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The Hornets' Nest
After being driven from their camps by attacking Confederates about 9:00 a.m., more than 4,000 Union soldiers retreated to the woods to your left, and took position along the "Sunken Road," the dirt wagon trace in front of you. Here, on high ground commanding Duncan Field and the adjoining woods, Federal infantry took cover behind oak trees, fence rails, and dense undergrowth.
During the next eight hours, Confederate infantry charged the road and the wooded stronghold they called the "Hornets' Nest" eleven times. Repeatedly they were repulsed by swarms of minie balls.
A 5-minute walk down the Sunken Road leads to an exhibit on the surrender of the Hornets' Nest. The ground you will be walking over is the scene of some of the most desperate and deadly fighting in the Civil War.
"Then the supporting infantry, rising from their recumbent position, sent fort a sheet of leaden hail that elicited curses, shrieks, groans, and shouts, all blended into an appalling cry."
-- Capt. Andrew Hickenlooper, 5th Ohio Independent Battery
Col. Randall L. Gibson, a Yale graduate, led four charges against the nearly impregnable Hornets' Nest. Each time his men were overwhelmed by murderous storms of minie balls, shot, shell, and canister. |