The Battle of Fredericksburg (1862), in the midst of the Civil War, faced the troops of the Confederate general Robert Lee and General Ambrose E Burnside of the Union. The Union army suffered a severe defeat with more than 12,000 dead, wounded and prisoners.
The Union offensive aimed to cross the Rappahannock River , at the height of Fredericksburg (Virginia), and from there reach Richmond, the capital of the Confederates. They barely managed to cross the river and the Confederates fortified themselves in the city. The unity of our angel , Sergeant Richard Kirkland , was sheltered behind a stone wall at the base of Marye Hill.
As the attack began, the Confederates inflicted thousands of casualties from their vantage point. The Union army had to withdraw leaving the battlefield littered with wounded and dead. The Confederates held their position fearing a new offensive, but it did not occur…. only screams and groans of pain from the wounded and dying scattered across the field under a scorching sun. Faced with this distressing situation, Richard requested permission from his superior to approach the wounded enemies and give them some water, but he was denied. The sergeant's insistence was stronger and, in the end, his superior agreed with one condition: she should go at his own expense and risk and without the protection of the white flag . Richard agreed, procuring as many canteens as he could carry. At first, from behind enemy lines, he was greeted with gunfire until he reached the first wounded man and gave him a drink. At that moment they stopped shooting and Richard, until his water ran out, distributed it among the enemy soldiers. One year later, during the Battle of Chickamauga , died.
In 1965 a statue was erected in Fredericksburg as a tribute to theangel of Marye's Hill built by the sculptor Felix Weihs de Weldon .
