The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-13 00:00:00

TEE SUN LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 13. 1863

THE BATTLE OF FREfIERICKSBURG.

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during the latter half of October and at the commencement
of November was sucsessful in making its exit from the
Confederacy ; and such is the interest of events now passing
or immediately imminent, that there is little temptation to
endeavour to re-write such portions of the missing letters as
might even now possess interest for the European reader.
With two immense armies facing each other across an in-
significant river, and threatening momentarily to come
into collision, the ear is strained to catch the report
of the signal guns which will be the prelude to the thun-
der of 600 pieces of artillery; and there is every indica-
tion that not many days, perhaps not many hours, can
elapse without bringing on a general engagement.
Never was the Confederate army in finer heart, or better
prepared for it. The interest is enhanced by the specula-
tions in reference to the destination of Gen. Banks, who is
collecting a military flotilla of transports at Fortress Mon-
roe, nominally designed to enter the port of Brunswick, in
Georgia, but by many supposed to contemplate a blow at a
point much nearer to Richmond. The York and James
Rivers, or the coast of North Carolina, are spoken of as the
points of his possible attack—while by some it is fancied
that the Washington Cabinet, wincing under the execra-
tion which General Butler's doings have elicited from the
whole civilised world, is about to put General Banks in his
place, and to withdraw from New Orleans a tyrant which
has made Caligula or Alva seem mild and respectable, and
who has added to hie appalling acts of cruelty the stain
which is seldom absent even in the purest Yankee natures
—the lust of gold " smartly" acquired, which in European
phraseology means disreputably, if not dishonestly. There
is hardly a man in the Northern States bat is aware that
General Butler has taken advantage of his position in New
Orleans, and has engaged in every description of surrepti-
tious and illicit traffic, from which his gains are already
reputed to have reached a fabulous amount. The chosen
instrument for conducting this masked trade is Gen. But-
ler's brother-in-law, once the keeper of a gambling -house in
California, but now likely to issue from New Orleans sten.
lionaire more plethoric than the gaming fraternity whose
fine houses and high-stepping horses are the wonder and
shame of New York and San Francisco. But does any one
in the Washington Cabinet, whichcanno more absolve itself
from the charge of complicity with General Butler's frauds
than it could if they were perpetrated by Mr. Seward—
does any one Northern individual, lay or clerical, in public
or private, condemn and abhor General Butler's knavery ?
" Pretty smart man, General Butler, I recken I" When
Mr. Everett, or Mr. Henry Ward Beecher, or any other
public speaker of authority shall dare to tell a
popular audience that there is a Divine command-
ment which proclaims, " Thou shalt not steal," and
which is of as stringent obligation now as it was
4,000 years ago, there will be a hope that the model
Republic will cease to put bitter for sweet and sweet for
bitter, and that common integrity and guileless honesty
will emulate the example of the precious metals on this
continent, and will for the first time rise to a premium.
But, in my judgment, the Federal Government cares no
more for the hewl of execration of which Gen. Butler is the
object than it does for the expression of indignation which
has burst from every civilised nation on earth in reference
to the recent ruthless murder by Gen. M Neill of ten Con-
federate prisoners at Palmyra, in Missouri. Gen. Butler
will probably remain at New Orleans until the bags of gold
have swelled to bursting, and until he thinks proper to go
elsewhere to realise. I have noticed in former letters the
ominous language of the lip and eye which follows the
mention of Gen. Butler's name anywhere in the Confede-
rate States, and does net augur well for his tranquil enjoy-
ment of his acquired property in any part of the world
where he may choose to reside; but all this is nothing to
his Government, which chuckles when Gen. Butler an-
nounces to the citizens of New Orleans (as he did recently)
that whereas last winter he lashed them with whips, he
would this winter lash them with scorpions. In one of my
missing letters I mentioned a story, communicated to me by
Mr. Benjamin, which will bear repetition here. Mr. Ben-
jamin has two sisters and a niece who reside within five
miles of New Orleans. One of the sisters and her daughter
are both widows, the other sister is unmarried. Recently,
about 8 o'clock in the evening, a Federal officer with a
doien soldiers called at the house of these ladies, and in-
formed them that they must evacuate it there and then, as
it was seized for military purposes. The ladies pleaded
hard for a respite until the morning, which at last with the
utmost difficulty they obtained. Meanwhile the officer told
all their slaves that they were free, and in the teeth of
their urgent remonstrances against this forcible emanci-
pation insisted upon their proceeding at once to New
Orleans. The ladies were permitted to pack up a few
personal effects for their own use, but, as they did so, the
officer sat over them and frequently snatched from
them with a jeer any object which took his fancy, alleging
that it was required as a military necessity. At S the next
morning these ladies and their boxes were turned into the
road. Such is the terror which General Butler has inspired
