Slaughter Pen Farm

By Ralph “Tuffy” Hicks

In 2006 the Civil War Trust began a campaign to acquire the Slaughter Pen Farm, a major part of the Fredericksburg battlefield that is 205 acres. The farm is adjacent to Shannon airport and across from the Fredericksburg Country Club. Known for years as the Pierson farm, it was the Union Army's left flank during the battle of Fredericksburg. The land which was considered prime for development, was the only land left where you can follow the Union assault from start to finish All the other parts of the Fredericksburg battle has been degraded by development..

Slaughter Pen has always been less important in discussions than Marye's Heights, however, it was at Slaughter Pen where the battle of Fredericksburg was won or lost Over this ground the Federal Troops Under Generals Meade and Gibbon would assault "Stonewall" Jackson's troops holding the Confederate right flank (Prospect Hill).

Fredericksburg would have never been a battle if General Ambrose Burnside would have carried out his original plan. Burnsides plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg around fifteen November and proceed towards Richmond before General Lee could get his troops in position to block him. All was put on hold when Burnside was unable to get the pontoon bridges in time to cross the Rappahannock. The issue was according to the New York Engineers was that they needed over 250 horses to move the pontoons. Actually most of the bridging was still on the upper Potomac, unknown to Burnside's Staff engineer Cyrus Comstock. Fredericksburg when Burnside arrived was only home to approximately 500 Confederate troops. General Sumner suggested that a force cross the river and drive off the Southern troops. He ordered General Sumner to wait in Falmouth until the pontoons arrived, after Sumner suggested crossing at the fords in the river. When the pontoons finally arrived the Confederate army was near Fredericksburg with around 65,000 troops. Burnside's hesitation with his 100,000 soldiers had denied him his element of surprise

Slaughter Pen tract today is much like it was in 1862. The R F & P railroad is in the same location as it was in 1862. The Pyramid is very visible as it was constructed as a marker for rail passengers in the 1930's. On December 13, 1862, it was the Left Grand Division of Major General William Franklin that crossed over the Pontoon Bridges at

Mansfield (Fredericksburg Country Club) in preparation to attack Jackson's troops on the confederate right south of the city. South of the Town on December 13 at Slaughter Pen Farm, Franklin had his entire division of 60,000 troops. His orders were to seize the high ground known as Prospect Hill. The morning was blanketed with a dense fog, when General George Meade was ordered to move forward with around 4,500 troops. It was 1PM when Meade hit Jackson's force of around 35,000 in the thick under brush. Meade hit a portion of the line about a 600 yard space that was undefended. Meade ran into a group of Confederates with stacked arms not expecting an attack, many were captured along with a Georgia flag. This was some of the most severe fighting with bayonet. Meade had broken thru the southern line, he later complained that Birney's troops did not give him the support he needed and also Reynolds had not ordered his division forward. Franklin did not reinforce Meade's break thru with 20,000 troops in reserve, stating that all his forces were engaged which was not true as the entire VI Corps and I Corps were mostly in reserve during the fighting. Early's division began a counterattack that would drive Meade's troops from the woods in a disorderly retreat, the skirmishing would continue until dark, however, the Slaughter Pen Farm would be a forever memory for both North and South.

Franklin would suffer 5,000 casualties and Jackson's losses 3,400.

On the night of December 14, 1862, the Aurora Borealis appeared over the battlefield which was quite unusual for this area as the sky had a ruddy glow over the field of frozen dead by the Rappahannock as one soldier would write. Slaughter Pen today is a wonderful place to visit with displays and walking trails.

Dedicated to: Emmitt Marshall, J ane Edwards, Tom Trany, Brenda Huff, & Henrietta Snellings

Tuffy is Front Porch’s Resident Historian