Dutch Gap Combat Picture

Ok, I discovered the Dutch Gap Action Sequence last night, and got pretty excited about it. This is a rarity, a first of it's kind, and it probably involves my beloved Battery Dantzler. Check out the two pics below.

This is believed to be the first ever picture of Union troops actually being fired upon. After the first picture was taken, you see the second one. Note the differences.

Smoke filling the right hand side of the excavation, soldiers climbing up and out of the trench they were digging, and the man in the foreground seems to have turned his head towards the smoke. The1869 caption reads "The mist arising against the bank is caused by a rebel shell, which exploded just as this view was being photographed."

Now, Battery Dantzler, and other Confederate Batteries routinely shelled the Dutch Gap construction project, so this shell explosion is very possibly a shell fired from Battery Dantzler itself. In any case, it's the first confirmed picture of Union troops under combat conditions.

Exciting stuff, I was pleased to run across this.