Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments • Facts • The Armies
The “Shooting Gallery” wayside marker is on the walking trail that begins at Stop One on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour.
Text from the wayside marker:
Shooting Gallery
From here, Confederate gunners had a clear view of Porter’s attack – the most formidable onslaught of the three days. There were few trees between S.D. Lee’s Battalion and the nearest Union columns a third of a mile away. As thousands of bluecoats swept across the field, Colonel Lee’s men jumped to their guns and opened fire.
The heavy bombardment, a rain of whizzing shell fragments, kept reinforcements from crossing the field, and helped ensure Union defeat at Deep Cut.
Second
Battle of Manassas
Day Three
August 30, 1862
Caption to the drawing at upper right:
Confederate Col. Stephen D. Lee’s Artillery Battalion. Eventually S.D. Lee had eighteen cannon along this line during Porter’s attack. Counterfire from Union batteries was ineffective.
Caption to the map:
When the first group of Federals finally retreated from the railroad grade, Lee’s artillerists fired shell and case shot onto the field with pinpoint accuracy. “The ground,” wrote one survivor, “seemed like a millpond in a shower, so frequently did shells rip the earth.”
Location of the marker
The marker is near the Confederate Line trail that starts at the Brawner Farm, Stop One on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour. Follow the trail about 200 yards from the trailhead at the Brawner Farmhouse, then head due north 150 yards along the treeline. The marker stands with a line of Confederate artillery. (38°48’54.4″N 77°33’48.9″W)