May 24, 1864, 6:45pm

The crack of thunder and flash of lightning echoed across the ravine before you, as the men of Ledlie's Brigade struggled to survive the relentless Confederate rifle and cannon fire which targeted them with fatal precision. The low ground offered some cover to the desperate men from Massachusetts, who paid a deadly price for their attack. The open ground ahead proved impossible to move through, but to withdraw meant falling back without orders.

The sight of the 12th Mississippi Infantry coming over the Rebel earthworks ahead of them decided the matter, and Ledlie's soldiers began the sprint back to safety. Lieutenant Colonel Chandler, leading the 57th Massachusetts, halted the nearby commander of the 56th Massachusetts, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Weld, shouting, "Weld, what are you going to do?" Weld responded, "I don't know." Chandler replied, "I am going to rally my men and try to make a stand." Weld fatefully answered, "I will join you."

However, before Chandler and Weld could rally more than sixty men individually, Colonel Merry B. Harris' men fixed a volley from only 40 yards away, sweeping away the remaining fragments of the Union defense. Chandler sank into the mud, mortally wounded, while Weld was wounded in the side. The Federal survivors ran for the woods behind them, chased by the howling soldiers from Mississippi.

(captions)
(left) Lieutenant Colonels Charles Chandler and Stephen Weld
(center) Colonel Merry B. Harris

Presented to the people of the United States by Colonel and Mrs. Benjamin C. Buckley of Virginia.

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Show me all markers in:  Doswell, VA  |  Hanover County  |  23047  |  Virginia  |  United States of America

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