that none of the neighbours dared give them shelter. They
made their way, weary and footsore to New Orleans, where
they had no small difficulty, penniless (General Butler
allows no "rebel" to draw his or her own money from a
bank) and on foot, in procuring a temporary asylum. Such
a system of warfare, which hunts out =offending and help-
less women for torture, and vents its miserable spite upon
them because they have an able and powerful relative, re-
quires no additional word of comment or remark.
But to return to Virginia, it seems probable that Jack
Frost, who took no part last winter in the fray, will reas-
sert his authority this winter, and interfere not only with
the Potomac, the James, and York Rivers, but also with
such streams as the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Ten-
nessee, from the first of which, in its present low stage, the
Federal gunboats will, perhaps, be unable to make their
egress before they are clutched by the icy fingers of winter.
This notion is encouraged by our climatic experiences here
during these last few days. On Friday, the sth, it snowed
hard, on Saturday, the 6th, the snow blew off' and the
weather became clear and cold, and the nights of the 6th
and 7th were unusually piercingly cold, the mercury falling
close to the zero of Fahrenheit, with a bitter wind cutting
to the bone. The ink in the carpet bag under my head
froze solidly last night, and became like a lump of coal.
The suffering of the army was terrible ; but we are uni-
versally assured that, in spite of their superior comforts, the
sufferings of the Yankees exceed those of the Confederate
soldiers. There is a rumour of six Yankee pickets being
frozen to death on the night of the 6th. It is a repetition
of the old experiences gained in Napoleon's Russian cam-
paign in 1812, during which the soldiers from Italy
and the sunny South bore the rigour of that merciless
winter far better than the soldiers from the North of
Europe. There is only one man who seems utterly un-
conscious that it is not July—the Commander-in-
Chief, General R. E. Lee. We breakfasted this morning,
according to Gen. Lee's invariable custom, in the open air
shortly after sunrise, and such a starved shivering com-
pany, with the exception of the General himself, as gathered
round his table and partook of that wintry al fresco meal,
it has never been my fortune to witness before. Many were
the suggestions made and discussions indulged in by the
General's Staff in reference to obtaining his approval of a
requisition on the Quartermaster-General for a hospital
tent, in which the headquarters' Staff might take their
meals. Inasmuch as the General is greatly averse from in-
creasing the transportation requisite for himself and his
Staff, I fear the latter will have no alternative but to con-
tinue to shiver. It rarely happens that such cold weather
occurs in Virginia before Christmas without giving warning
of an unusually severe winter. The Confederates are in
high spirits at the prospect, as in many ways it is likely to
be of great advantage to them, and a corresponding detri-
ment to their opponents.
The apparent imminence of a battle has had its usual
effect in heightening the spirits of the soldiers, and dispos-
ing the camp to such gaiety as life in a pine wood and a
total absence of women may be supposed to admit of. The
usual frolics at Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's headquarters are of
nightly recurrence, except on the occasions when the Gene-
ral is absent upon one of his long scouting rides, which
keep him out all night, and afford a respite to "General
Stuart's headquarters' band," which consists of one excel-
lent banjo-player and one " bones," and is thus temporarily
released from serenades and the discourse of other music
But all other entertainments of the camp have for the
moment been thrown into the shade by the perfor-
mances enacted two nights ago by General Hood's Texans,
and which by particular desire will be repeated to-night,
General Hood, a tall, sinewy, eager-looking soldier, is
universally admitted to have led his Texan brigade
into some of the hottest places which co ,Id be found
throughout this war, and if the palm of valour could by
acclamation be voted to any one brigade there is little
doubt that Virginians, Louisianians, and every other State
would combine in acknowledging the superior and pare-
) mount claims of Hood's fighting Texans. General Hood,
who is much beloved by his men, knows that listlessness
and want of interest and occupation in camp are fatal ob-
stacles, when the day for action comes, to efficiency in the
field. lie has been at the pains, therefore, to encourage the
owlhao boanndsoaftulErdthayiopniiagnhtmdiins--
one soldier, successfully dressed up as a &in.
—especially
312aloinngnhuismibneern,
coursed very eloquent music and elicited rapturous applause
sOtrrgealslll,lSlrooioonr
The long preparation w
interest of the discussions which they subsequently awaken,
scuse, and conspicuous fhoricahrseunicahrkpaelarlyfonrmeaatnfcoeost
eaxnadcat,nkthlee.
acreongfreaeaetraincyc, the monotony of camp. life, and very
is a great addition to the amusements of sol-
diersidents in to listless apathy as
healthy stimulants to men so disposed
the Southern soldier. It cannot be questioned that the
banjo, the national musical instrument of the Southern
campaign, and would be beneficial in spiriting away some of the proverbial
spleen and dullness of the Bri-
tish soldier in camp.aptitude for
makes every tie
music which Add to this the natural ap
on a ca
dance and song, and there aregro a musician and ready for
elements of entertainment
which cannot be found in connexion with any European
army in the field, and are no slight circumstances in influ-

