The Flickr Civilwar Image Generatr

John Brown’s Fort, a landmark of American history, stands proudly in the foreground of this photo taken in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The simple brick building, with its arched windows and sturdy walls, is forever tied to the 1859 raid that sparked national tensions leading up to the Civil War. Originally built as a fire engine house, it was the site where John Brown and his men made their last stand against U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Behind the fort, the street scene unfolds, lined with beautifully preserved 19th-century brick rowhouses that have seen Harpers Ferry evolve through decades of conflict, commerce, and restoration. The steeple of St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church rises above the town, a reminder of the enduring spiritual community here. Overhead, dramatic clouds roll across the Appalachian sky, creating a dynamic backdrop that highlights both the historic significance and the natural beauty of this National Historical Park. This photograph captures the intricate relationship between Harpers Ferry’s built environment and its rich historical tapestry, where every street corner whispers stories of the past.

A charming view of the historic streetscape of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, reveals the town’s rich architectural heritage nestled in the rolling hills of the Appalachian Mountains. The cobblestone streets wind past a series of preserved 19th-century buildings, including red brick facades and stone structures, evoking the town’s significance as a key site in American history. At the heart of the scene rises the iconic St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church steeple, anchoring the community both physically and historically. Trees with bare branches frame the scene, while the cloudy sky adds drama to the layered rooftops and inviting porches. Harpers Ferry, where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet, stands as a symbol of pivotal moments in the nation’s past, including John Brown’s raid and the Civil War. Today, it draws visitors eager to experience its unique blend of heritage, architecture, and natural beauty. The streets are lined with preserved homes and shops that whisper tales of the town’s role in shaping the country’s history, making it a must-visit destination for anyone drawn to America’s past.

Blair, Nebraska

Created in Holland before 1898. It originally was made for a private citizen in Omaha but when it arrived the bayonet was damaged and they did not claim it. In 1898 it was erected in the intersection of Colfax and Walker Avenues. It was moved in 1938 to the courthouse lawn as a WPA project.

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The Slaughter Pen is the very heart and soul of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Without it, nothing makes sense. This is the point where the battle was won and lost on December 13, 1862.

On December 13, 1862, three Union army divisions broke across the ground, assaulting the Confederates defenses positioned along a string of low hills south of the town. Over the course of a very long day, the Union sustained approximately 5,000 casualties. Thousands of Confederate casualties also attest to the hard struggle, which at times involved hand-to-hand fighting. Five Medals of Honor would eventually be awarded for individual acts of heroism during the desperate action.

When people think of the Fredericksburg battlefield, they usually envision the futile Union attacks against Marye’s Heights, which were halted by impenetrable barrages of carefully sited artillery and by Confederate musketry delivered from behind the stone wall along the Sunken Road. The area south of Fredericksburg, however, is where the battle truly hung in the balance. Federal assault columns actually broke through the Confederate lines on this other field, in the sector defended by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The terrain of the Slaughter Pen has remained exceptionally intact and a visitor walking through the site today can readily understand what occurred there. The Slaughter Pen remains as it was at the time of the battle.

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The Slaughter Pen is the very heart and soul of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Without it, nothing makes sense. This is the point where the battle was won and lost on December 13, 1862.

On December 13, 1862, three Union army divisions broke across the ground, assaulting the Confederates defenses positioned along a string of low hills south of the town. Over the course of a very long day, the Union sustained approximately 5,000 casualties. Thousands of Confederate casualties also attest to the hard struggle, which at times involved hand-to-hand fighting. Five Medals of Honor would eventually be awarded for individual acts of heroism during the desperate action.

When people think of the Fredericksburg battlefield, they usually envision the futile Union attacks against Marye’s Heights, which were halted by impenetrable barrages of carefully sited artillery and by Confederate musketry delivered from behind the stone wall along the Sunken Road. The area south of Fredericksburg, however, is where the battle truly hung in the balance. Federal assault columns actually broke through the Confederate lines on this other field, in the sector defended by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The terrain of the Slaughter Pen has remained exceptionally intact and a visitor walking through the site today can readily understand what occurred there. The Slaughter Pen remains as it was at the time of the battle.

