The Slaughter Pen

On December 13, 1862, Union and Confederate troops clashed here, on muddy fields dubbed the "Slaughter Pen." Union Gen. William B. Franklin had 65,000 troops, but employed only two divisions, numbering 8,000 men, under Generals George G. Meade and John Gibbon, to capture Prospect Hill - the key to the Confederate right flank.

Meade penetrated a gap in the Confederate line but did not receive reinforcements in time to exploit his gains. After two failed attempts, Gibbon's men reached and captured part of the Confederate line only to be driven back due to lack of support. The Confederate repulse deprived the Union of its only real chance of victory at Fredericksburg. The day's fierce combat around Prospect Hill and the Slaughter Pen resulted in more than 9,000 combined casualties. Here, on these fields, Union soldiers earned five Medals of Honor.

"This one differed from most of the battlefields of the war. It was not in woods, ravines, underbrush or wilderness. Our army was all in the open country... and the movements could be viewed in all their martial beauty and military glory from any quarter of the field."
- Col. Thomas F. M'Coy, 107th Pennsylvania Infantry, USA

"The advancing force was visibly staggered by our rapid and well-directed artillery but soon, recovering from the shock, the Federal troops continued to press forward."
- Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, CSA

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Show me all markers in:  Fredericksburg, VA  |  22408  |  Virginia  |  United States of America

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Slaughter Pen Farm

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