Solomon Crist was captured in Pickett's attack

Solomon Crist was captured in Pickett's attack

Solomon Crist

To achieve Lee’s intent of diverting the attention of the Union command from his movement of a Corps to attack Hancock’s Second Corps near Ream’s Station, Lee ordered General George Pickett, of Gettysburg charge fame, to attack the Union line at dawn on the morning of August 25th, 1864. Pickett’s forces were behind the Confederate Howlett line near Ware Bottom Church on the Bermuda Hundred. As the Confederates attacked, they would have encountered the Union pickets forward of the Union barricades. Some Union pickets were killed, others were driven back into the Union line, while Private Solomon Crist was the lone capture. The Confederate attack was repulsed. When the 55th Pennsylvania Infantry took muster the next morning on August 26th, 1864, Private Solomon Crist was listed as missing.

Chesterfield County Historical Society

Cropped version of a picture Dennis Kelly took of the Howlett Line Gun Position sign on May 24, 2021.

Blue and Gray Education Society. Howlett Line Gun Position Sign at Ware Bottom Church Battlefield Civil War Site, Richmond, Virginia. Jessica and Harry Thaete of Coronado, CA sponsored the sign.

1864-08-25T10:00:00Z

Dennis Kelly HIS390 Spring 2025

Open Source

Ware Bottom Church Battlefield Civil War Site, 1600 Old Bermuda Road, Chester, VA