FREDERICKSBURG.
Of all the terrible sights of war,
The worst and most fearful sight,
Is the stubborn struggle of gallant men
In brave but unequal fight!
The useless charge and the shattered ranks,
And the slaughter and the flight!
_Edward Willett._
Here we remained for some weeks, building ourselves log shanties,
chopping wood, standing guard, being drilled, inspected, reviewed, and
now and then going over towards the river and watching the confederates
making their works good and strong, against the time when we were ready
to attack them. While we were making ready, they were building and
strengthening works, that would be beyond the power of mortal man to
carry by assault, and yet that was what we were called upon to do, when
at last General Burnside had got his army ready for active service.
He had entirely re-organized the Army of the Potomac, which now
numbered one hundred and twenty thousand men, divided into three grand
divisions, each division consisting of two corps. Everything possible
was done to strengthen our forces, and put us in good condition for
active service; all this was not completed until the 11th of September.
The town of Fredericksburg is on the south side of the Rappahannock
river, nearly opposite Falmouth. Back of the town is the range of hills
called Marye’s Heights, where Lee’s army was strongly entrenched, when
Gen. Burnside had got ready for business.
General Lee, with his three hundred cannon, covered the town and river,
and his position was one of the strongest, yet Burnside persisted in
his plan of attack, for on the morning of the 11th of December, at
daybreak, the bugle sounded “Forward!”
It was a still, cold morning, and we started off in heavy marching
order, our regiment leading, as it was our turn that day. We were in
good spirits, although we knew that we had started out on a desperate
attempt, and were enroute for Fredericksburg, three miles away. We
marched to a point near the river and remained until the next day, when
we crossed the river on pontoon bridges under a heavy fire from the
enemy, with terrible loss of life.
On the 13th the bloody battle of Fredericksburg was begun, one of the
most disastrous of the war. It was a useless, ill-judged endeavor to
rout Lee’s army from his impregnable position. In this battle more
than thirteen thousand men were lost to the Union army, while the
confederates lost less than half that number. My regiment lost thirty
live men, killed and wounded. Defeated and disheartened, on the morning
of the 16th, our army re-crossed the river and returned to our old camp.
On the 21st of January, 1863, we started on the “Mud march,” about
four o’clock in the morning. A bitter cold wind was blowing fiercely,
and the air was full of sleet and rain. We marched all day and when we
stopped for the night, made fires and sat around them all night to keep
warm. The next day was warm as summer, but rainy; the mud grew deeper,
as we struggled along, sinking in and being pulled out, taking us all
day to go three miles. The whole country was under water, and you could
not step without sinking above your shoes in mud. When we stopped for
the night we could only lay down in the mud, or sit by the fires we
managed, with much difficulty, to make.
The next day the water dried up a little, so we pulled down the fences
and used the rails to corduroy the road. We returned to Stoneman’s
Switch, and re-constructed our shanties as well as we could, though we
sadly missed the comforts we had destroyed before starting out, lest,
in our absence, they might fall into the hands of the Johnnies.
We remained in camp until spring, and before that time arrived. Gen.
Burnside was relieved, and General Hooker took his place. We gladly
heard the order read that relieved him and appointed “Fighting Joe” as
his successor.
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