eating and elevating the spirits of the dejected, tatterde-
malion, lack-lustre, half-starved scarecrows who are nobly
conducting this brilliant struggle for independence, which
it is obvious to the least far-sighted observer they are on the
eve of bringing to a successful issue.
For, in spite of the ineradicable bluster of the Northern
journals, what is the true situation of affairs ? For nearly
three mouths those vast hosts which the North is never
weary of parading have declined to attack their insignificant
and exhausted foe, and are at last threatening General Lee
in a position which they cannot carry without superhuman
valour and the loss of 50,000 men. In the West, where the
failure of Gen. Bragg has unquestionably deferred the inci-
pient gravitation of Kentucky towards the Confederacy, the
appointment-of Gen. Joseph Johnston to the supreme com-
mand, a successful dash of Gen. Morgan, and the visit of
President Davis to the West have restored public confi-
dence, while the enormous natural obstacles, which must
continue to baffle much greater efforts than the North can
set in motion. puzzle the will and dishearten the enterprise
of leading Unionists. Even if Vicksburg is taken (and it
must not be forgotten that Vicksburg was bombarded for
six weeks in June and July by one flotilla of gunboats above
the town, and by another flotilla below it, and that all that
was compassed by this costly and protracted fire was the
death of 15 Confederates), and if the navigation of the Mis-
sissippi from St. Louis to New Orleans is reopened, how
will the North and its commercial interests be benefitted
thereby ? It is true that iron-clad gunboats will then go
up and down the stream, but a single 6-pounder on any one
of the bluffs will be a fatal bar and check upon any trading
vessel. Until the North can change the whole heart and
soul of men, women, and children in those States which are
lost to Abraham Lincoln and his successors for ever, trade
between New Orleans and St. Louis can no more be re-
opened than it can between Tyre and Sidon. For, even if
trading vessels could be sent down the stream, with whom
would they trade and what money would they accept ?
Barter of cotton in exchange for Northern commodities
would be declined by nine. tenths of the Southern popula-
tion, and frustrated by guerillas if ever it were attempted.
It is marvellous that the North continues to blind itself to
the fact that the compulsory restoration of the Union is as
impossible of accomplishment as the subjugation of the in-
habitants of the planet Jupiter. The only other arrow in
the Federal quiver, in addition to the defeat of Gen. Lee's
army and the reopening of the Mississippi, is the destruction
or occupation of Charleston, Mobile, and other seaboard
cities. Not a day but strengthens the defences of thoso
citios,and, if public rumour speaks truth, the Federals will
have difficulty in maintaining their blockade after next
spring. No glimmer of light is anywhere discoverable on
the Federal horizon, and the indifference which is here ma-
nifested on the subject of that European intervention once
so eagerly courted by the South, but now believed to be
more zealously craved in secret by the North, is an earnest
of the amended circumstances and growing confidence of
that nation and army which has sprang into life, and main-
tained its existence through 20 months of unparalleled hard-
ship and difficulty.

DEc. 11.

