Existing comment:
Digging In:
Earthworks Built After the Battle:
On the morning of the battle, the only Union fortifications on this hill was a small breastwork of logs at the north end of the knob. Most of these entrenchments were dug in the afternoon only after the hardest fighting had ended.
Union reinforcements from the 14th and 17th Ohio regiments used bayonets, picks, and shovels to help construct the defenses. By evening, 1,200 Union soldiers camped behind a shoulder-high ring of trenches and logs.
More Trees Than Soldiers Killed:
Soldiers also constructed several hundred feet of log breastworks on the Winding Blade Road and Infantry Ridge.
After the battle a Kentucky soldier claimed that regiments from Ohio had slain more timber than his whole state could cut in a month. |