It was in the middle of December in 1862, just west of the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia when a sign from God appeared, suddenly and without warning.  The fighting men of both the Union and Confederate armies witnessed it, and the survivors of the bloody battle told their children and grandchildren about it. They swear that they witnessed the appearance of an angel.

Modern history books, bent on revisionist history have all but forgotten it– but it cannot be erased.  The historical record is intact.  A sign from God appeared on the battlefield during one of the bloodiest days in the American Civil War.  It all began after just before midnight on December 13, 1862.

General Burnside’s Union Army of the Potomac (122,000 men) had crossed the Rappahannock River two days earlier and had occupied the Virginia city of Fredericksburg.  The Confederate defenders under General Robert E. Lee fortified the high ground west of the city and dared the Yankee army to move against them.  Lee’s forces held a definite tactical advantage by occupying Marye’s Heights, though his army was not nearly as large (72,000).

All day long General Burnside sent wave after wave of bluecoat soldiers against Lee’s Confederate line, but they failed to break the Southern army defenses. Not one Yankee soldier even made it to within twenty yards of the Rebel line before being cut down by withering gunfire. When the sun set on December 13, the field was strewn with Union casualties– men severely wounded and dying, helplessly stranded in no-man’s land.  Any attempt to rescue the wounded, or to even recover the bodies of the fallen was suicide.  They would be easy-pickings for the Rebel sharpshooters on Marye’s Heights.

As darkness fell the fighting ceased and both of the armies settled down for the night– nervously anticipating renewed fighting the next day. Very few slept.  Most sat around campfires preparing their weapons and dreading the sunrise.  Nineteen year old Richard Rowland Kirkland of Flat Rock, South Carolina was one of the those soldiers.  His Confederate unit was behind a stone wall at the base of Marye’s Heights.  Almost 8000 Union soldiers had been shot on the other side of that stone wall, and many of them were still alive– but dying, and begging for water.

Just before midnight everyone on the battlefield witnessed something that they had never seen before.  Colorful lights began dancing in the starry sky above them.  Most of them, especially the southerners, had no idea that it was actually the aurora borealis, or “northern lights” appearing in the sky.  Newspapers stated that it was the farthest south that the aurora borealis had ever been seen.  Soldier in blue and in gray were awestruck by the heavenly light show.  No one cared to sleep that night.

The Confederates were sure that it was sign from God that he would help them prevail over the northern invaders.  At the same time the Union troops were confident that God was promising them victory in the next day’s battle.  But Richard Kirkland took the sign to mean something altogether different.

All evening Kirkland had heard the cry of the Yankee solders dying just on the other side of the wall.  Their pitiful cries for water were most disturbing to him. Just as he was praying about what he should do, the northern lights appeared.  Kirkland was knew it was a sign from God that he had to do something.  He couldn’t let even his enemies cry out in thirst while he sat and did nothing.

Just before sunrise, Richard Kirkland asked permission from General Kershaw to attend to the wounded enemies just yards away from his post.  The general assured Kirkland that it was suicidal, knowing that the Union sharpshooters would think he was simply robbing the dead on the battlefield.  He would surely be an easy target.  But the nineteen year old felt that God would protect him as long as he obeyed Him– it was worth the risk. General Kershaw reluctantly gave the young private his permission.

Richard Kirkland loaded himself up with bandages and as many canteens of water as he could carry, crawling over the rock wall just as the fog was lifting from the open field of battle.  Several shots were fired at him but they could not deter him from his mission.  For almost two hours Kirkland moved fearlessly from wounded soldier to wounded soldier, providing water and comfort for as many as he could. Before long both southern and northern troops began openly cheering his courage and compassion as they watched.

Kirkland fought bravely in several campaigns but was killed by a bullet to the chest less than a year later at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia.  A statue and monument to the memory of “The Angel of Marye’s Heights” now stands in the Virginia field where Richard Kirkland did what Jesus had commanded with such brave compassion.

The aurora borealis that appeared that night in Virginia was not really the sign from God, but rather the actions of a nineteen year old who dared to love his enemies– that was the sign that God was present on the battlefield.

“For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.”  

Mark 9:41