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Fredericksburg National Cemetery is located on Willis Hill, the largest of the hills that make up Marye’s Heights. Interment of remains in the cemetery began after the war in 1866. It was estimated that over 100,000 Federal soldiers had died within 20 miles of Fredericksburg. By 1869 15,243 had been gathered on Marye’s Heights. Only 2.473 of those were identified. Most were enlisted men, as officers were usually taken home by their families. They were not organized by state or unit, but were buried as they came in over the three year period. All were Federal; Confederate dead were taken to their own cemeteries in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania.

For the next seventy five years around 300 veterans of the Spanish-American War and both world wars were buried here. The cemetery was closed to interments in 1945.

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The Slaughter Pen is the very heart and soul of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Without it, nothing makes sense. This is the point where the battle was won and lost on December 13, 1862.

On December 13, 1862, three Union army divisions broke across the ground, assaulting the Confederates defenses positioned along a string of low hills south of the town. Over the course of a very long day, the Union sustained approximately 5,000 casualties. Thousands of Confederate casualties also attest to the hard struggle, which at times involved hand-to-hand fighting. Five Medals of Honor would eventually be awarded for individual acts of heroism during the desperate action.

When people think of the Fredericksburg battlefield, they usually envision the futile Union attacks against Marye’s Heights, which were halted by impenetrable barrages of carefully sited artillery and by Confederate musketry delivered from behind the stone wall along the Sunken Road. The area south of Fredericksburg, however, is where the battle truly hung in the balance. Federal assault columns actually broke through the Confederate lines on this other field, in the sector defended by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The terrain of the Slaughter Pen has remained exceptionally intact and a visitor walking through the site today can readily understand what occurred there. The Slaughter Pen remains as it was at the time of the battle.

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Confederate Artillery
The Battle of Fredericksburg

Artillery was an effective weapon, particularly when used in defensive combat. Nowhere was that demonstrated more clearly than here on Marye's Heights, where nine guns of the Washington Artillery shattered the ranks of the oncoming Union army. "The shells fell thick and fast, exploding with deafening roar right in our midst. Shattered, torn and bleeding, our column still pushed on," wrote one Union soldier.

Toward sunset the Washington Artillery's ammunition ran low and the battalion retired to safety. Colonel Edward Porter Alexander's reserve artillery galloped up from the rear to take its place. Mistaking the Washington Artillery's withdrawal for a general Confederate retreat, Union forces again pressed toward the heights, only to be greeted by the blasts of Alexander's fresh guns. The Union battle lines dissolved in the growing darkness.

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The Slaughter Pen is the very heart and soul of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Without it, nothing makes sense. This is the point where the battle was won and lost on December 13, 1862.

On December 13, 1862, three Union army divisions broke across the ground, assaulting the Confederates defenses positioned along a string of low hills south of the town. Over the course of a very long day, the Union sustained approximately 5,000 casualties. Thousands of Confederate casualties also attest to the hard struggle, which at times involved hand-to-hand fighting. Five Medals of Honor would eventually be awarded for individual acts of heroism during the desperate action.

When people think of the Fredericksburg battlefield, they usually envision the futile Union attacks against Marye’s Heights, which were halted by impenetrable barrages of carefully sited artillery and by Confederate musketry delivered from behind the stone wall along the Sunken Road. The area south of Fredericksburg, however, is where the battle truly hung in the balance. Federal assault columns actually broke through the Confederate lines on this other field, in the sector defended by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The terrain of the Slaughter Pen has remained exceptionally intact and a visitor walking through the site today can readily understand what occurred there. The Slaughter Pen remains as it was at the time of the battle.

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Innis House

In December, 1862, a small cluster of homes and businesses, occupied by four families, dotted the east side of the Sunken Road. Today, the Innis House is the only one of these structures left.

The Innis House was built between 1856 and 1861. In 1861, the property belonged to Martha Stephens, who resided in another structure 150 feet to the south, but John Innis, Martha’s son, and his wife, Ellen Innis, resided here. The first floor of the house has a small entrance room, a larger living room with a fireplace, and a small side room. The upstairs has two rooms, one with access to the chimney and a small fireplace.

During the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Innis House was directly in the crossfires of the two armies. By the end of the battle the house was greatly damaged, yet the structure was intact and the residents moved back in after the war. The Innis house remained private home for the next 100 years.

