Union sharpshooters 18th Corps, Petersburg, July 1864
Sharpshooters making men lie low in extreme heat
From the Richmond Daily Dispatch June 28, 1864:
From the Southside.
Saturday was an extremely hot and dusty the even the usual sharpshooting and picket firing between the armies in front of Petersburg were indulged in to a very limited extent. There were a few casualties from these causes. The breastworks of the two armies are now only about 300 yards apart, and it does not require very sharp shooting on either side to bring down the object armed at. The Petersburg Express, of yesterday, has the following:
About eleven o’clock Saturday night there was a sharp fire of musketry on the centre of our lines, and it was reported yesterday that the enemy made an assault upon our breast works, but inquiry at headquarters did not confirm this report.
Yesterday like Saturday, was very warm, and one men suffered greasily [greatly?] in the trenches, without shade along a greater portion of the lines, and on account of the watchfulness of sharpshooters, unable to raise their heads above the breast works to get even what little air their was. There was one consolation with the many disagreeable features of our situation, and that was, that the enemy suffered equally from like causes with ourselves. Last evening the sky became overcast with clouds and there was a slight sprinkle of rain. This was the first fall which has visited this action for nearly a month, and it was most gladly welcomed by all.
There was heavy cannonading on our centre yesterday about 11 o’clock, and for a while the impression prevailed among our citizens that a fight was brewing. But the firing was discontinued in less than thirty minutes, and matters remained unusually quiet during the balance of the day.
The Southern railroad is still inoperative, the enemy being within the vicinity of the Six site House in large force. But this does not place the city nor Gen Lee’s army in a state of siege. We are still in communication with many portions of the South, and can stand such a siege as Grant thinks he has estabitioned [established?] for twenty years to come.
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An assassination in Serbia 150 years ago today led to a world war that was dominated by trenches on the western front.
NY Times 6-29-1914