A hurried visit to Richmond, which has served further
to disclose to me the great difficulties, far exceeding any
thing that I had anticipated, of successfully transmitting
letters from the Southern Stater to England, has prevented
my continuing this narrative until to-day, and I resume it
under the increased excitement which the loud boom of
great guns in the neighbourhood and the commencement of
that engagement 'which has long been ardently desired by
the Confederate generals have universally diffused around
as e. At a very early hour this morning information was
brought to Generals Lee and Longstreet that the Federals
were engaged during the bright moonlight of Wednesday
night, the 10th, and in the early morning of the 11th, in
and
gpo
called Deepbridgesntoon n
across the river at Fredericksburg
at a creek
into the Rappahannock a mile awnhdi which
half flows
below from
No opposition was directed by the Confederates against the
builders of the pontoon bridge at Deep Run, because the
the the h
town.so u t
valley south of the river is in that spot bare and wide and
flat, and entirely swept by the Federal cannon on the Staf-
ford heights. The bridge at Deep Run was therefore thrown
without impediment across the stream, and was completed
by noon on Thursday. The town of Fredericksburg was
held by two companies of one of Barksdale's Mississippi
regiments, serving as pickets, who opened a brisk fire upon
the bridge-builders, and drove the survivors in confusion
back to the northern bank. Instantly more than a
hundred of the heavy Federal guns on the north bank
of the river gave their response to the handful of
Confederate sharpshooters on the southern bank, by
opening furiously upon the doomed city of Fredericksburg
and endeavouring to make the whole of it too hot to shelter
a single Southern rifleman. A second time the Federals
ventured out upon the pontoons and were a second time
driven back by Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade, which had
now come to the assistance of the two companies that
originally held the town. It was not until many of the
buildings in Fredericksburg had been battered down along
the river bank, and until a hailstorm of shot and shell from
the Federal guns on the heights, and of musket• balls from
the Yankee sharpshooters along the bank, had riddled every
plank and brick in the town that the Federals succeeded,
about 5 o'clock in the afternoon of Thursday, in throwing
their pontoons across the river, a feat the accomplishment of
which they celebrated by shouts that made the hills vocal,
and were taken up again and again by the mighty host of
men whose tents whiten every crest on the northern side of
the river, and give colour to the repeated allegations of
Federal prisoners that 300,000 men are under arms and
obedient to the command of General Burnside. It will be
remarked that the building of the bridges was only opposed
on one spot, and that on that spot it was only opposed by
the musketry fire of a single Confederate brigade. The
Confederate batteries on the Spottsylvania heights looked
grimly down on the bloody work proceeding below them, but
did not reply to the deafening cannonade of the Federal
batteries, nor betray their exact position by opening fire.
The sun dropped behind the hills, leaving 160 men of
Barksdale's Brigade dead and wounded in the town, the
town itself riddled from cellar to garret, battered down
in many places, and burning in others. The resistance this
day offered by Creneral Lee to the passage of the river by
the Federals seems to confirm the opinion that it was his
design to damage the enemy as they crossed, but by no
means vigorously to oppose their passage.

DRC. 12.