The National Park Service acquired the Innis House in 1969. Restoration of the house was completed in 1987. The house was restored to its 1862 appearance. During the restoration many bullet holes, shell holes, and bullets were found within and on the outside of the structure. Some of the bullet holes were revealed when the restoration team removed layers of old wallpaper. One count of the bullet holes comes to 52; they are on the inside and outside of the home.

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The Slaughter Pen is the very heart and soul of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Without it, nothing makes sense. This is the point where the battle was won and lost on December 13, 1862.

On December 13, 1862, three Union army divisions broke across the ground, assaulting the Confederates defenses positioned along a string of low hills south of the town. Over the course of a very long day, the Union sustained approximately 5,000 casualties. Thousands of Confederate casualties also attest to the hard struggle, which at times involved hand-to-hand fighting. Five Medals of Honor would eventually be awarded for individual acts of heroism during the desperate action.

When people think of the Fredericksburg battlefield, they usually envision the futile Union attacks against Marye’s Heights, which were halted by impenetrable barrages of carefully sited artillery and by Confederate musketry delivered from behind the stone wall along the Sunken Road. The area south of Fredericksburg, however, is where the battle truly hung in the balance. Federal assault columns actually broke through the Confederate lines on this other field, in the sector defended by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The terrain of the Slaughter Pen has remained exceptionally intact and a visitor walking through the site today can readily understand what occurred there. The Slaughter Pen remains as it was at the time of the battle.

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Confederates on the Heights
The Battle of Fredericksburg

What chance had [Union] flesh and blood to carry by storm such a position, garrisoned too as it was with veteran soldiers? Not one chance in a million.
Private Alexander Hunter, 17th Virginia Infantry


At 11 a.m. on December 13, 1862, the first of eight Union divisions poured out of town to attack Marye's Heights. "Their bright bayonets glistening in the sunlight made the line look like a huge serpent of blue and steel," wrote one Southern soldier. The Union waves shuddered and stopped in front of the Confederate line in the Sunken Road, below you.

During the afternoon, thousands of fresh Confederates swarmed across these heights to join the Georgians in the Sunken Road. Some stopped here in the open to fire at the enemy below. Others dashed down the slope to the cover of the road. Of the 1,000 Confederates who fell defending Marye's Heights, more than half of them likely fell here on this ridge.

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Marye's Heights hovers over the Sunken Road, known at various times as the Court House Road, and, during the Civil War, as the Telegraph Road. Since Fredericksburg’s establishment in the 1720s, people have lived in or near the road. In the 1820s, when John Marye moved into his new home called Brompton, the stately mansion directly north of here, the entire ridge line came to be known as Marye’s Heights.

When the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia arrived here in late November of 1862, they found a nearly perfect position from which to set up a defensive line around the city. From here, they could look east and see the whole town of Fredericksburg, its streets and buildings clustered between these heights and the Rappahanock River.

In 1862 this hill looked out to the city's fairgrounds and the view was much more expansive than it is now. Currently, on a clear day, you can still see many landmarks in town and as far out as Stafford Heights on the opposite side of the Rappahanock River.

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The Slaughter Pen is the very heart and soul of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Without it, nothing makes sense. This is the point where the battle was won and lost on December 13, 1862.

On December 13, 1862, three Union army divisions broke across the ground, assaulting the Confederates defenses positioned along a string of low hills south of the town. Over the course of a very long day, the Union sustained approximately 5,000 casualties. Thousands of Confederate casualties also attest to the hard struggle, which at times involved hand-to-hand fighting. Five Medals of Honor would eventually be awarded for individual acts of heroism during the desperate action.

When people think of the Fredericksburg battlefield, they usually envision the futile Union attacks against Marye’s Heights, which were halted by impenetrable barrages of carefully sited artillery and by Confederate musketry delivered from behind the stone wall along the Sunken Road. The area south of Fredericksburg, however, is where the battle truly hung in the balance. Federal assault columns actually broke through the Confederate lines on this other field, in the sector defended by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The terrain of the Slaughter Pen has remained exceptionally intact and a visitor walking through the site today can readily understand what occurred there. The Slaughter Pen remains as it was at the time of the battle.

