Bonnie Shaljean, the cannons on both sides remained in position once the gunners had adjusted them to fire. According to the U.S. National Parks Service site,

" Federal artillery tried desperately to blast the Confederate gunners from their fortifications. Many of the Union shells furrowed and exploded on the heights. One Confederate confessed that "amidst shrieking shells and singing rifle-balls" that the area around the Willis Cemetery was a "frightful scene to traverse, --every inch of ground continually struck, apparently by bullets or fragments of shells. . . .It looked like certain death, or ghastly wounds" to expose oneself outside of the gunpits. The whitewashed brick dwelling immediately beside Captain Squires' pits had been hit so many times by shells and bullets, that the facade had changed from white to brick-dust red by afternoon.

" The artilleryman maintained a steady fire as they lashed back at the oncoming attackers. One participant related, "We who were able were speedily working our guns with all our souls and bodies." Wave after wave of Union troops melted away before the storm "blown back as if by the breath of Hell's Door suddenly opened." The ceaseless roar of the cannon left a picture of deafening pandemonium. One solider admitted that he was overwhelmed by "the noise, confusion, and excitement" being "too great" for him to bear." "

Union soldiers made repeated disastrous assaults on Marye's Heights, each one turned back with heavy casualties after accomplishing essentially nothing. The Confederates, who had a clear view of the battlefield, must have astonished to see the Union infantry rising again and again, with reinforcements, to renew the attack in truly "suicidal" circumstances.

One cause for cheering during the battle was when South Carolina Sgt. Richard R. Kirkland climbed over the wall, under fire, to give water to wounded enemy soldiers. He carried a number of canteens and there was a lull for over an hour as he offered water and some kind words to the wounded and dying. Union troops cheered his courage. Kirkland, a remarkable humanitarian hero, was killed at the battle of Chickamauga the following year.

A piece about Kirkland appeared in Life Magazine during the Civil War Centennial, but his story is little known today to the general public.

Sorry to have drifted so far off the topic of the Irish.