Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments • Facts • The Armies
The Fight at the Fence Line wayside marker is at Stop Ten on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour. It is at the start of the walking trail at the edge of the parking area.
From the wayside marker:
Fight at the Fence Line
From the left and rear came wave after wave of Confederates. At that moment the only troops facing them were two regiments of Ohio infantry taking cover behind the rail fence. (The Ohioans knew what was coming: they had witnessed the few surviving New York Zouaves stagger out of the woods.)
The Confederate columns divided around Chine House and swept toward the fence line, less than 100 yards away. Suddenly the Ohioans rose and fired. Their concentrated volley struck the front rank of the Confederates like a shock wave. For ten minutes deafening musket fire continued at close range until overwhelming numbers forced the Ohioans back along the ridge.
A Crucial Delay
Longstreet’s massive counterattack had a chance to annihilate the Union Army, caught in the open after the repulse at Deep Cut, but the Ohioans bought the Union time. Now Union reinforcements rushed to Chinn Ridge; cannon wheeled into position on the far knoll where the pin oak stands. Those guns became the Confederate’s next objective.
From the caption to the photo at the bottom:
Benjamin Chinn’s farm was called “Hazel Plain.” The house and several outbuildings stood here at the time of the battle. Chin House 1873
Second Battle of Manassas
Day 3
August 30, 1862
The two Ohio regiments took position along this fence line as Longstreet’s attack broke out of the woods in the distance.