Lieutenant Colonel Charles Richardson

Charles Richardson, commander of a Third Corps Artillery Battalion, was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1835. He enlisted as a lieutenant of artillery on October 7, 1861. He became a major in the artillery in March 1863 and a lieutenant colonel on Feb. 27, 1864. Richardson succeeded John Garnett to command of an artillery battalion with the Third Corps. He was horribly wounded at Spotsylvania when a shell tore out a portion of his stomach. He was paroled in Richmond on May 8, 1865. After the War, Richardson married Charoltte Blaine in 1869 and owned a pickle factory in Fredericksburg. Richardson died on September 6, 1913 and was buried in the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery, but there is no grave marker there for him.

Richardson authored "The Chancellorsville Campaign: Fredericksburg to Salem Church" in 1907. His home "Willis Hill" (also sometimes called the Richardson House) was built in 1885. It is still standing today in Fredericksburg. It was recently purchased and preserved by the Central Virgina Battlefield Trust.