Lee's response to the scene of Gibbon's and Meade's dead in front Prospect Hill and the Slaughter Pen Farm at Fredericksburg 13 December 1862 .
I had the opportunity to walk the assault route back when visited the battlefield in March of 2020. I had been to Fredericksburg many times when I worked for the NPS at Petersburg in the early '80s. Usually it was just to the area around the visitor center/stonewall or to Chatham Manor where I would do programs or drink beer as PNB's softball team played FNB's team.
American Battlefield Trust had recently bought the Slaughter Pen Farm back in 2020. I spent the day "touring" the farm and the hillside to the south (Prospect Hill) where Meades and Gibbons men broke Jackson's line. It was a very different battle that took place that the more well known part that took place in front of Marye's Heights.
It is where "Gallant" Pelham rode out with his artillery section and enfiladed Meade's and Gibbon's flanks with canister all the while being subjected to intense Federal counter battery fire.
If you are ever in the area I highly recommend taking time to see this part of the battlefield. Pretty much as it was back them with little to no development like in town.
I had the opportunity to walk the assault route back when visited the battlefield in March of 2020. I had been to Fredericksburg many times when I worked for the NPS at Petersburg in the early '80s. Usually it was just to the area around the visitor center/stonewall or to Chatham Manor where I would do programs or drink beer as PNB's softball team played FNB's team.
American Battlefield Trust had recently bought the Slaughter Pen Farm back in 2020. I spent the day "touring" the farm and the hillside to the south (Prospect Hill) where Meades and Gibbons men broke Jackson's line. It was a very different battle that took place that the more well known part that took place in front of Marye's Heights.
It is where "Gallant" Pelham rode out with his artillery section and enfiladed Meade's and Gibbon's flanks with canister all the while being subjected to intense Federal counter battery fire.
If you are ever in the area I highly recommend taking time to see this part of the battlefield. Pretty much as it was back them with little to no development like in town.