Civil War Defenses
December 1862
In December of 1862, with a Federal attack imminent, General Robert E. Lee deployed his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia along a series of hills around the town of Fredericksburg. Brigadier General Cadmus M. Wilcox and his Alabama brigade took position around the house known as Fall Hill. Union artillery bombarded the town on December 11th and the soldiers watched residents flee west along this roadway.
The Confederate defenses consisted of infantry trenches on the lower slopes and gun pits for supporting artillery near the top of the hills. These nearby earthworks represent the far left of the Confederate line at Fredericksburg. During the ensuing battle, the troops in this area were subjected to occasional artillery fire from across the river. As Wilcox described the experience: “Many shot and shell were thrown in the woods occupied by my men.”
Marker can be reached from Fall Hill Avenue.
Courtesy hmdb.org
