|
Sergeant Richard Rowland Kirkland looked out on the field
of battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia and was appalled at what
he saw. The day before, he and other Southern troops in General
Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had turned back
the Federal Army of the Potomac in one of the bloodiest battles
of the Civil War. The slaughter had been horrendous, and had
left a carpet of blue-uniformed dead and wounded on the frozen
slope of Marye’s Heights. All night Kirkland and the other
Southern defenders had listened to the heart-rending cries of
the Federal wounded.
Finally, Kirkland could stand it no longer. At daylight on
December 14th, the young sergeant in the 2nd South Carolina Infantry,
requested permission to aid the enemy. His commanding officer
was reluctant: Kirkland would likely be shot dead by Federal
sharpshooters as soon as he showed himself above the wall. Kirkland
was determined, however, and he was allowed to go.
While the other Confederates braced themselves for the rifle
shot that would fell Kirkland, the young sergeant calmly walked
to the closest wounded Northerner. The opposing Federal troops
held their fire long enough for Kirkland to kneel down, lift
up the wounded man’s head and give him a drink of water.
A loud cheer arose and rolled down the Federal line. Silently,
the astounded line of Northern troops watched Kirkland move to
another wounded man in blue and give him aid. Both sides held
their fire while the courageous sergeant moved from one suffering
soldier to another.
Signed by the artist. |