable. Lafayette McLaws' division had the honor of defending the stonewall. Brigadier General Thomas Cobb's brigade was placed along the sunken road while Brigadier General Robert Ransom's 24th North Carolina, placed in well-dug trenches, extended the line to the left about 250 yards from where the wall ended (Goolrick, 1985). Additionally, McLaws had 7,000 men in reserve behind him on the hill to back up the 2,000 he placed at the wall. And certainly ample artillery was ready for action on the ridge above. All was in place for the slaughter that was about to ensue.
The copyright of the article Fredericksburg, Part 3: Slaughter on Marye's Heights in American Civil War is owned by Michael J. Swogger. Permission to republish Fredericksburg, Part 3: Slaughter on Marye's Heights in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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