Red-tailed hawk sits on wooden rails below Parson’s Ridge, Perryville Battlefield
Image by Don Snig
The Confederates under General George Manney sought refuge from the explosions of U.S. cannon fire and bullets behind wooden rails below Parsons Ridge, which was held by the U.S. Army. That wooden fence, here on the east side of the ridge, did not give much protection. The ridge on the hill behind these rails is named after artillerist Lt. Charles Carroll Parsons of Ohio, who stuck to his guns and men amidst the chaos until the Confederates took the hill. Federal troops would back up to the next ridge.
Now all is quiet. A red-tailed hawk sits on that wooden rail of a very bloody Civil War battle.
