Marye's Heights - Fredericksburg, Virginia

Our first adventure at Fredericksburg National Battlefield included taking a walking tour of Marye's Heights, despite being interrupted by a sudden downpour that soaked all of us! Marye's Heights became a focal point for Union forces on December 13, 1862 during the Battle of Fredericksburg. General Ambrose Burnside sent over 30,000 Federal troops to attack the Confederate positions behind the stone wall. Not a single soldier made it to the wall because of the murderous rifle and artillery fire from the heights on the open fields. Thousands were killed or wounded.

The walking tour of Marye's Heights includes a look at numerous stops. The most visible and infamous is the stone wall and sunken road. Some of the stops also include the Innis House and the foundation of the Stephens House. Both of these structures were badly damaged during the fighting. The Stephens House no longer stands but its foundation is still preserved. The Innis House was riddled with bullets and shell fragments. The outer clapboards were replaced by the family but a few bullet holes are still visible. The tour includes other structures on Marye's Heights damaged by the fighting.

A prominent statue on Marye's Heights is the monument to Richard Rowland Kirkland. Kirland, a Confederate soldier in the 2nd South Carolina, is called the Angel of Marye's Heights. During the battle, he filled up several canteens with water, jumped over the wall, and brought it to wounded Union troops lying on the field. This monument stands near a section of the original stone wall. Much of this wall was destroyed after the battle but a small section of it still remains. The damaged portion was restored in the 1930's.

After a small hike up Marye's Heights, we came to the last stop on the walking tour, Fredericksburg National Cemetery. At this point, it started to rain on us. It soon turned into a downpour and we became stuck because we were at a location furthest from the visitor center and our car. We decided to go ahead and make our way through the cemetery. Unfortunately, I did not get a lot of pictures because of the rain. The cemetery contains the graves of over 15,000 U.S. soldiers who died during the action and in another battle five months later on Marye's Heights. Over 80% of the soldiers buried there are unknown.

About the time the rain ended, we headed back to the car to continue our tour of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. The next major stop was Chatham Manor, the site of Union headquarters and the subject of the next post!

Links to Learn More:

• More photos from Marye's Heights and Fredericksburg
• The Battles for Marye's Heights - NPS
  

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Fredericksburg Reflections

My family and I made our way from Richmond up to Fredericksburg National Battlefield after visiting the Museum and White House. This was going to be my very first visit to a Civil War battlefield. After making our way to the Visitor Center, I realized that we were at the very center of the action on Marye's Heights in front of us. Thousands of Union soldiers were killed and wounded at that spot, and a distinct heaviness settled over me, standing in a place of so much death.

After a few moments of trying to wrap my head around this, we went into the Visitor Center, got maps, and looked around the museum. We decided to go on a walking tour of Marye's Heights, then drive to other spots around the battlefield. On December 11-13, 1862, Union forces built pontoon bridges to cross the Rappahannock river into Fredericksburg and attack the Confederates. Due to delays with the bridges, these were built under fire and Union forces had to fight house to house before taking the town.

The focal points of the attack took place on Prospect Hill, where Federal troops achieved a temporary breakthrough, and at Marye's Heights, where the heart of Lee's defenses were entrenched behind the stone wall in a sunken road. Thousands of Union troops were cut down on the open fields across from the river beneath Marye's Heights. They suffered over 12,000 casualties with the Confederates suffering less than half of that. It was the most one-sided victory of the war for the South.

Something I noticed immediately when we began exploring Marye's Heights was that modern houses and buildings were built almost right up to the wall. They were built on the same ground where thousands of soldiers died, between the stone wall and the river. This became difficult for me to comprehend how this part of the battlefield could not be preserved but instead overtaken by development. I imagined looking out over Marye's Heights to see these fields but couldn't do this in reality.

Next up in my series, we will be taking a more detailed look at places around the Fredericksburg Battlefield, including Marye's Heights, Chatham House, and Prospect Hill.

