Kind of strange that the Union would not refer to this as the Battle of the Rappahannock, since that is the name of the river by the town. Normally, they named battles after nearby water.
A sunken road near the bottom of the hill was protected by a stone wall which made for excellent Confederate defensive positions. Members of the Goldsboro Rifles from Wayne County were among the men behind that wall.
Standing four deep, they used assembly line techniques to keep the soldier in the front constantly firing a gun and they literally mowed down the Union attackers. During the afternoon, there were twelve attacks that December 13th afternoon, all of which failed.
According to Bull, "It was probably the best defensive position lee held during the entire war. It wasn't war. It was murder."
He noted the actions of Richard Kirkland of South Carolina who jumped the wall to help the many wounded Union soldiers. He is remembered as "The Angel of Marye's Heights."
The next scheduled lecture in the series will be held Dec. 11th and will focus on the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge and a re-enactment of the battle is planned for Dec. 15-16 on the actual battle site, which is county-owned.
Sure Would Like to be There. --Old Secesh
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