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The Slaughter Pen is the very heart and soul of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Without it, nothing makes sense. This is the point where the battle was won and lost on December 13, 1862.

On December 13, 1862, three Union army divisions broke across the ground, assaulting the Confederates defenses positioned along a string of low hills south of the town. Over the course of a very long day, the Union sustained approximately 5,000 casualties. Thousands of Confederate casualties also attest to the hard struggle, which at times involved hand-to-hand fighting. Five Medals of Honor would eventually be awarded for individual acts of heroism during the desperate action.

When people think of the Fredericksburg battlefield, they usually envision the futile Union attacks against Marye’s Heights, which were halted by impenetrable barrages of carefully sited artillery and by Confederate musketry delivered from behind the stone wall along the Sunken Road. The area south of Fredericksburg, however, is where the battle truly hung in the balance. Federal assault columns actually broke through the Confederate lines on this other field, in the sector defended by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The terrain of the Slaughter Pen has remained exceptionally intact and a visitor walking through the site today can readily understand what occurred there. The Slaughter Pen remains as it was at the time of the battle.

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The Original Wall
The Battle of Fredericksburg

Standing here you can clearly see how the Sunken Road got its name. Cut into the base of Marye's Heights, the roadbed sits several feet below the grade of the surrounding hill slope. Stone retaining walls on either side of the road hold the banks in place. When the Confederate army arrived here in November 1862, it found a ready-made breastwork behind which to fight.

At the time of the battle, the stone wall stretched for more than 500 yards along the eastern (left) side of the road. After the Civil War, however, large sections were removed. Today just this one-block remnant of original wall remains. Please help the National Park Service preserve this original section of the stone wall by not touching or approaching it.

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The Slaughter Pen is the very heart and soul of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. Without it, nothing makes sense. This is the point where the battle was won and lost on December 13, 1862.

On December 13, 1862, three Union army divisions broke across the ground, assaulting the Confederates defenses positioned along a string of low hills south of the town. Over the course of a very long day, the Union sustained approximately 5,000 casualties. Thousands of Confederate casualties also attest to the hard struggle, which at times involved hand-to-hand fighting. Five Medals of Honor would eventually be awarded for individual acts of heroism during the desperate action.

When people think of the Fredericksburg battlefield, they usually envision the futile Union attacks against Marye’s Heights, which were halted by impenetrable barrages of carefully sited artillery and by Confederate musketry delivered from behind the stone wall along the Sunken Road. The area south of Fredericksburg, however, is where the battle truly hung in the balance. Federal assault columns actually broke through the Confederate lines on this other field, in the sector defended by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The terrain of the Slaughter Pen has remained exceptionally intact and a visitor walking through the site today can readily understand what occurred there. The Slaughter Pen remains as it was at the time of the battle.

Laurel Hill Cemetery in Neligh, Nebraska

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Battery 9 Trenches

Infantry Earthworks

“Attacking entrenchments has been tried so often and with such fearful losses that even the stupidest private now knows that it cannot succeed, and the natural consequence follows; the men will not try it. The very sight of a bank of earth brings them to a dead halt.”

– Col. Charles Wainwright, USA, June 18, 1864

Re-created here are samples of some of the infantry earthworks that ringed Petersburg – works that one man said made the landscape resemble “an immense prairie dog village.”

As the siege wore on, assaults against entrenched positions became rare. Most of the pitched battles at Petersburg took place beyond the flanks of the armies, as the Federals inexorably pushed westward to cut the rail lines and roads into the city.

The trenches offered little shelter from the weather.

The pickets gave warning of attack. Obstructions like abatis, fraises, and chevaux-de-frise were designed to slow an enemy advance. Infantry in the earthworks and artillery in nearby batteries and forts could then decimate the attacking lines.

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A Final Effort

Desperate to relieve the Union noose strangling Petersburg, on March 25, 1865, General Lee used pre-dawn darkness and stealth to pierce the Union Line here at Fort Steadman.

“We were very much elated at first, as we thought we had won a great victory.”

– Capt. R.D. Funkhouser, 4th Virginia

Though initially successful, the attack soon lost momentum. Union reinforcements arrived and counterattacked. The Confederates fell back over and into the Fort; hundreds were killed or captured.

Never again would Robert E. Lee launch a major offensive. A week later Petersburg would fall.