Fredericksburg, February, 1863. In the foreground, looking from what is
approximately the same position as the opening picture, are three guns of
Tyler's Connecticut battery. It was from all along this ridge that the
town had suffered its bombardment in December of the previous year. Again
the armies were separated by the Rappahannock River. There was a new
commander at the head of the Army of the Potomac--General Hooker. The
plundered and deserted town now held by the Confederates was to be made
the objective of another attack. The heights beyond were once more to be
assaulted; bridges were to be rebuilt. But all to no purpose. This ground
of much contention was deserted some time before Lee advanced to his
invasion of Pennsylvania. Very slowly the inhabitants of Fredericksburg
had returned to their ruined homes. The town was a vast Federal cemetery,
the dead being buried in gardens and backyards, for during its occupancy
almost every dwelling had been turned into a temporary hospital. After the
close of the war these bodies were gathered and a National Cemetery was
established on Willis' Hill, on Marye's Heights, the point successfully
defended by Lee's veterans.
Heavy pontoon-boats, each on its separate wagon, were sometimes as
necessary as food or ammunition. At every important crossing of the many
rivers that had to be passed in the Peninsula Campaign the bridges had
been destroyed. There were few places where these streams were fordable.
Pontoons, therefore, made a most important adjunct to the Army of the
Potomac.
[Illustration: PONTOON-BOATS IN TRANSIT]
[Illustration: THE FLAMING HEIGHTS