charcoal pile

A charcoal pile had been constructed: just a heap of logs with earth piled over the top, steadily burning.

Though the Confederates had lit a large charcoal pile to illuminate the valley, Union survivors withdrew undetected to the northwest directly between exhausted Confederates in two encampments.

Gradually, black charcoal piles that had long ago been houses started to dot the rock and sand alongside the roadway, slowly giving way to rows of rubble separated by sand laced with burnt bricks, bits of charcoal, and scrub brush.