Artillery Duel
May 25 - 26, 1864
You are standing before the trench line of the 10th Georgia Battalion, which held the right flank of Wright’s brigade. The Florida brigade and Lane’s artillery battalion held the position across the ravine to your right. On May 25 and 26 cannon and sharpshooter fire was almost constant across the river. During this period the Union artillery, firing at the rate of about three rounds per minute, hurled at least 3,000 rounds into these ridges and ravines. On May 26 Union gunners opened fire with three coehorn mortars, but failed to silence the Confederate artillery. The strength of trenches such as these limited casualties to a few unlucky soldiers on each side.
“We were supporting a battery which was firing very rapidly, our line being almost in exact line with the guns… when one of them burst with a deafening crash and the fragments were hurled far and wide. One large piece weighing 100 pounds or more after flying high into the air over our heads, fell straight down and almost buried itself in the ground at my feet. It had not hit the ground before I heard one of the artillerymen storm out, ‘Bring up another gun here, this one has busted all to hell,’ followed by a string of hearty curses at the Richmond made guns.” Alfred L. Scott, Staff Officer, Florida Brigade
On the evening of May 26 Grant turned Meade’s Army of the Potomac away from the North Anna to again flank Lee’s army out of its excellent position. Lee, forced to follow the movement of his opponent, forever lost the opportunity offered by the North Anna River to destroy the Union army.
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Marker can be reached from the intersection of Verndon Road and New Market Mill Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
