Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments • Facts • The Armies
The Kemper’s Brigade trailside markers are along the Chinn Ridge trail on the Manassas National Battlefield. The Chinn Ridge trailhead is at Stop 10 on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour. The two trailside markers indicate the brigade’s position at 5:15 and 5:30.
Kemper’s Brigade 5:15 marker
From the marker:
August 30, 1862
5:15 p.m.
Kemper’s Division, Right Wing (Longstreet)
Army of Northern Virginia, CSA
Kemper’s Brigade
1st Virginia 11th Virginia
7th Virginia 17th Virginia
24th Virginia
“We neared the Chinn House, when suddenly a long line of the enemy rose from behind an old fence and poured straight into our breasts a withering volley. It struck the long line like an electric shock, but the officers surged ahead cheering on the men. It was a decisive fight of about 10 minutes. The left of our brigade struck the enemy’s right and doubled it up. In a moment the blue line quivered and went to pieces.”
-Pvt. Alexander Hunter
17th Virginia Infantry
CSA Second Battle of Manassas
Kemper’s Brigade 5:30 maker
From the marker:
August 30, 1862
5:30 p.m.
Kemper’s Division, Right Wing (Longstreet)
Army of Northern Virginia, CSA
Kemper’s Brigade
Col. Montgomery D. Corse
1st Virginia 11th Virginia
7th Virginia 17th Virginia
24th Virginia
“Above us, on a gentle rise, was a battery – the guns hidden from view by a dense curtain of smoke. Nothing could be seen but the flash of the guns. ‘Form into line men! Forward! Charge that battery!’ The veil of smoke slowly lifted, and we could see the muzzles of the guns. Then came a horrid roar and dull shock that seemed to shake the very earth, and then the dull thud of the balls as they tore through the bodies of our men. I looked around me. The ground was covered with the mangled dead and dying.”
-Pvt. Alexander Hunter
17th Virginia Infantry
CSA Second Battle of Manassas
