Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments • Facts • The Armies
The Rhode Island Battery trailside marker is on the Matthews Hill Loop Trail which begins at Stop 4 on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour.
The trailside marker with one of the cannon of the battery. Henry Hill is visible in the distance.
Text from the marker:
July 21, 1861
11:00 a.m.
2nd Brigade (Burnside, Second Division (Hunter)
Army of Northeastern Virginia, USA
Rhode Island Battery
Capt. William H. Reynolds
Six 13-Pounder James Rifled Guns
“‘Forward into line of action, front,’ came Captain Reynolds’ order. I dismounted and ran to my gun, and found that within 20 yards of us were the Rebels, advancing. I thought for a moment our battery was lost, but the 2d Rhode Island Regiment made a fearful charge and gave a most hideous scream, and never will I forget how the Rebel flag looked as it bobbed out of sight under the hill.”
-An unknown Union Sergeant
Location of the Rhode Island Battery trailside marker
The marker is along the Matthews Hill Loop Trail, which starts at the Matthews Hill parking area on the east side of Sudley Road, Virginia Route 234, about 0.7 mile north of US 29. Follow the part of the trail that runs along the open field closest to the highway about 400 yards, then head northeast about 50 yards off the trail to the end of the row of cannon. (38°49’29.5″N 77°31’53.3″W)