Breastworks (Trenches)

“Rebel breastworks in front of Petersburgh (i.e. Petersburg). The small mounds with chimneys are the soldiers' quarters, under ground.” 1 photographic print on stereo card : albumen ; 8 x 18 cm. New York : E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., American and Foreign Stereoscopic Emporium, 501 Broadway, 1865 April 3. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Civil War Photograph Collection Part of series: The War for the Union. Photographic History. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011649170/ (Accessed 10/28/2013).

Breastworks (Trenches)

They used Gambions which war basically wicker barrels filled with sand to create Breastworks and revetments for guns. The soldiers would live inside of these positions and they could quickly be made with the Gambions which look like barrels in some photographs but are actually a quick method of building a fortification that can withstand an artillery attack.

So when Richard talks about sighting the enemy from the Breastworks, he is talking about this type of structure.

“Gabions in Engineer Camp in front of Petersburg, Va.” 1 photographic print on card mount : albumen. Photographed between 1861 and 1865, printed between 1880 and 1889. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2012649823/ (Accessed 10/28/2013)

“Interior of the Union Fort Sedgwick, called by the rebel soldiers "Fort Hell," showing Union soldiers on the breastworks. This view was taken the morning after the storming of Petersburgh, Va., April 2d, 1865.” Stereograph showing Union soldiers standing on the gabion fortifications in Fort Sedgwick, Petersburg, Va. 1 photographic print on stereo card : albumen ; 8 x 18 cm. New York : E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., American and Foreign Stereoscopic Emporium, 501 Broadway, 1865 April 3. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Civil War Photograph Collection Part of series: The War for the Union. Photographic History http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011649166/ (Accessed 10/28/2013)

Three years In the C.S. Army (P.A.C.S) A Diary of a Confederate Soldier by Jerry Pepper and Richard Lauren McClung

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00FR2MT7I

http://civil-war-diary.blogspot.com/2013/10/breastworks-trenches.html