Links to Learn More:

• More photos of Fredericksburg National Battlefield
• Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
  

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The Confederate White House

One advantage of visiting the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond is that the Confederate White House is literally right next door. My parents and I were able to get tickets for a tour of the Confederate White House at the museum and had plenty time to browse around before the tour began. The Confederate White House served as the official residence of the first and only president, Jefferson Davis, and his family throughout the Civil War.

Before we even entered the Museum of the Confederacy or went on the tour, my parents and I looked around outside at a couple of interesting artifacts. The anchor and a propeller shaft of the C.S.S. Virginia were on display. The C.S.S. Virginia, a Union ship recovered and renamed, was the first ironclad built by the South. It had a battering ram, heavy guns, and sides covered with iron plating. This ship squared off with the U.S.S. Monitor, another ironclad with revolving turret, in a battle off Hampton Roads, changing naval warfare forever.

The White House was the center of social, political, and military life in the Confederacy. The house was bought by the City of Richmond after the start of the Civil War and the capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, Alabama. This mansion contains many original furnishings but much of it has been restored. We saw the rooms for formal affairs and the family's private rooms. Also, the second floor holds Jefferson Davis's office. Abraham Lincoln made his way to the Confederate White House and sat in his office chair after the fall of Richmond.

The house served as the center for Confederate military operations and often meetings were held in the dining room. Military aides, Cabinet members and others came through the house on a regular basis. The family experienced tragedy in that house in 1864 when Davis's son Joseph fell from the portico and died. Then, the Davis family was forced to evacuate their home in Richmond in 1865 after Federal troops broke through Lee's lines and moved into the city.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but the house is impressive with its elaborate furniture and rooms. I felt amazed to stand in the same places as such American icons as Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Abraham Lincoln, once stood. Next up, I visited my first Civil War battlefield as we headed up to Fredericksburg.

Links to Learn More:

• More photos of the Confederate White House
• Museum of the Confederacy: Visit the White House
  

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The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond

After our adventures in Yorktown and Williamsburg the previous day, my parents and I headed to Richmond, Virginia. It was almost surreal for me to be in that city as it has been a dream of mine to visit Richmond for a long time. While we did not have time to see everything around that area, we made a point to see the Museum of the Confederacy in downtown Richmond. I had heard that the museum was worth seeing, and after visiting, I agree!

The Museum of the Confederacy holds an impressive amount of military and civilian artifacts from the Confederate States of America. It contains documents, artwork, clothing, weapons, flags, and pictures from the Civil War period (1861 to 1865). The exhibit on the first floor takes visitors through the major events of the Civil War and the role of prominent Confederate generals and leaders. The museum also has exhibits on the civilian life of the South during the war and Confederate artwork during that period.

I really enjoyed looking at all the artifacts from the well-known generals in the Confederate Army. It had personal items and uniforms from generals such as Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, J.E.B. Stuart, and Robert E. Lee. Many of the uniforms on display were from regular soldiers as well and a few of these had holes where they were struck during battle. The information on the major campaigns and battles of the war was excellent as well.

There were a few things that really struck me while browsing among the exhibits of the museum. First of all, looking through the artifact collections, I came to the one on J.E.B. Stuart. I was struck by his riding boots and how you could see where they came up to his knees. Several battle flags were on display, ripped and torn, that had the names of specific battles on them. I was also struck by photographs of Confederate soldiers, many who were killed or wounded. While looking at those pictures, the Civil War became real to me in a new way.

I'd recommend this museum to any Civil War enthusiast. I walked away gaining a new appreciation of the men who fought for the Confederacy and Confederate history. While we were at the museum, we also took part in a tour of the Confederate White House, where Jefferson Davis stayed with his family as the president. It is located only a few yards away from the museum and is the subject of my next post in this series.

Links to Learn More:

• More photos from the Museum of the Confederacy
• The Museum of the Confederacy
  

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