A Quiet Field at Dawn
The Pierson Farm outside of Fredericksburg. On December 13, 1862 at this time of the morning Union troops were eating breakfast and getting their equipment together. Later in the day they would cross this field to attack Confederate positions located along the tree line in the background. By the end of the day 9,000 men on both sides were killed or wounded and this site became known as the Slaughter Pen Farm--

"Stretcher bearers followed behind to gather the wounded while the lines closed mechanically, filling holes left by fallen soldiers and striding ahead. The Northern ranks dressed snugly shoulder to shoulder , making an impenetrable wall of blue coats. A hare , frightened from its warren, dashed frantically up and down the line before it made its escape."