Existing comment:
Rats in a Cage
The Union army refused to give up. Frustrated by the Federals' stronghold on Bolivar Heights, "Stonewall" Jackson ordered cannons to the mountain tops and nearby plateaus. Pounded by a day and a morning of Confederate bombardment, Union soldiers felt the strain, "A general feeling of depression observable in all the men...All seem to think that we will have to surrender or be cut to pieces," wrote Union Private Louis B. Hull.
"We are as helpless as rats in a cage."
-- Captain Edward Ripley, 9th Vermont |