This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, and we tell stories about everything here on the show, including yours.

Send them to Our American Stories.com. They're some of our favorites. Indeed, up next is

a listener's story from Valencia, California. This is a history story that is fascinated

listener Richard Hood for a long time, and he wanted to share it with us. Take it away, Richard.

You've probably heard that the darker the place, the brighter any light appears.

Well, I'd like to share with you a story about a very dark place and a very bright light.

In fact, an angel of light, known as the angel of Mary's Heights.

It all happened back in the month of December 62, and I'm talking about 1862, during our country's bloodiest war, the civil war, officially known as the war between

the states, but more poignantly as the brothers war. One reason why it was called the brother's war is because the war

actually did pit some in some cases brother against brother. You can imagine, you know, if he

have an older brother and he's gone off to Afghanistan to fight, that's one thing. What if he was

going off to Afghanistan to fight you?

That kind of changes the whole familial situation.

And in the Civil War, the Brothers War, that not only happened on occasion,

a father was sometimes pitted against son.

So complicated.

So let me tell you more about this angel though, because at the Battle of Fredericksburg, there was an important vantage point, a cliff top called Mary's Heights.

The Southern Confederate Army was wisely using it as a cannon emplacement.

Below this cliff was a protective wall keeping the Northern

Army from gaining that cliff top. Hunkered down behind this wall, protecting the stronghold,

was one of many soldiers, in this case a Confederate sergeant who had, during America's

bloodiest battle to come, Antietam, would later lose his life.

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