Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments • Facts • The Armies
The Fight for Ricketts’ Guns wayside marker is on the 1st Bull Run battlefield outside Manassas, Virginia. Captain James Ricketts’ 1st United States Artillery, Company I, was one of two Federal batteries that were the center of the fight at 1st Bull Run.
From the marker:
The Fight for Rickett’s Guns
Shells were exploding overhead as Ricketts’ men dueled Stonewall Jackson’s artillery, directly across the field. Sharpshooters’ bullets thumped into the wooden limber chests. On the rear slope horses were screaming, dying. Suddenly from the far woods came an eerie, blood-chilling cry—the rebel yell. Through dense smoke, Ricketts could see Confederate infantry starting across the field.
Up to that moment the Confederates appeared to be loosing the battle, and possibly the war. Here the momentum shifted. At Henry House and other stops on the tour, exhibits reveal how the battle rushed toward the unexpected climax at Ricketts’ guns.
First
Battle of Manassas
From the caption to the photo at the bottom:
Captain James B. Ricketts, Company I 1st U.S. Artillery. In the Confederate charge, Ricketts was badly wounded in the leg, captured, and taken to Confederate headquarters at the nearby Lewis plantation.
Location of the marker
The wayside marker is on the Henry Hill Walking Tour that starts at the Manassas National Battlefield Park Visitor Center.