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.

Battle of Fort Donelson

Kurz & Allison. “Battle of Fort Donelson--Capture of Generals S.B. Buckner and his army, February 16th 1862.” lithograph, color. Chicago: 1887. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91482118/ (accessed 8/26/2013).

Battle of Fort Donelson

Richard's depiction of this battle says it all. This image gives a very glorified depiction of the battle and it is interesting because you see a lot of officers standing up in the midst of battle. You see this in other prints made in the day.

“Battle of Fort Donelson.” Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003664149/ (accessed 8/27/2013).

The US Ironclad Gunboat the Essex

"Destruction of the rebel ram "Arkansas": By the United State gunboat "Essex," on the Mississippi River, near Baton Rouge, August 4th 1862." 1 print : lithograph, hand colored. New York: Currier & Ives, [1862?] Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91795896/ (Accessed 10/18/2013).

The US Ironclad Gunboat the Essex

Richard faced this ship in three different battles, at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and at Port Hudson where it was the only Ironclad gunboat in the lower Mississippi Fleet. The rest of those ships were oceangoing warships and some of them were in Commodore Perry's trip to Japan ( 1852-1854).

Memphis Tennessee before the War, and the Foraging Parties of the Union Army

Strother, David Hunter, 1816-1888 "Memphis (Tennessee) before the war / sketched by Porte Crayon." wood engraving.Illus. in: Harper's weekly, 1862 March 15, p. 168. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/95509535/ (accessed on October 15, 2013).

Memphis Tennessee before the War, and the Foraging Parties of the Union Army

Memphis before the war, and during the Occupation. Richard traveled upstream against the current in a Riverboat from Gaines Landing Arkansas to Memphis.

The second image shows why the South was defending itself, the war for them was about the North coming down and robbing them of their crops, personal possessions and just about everything. The Cotton Crop was one of the first things taken in Charleston and the Union was notorious for burning down warehouses that stored the cotton all over the South. It was about a rape of the land and a destruction of the people. It is about politicians who bought their rank only to profiteer and the expense of everyone else including their own men.

Admiral Farragut's Fleet Bombarding Port Hudson

Admiral Farragut's Fleet Bombarding Port Hudson as the fleet made its way against the current of the Mississippi River in an attempt to get to Vicksburg which was to the north. An artillery battle at Point Blank Range. Port Hudson was set up on a cliff right where the ships had to turn to move up the Mississippi, thus they could shoot at any ship that came up or down the Mississippi. They concentrated their guns at this position, a gauntlet of fire. This gives you an idea of the bombardment that Richard was accustomed to experience in this war.