ts of very large armies,
invariably attend the movemen a
strong
ntemplated, con-
„I the
Those who were unacquainted with the delays which
chosen position
mies this morning at day-
Confederate and the Federal ar
heads,
r
break ; but, as was anticipated by more experienced
t developing a Federal onslaught
the day wore away without h
t was
fidently looked for the momentousen collision between the
The preceding night upon the Southern lines.
employed busily in throwing dense masses of Northern
at Fredericksburg
and Deep
Run, and one or two other bridges thrown across at other
l os busy
rumour,nfedera hardlye
p 'ate. So numerous were these bridges alleged to Le that
b
less imaginative and suggestive among
theu
troops across the pontoons
among their opponents, estimated
o
them variously at from 15 to 30. I believe that in reality
they did not exceed three or four. But as the bright and
warm sun broke cheerfully from the heavens and dispelled
the thick mist which for many hours brooded over the plain
Confederates
tha
and intercepted the view of objects distant not more than
three or four hundred yards, it became more and more ob-
vious, even to the least experienced eye, what a magnificent
position was occupied by the Confederate army, and how
wisely and sagaciously the ground had been chosen byGen.
Lee. It must have been a moment of proud gratification
to Gen. Lee, and those captains who under him have
gained ever-increasing distinction, when they realised be-
yond all question that the enemy was about to force an at-
tack under circumstances which would have insured defeat
had the onslaught been made by the bravest disciplined
' troops of Europe, ani which reduced the rout of the dis-
heartened and loosely coupled troops of Gen. Burnside to
an absolute certainty. As the observer stood on the range
of hills which impend over Fredericksburg on the south,
and glanced his eye down upon the town, and right and
left, along the low swelling ridges which extend from the
river on his left, and, forming the arc of a semicircle, strike
the river again about six miles below on his right, he might
have challenged the most deeply read student of military
history to prsduce any precedent in which battle has ever
been delivered under circumstances more unfavourable to
the assailing party, or upon ground from which any great
master of the art of war would more naturally have recoiled
had the initiative remained with his own option. The Rap-
pahannock, in its course from west to east, is skirted, just
at the point where Fredericksburg stands on its southern
bank, by low crests of hill, which on the northern bank run
parallel and close to the river, and on the southern trend
backward from the stream, and leave a semicircular plain
six miles in length and two or three in depth, enclosed
within their circumference before they again approach the
river in the neighbourhood of Massaponax Creek. Imme-
diately above the town, and on the left of the Confederate
position, the bluffs are bold and bare of trees; but as the
hills in their eastward course recede from the river they be- I
come lower and are densely wooded, while low spurs covered
with copsewood run down at right angles to the range of
hills into the plain, behind and between which spurs the
centre and right of the Confederate army was posted,
stretching for a distance of six miles from the extreme left,
and ending in the immediate neighbourhood of Massaponax
Creek, which joins the Rappahannock some five roles be-
low Fredericksburg. It will be apparent to the reader
that the left of the Confederate army, a portion of it sta-
tioned not more than 400 yards from Fredericksburg, occu•
pied a much stronger position than the centre and right.
There was not sufficient room for the Federal troops destined
for the attack of the nearest Confederate batteries to deploy
and form, except under a deadly Confederate fire; whereas
the Federal troops who attacked the Confederate centre
and right had a large plain on which to deploy and had
much fewer disadvantages of ground to contend with, in-
asmuch as they advanced against 1 ,wer hills and had the
long spurs of copse to assist them as points of attack, cal -
culated to protect and serve as points d'appui to the Fede-
ral troops if they could once have succeeded in carrying
and holding them, But even in its weakest points the
Confederate line possessed great advantages of position ;
and it is no wonder that ever) Southerner, from the Com-
mander-in-Chief down to the youngest drummer-boy, un-
derstood and appreciated the strength of the ground, and
contemplated the coming
844 of battle with serene con-

fidence and composure. in describing the ground upon
which the battle subsequently took place, I should not omit
to add that the railroad track from Fredericksburg to Rich-
mond runs diagonally through the semicircular plain
described above, and crosses the Confederate line of battle
three and half miles from Fredericksburg, at a point
called Hamilton's Crossing. This point was strongly held
by a part of the Confederate right, and it is manifest that
against this point and along the railroad track it would have
been wise if the weight of the Federal attack had been
directed. It will be understood in conclusion, that the
heights on the northern or Stafford side of the Rappahan-
nock, which for miles touch and impend over the stream,
were surmounted by a long line of heavy Federal rifled
cannon. Similarly, along the whole Confederate line of
battle, nearly 300 pieces of artillery were in position or in
reserve. There is no recorded battle of history in which
anything like so many pieces of artillery took part (of
course in this assertion I do not include sieges), and the
reader will at once realize how inadequate language is to
describe the thunder of so vast a number of cannon, or the
deadly pelting hail of such an aggregate of the projectiles
which modern ingenuity has succeeded in devising.
It remains briefly to notice the disposition of troops along
the Confederate line. P may be mentioned summarily
that the Confederates are divided into two large corps
&armee, and that on this occasion General Longstreet's
corps was on the left, and General Stonewall Jackson's on
the right. But, as the hottest work of the battle fell upon
particular divisions and brigades, it should be further stated
(although the position of each brigade cannot, for want of
time, be given) that the Confederate divisions, starting
from the lett of the line and proceeding towards the right,
were posted as follows :—On the extreme lett the division of
General Anderson ; next to it the division of General Ran-
som ; next to it that of General INl‘Claws ; next to it that of
General Pickett ; and next to it the division of General Hood.
Proceeding now to General Jackson's corps, the ground be-
tween General Hood's right and the railroad at Hamilton's
Crossing was held mostly by the large division commanded
by that excellent officer, Gen. A. P. Hill. Behind the line
of General A. P. Hill the division of General D. H. Hill
was held in reserve. To the right of General A. P. Hill,
the division once commanded by General Ewell, who lost
his leg (if I mistake not) at the second battle of Manassas,
but nowcommanded by General Early, held tie woads right
up to and across the railroad at Hamilton's Crossing. In
front of General Early the powerful artillery of C.A. Walker
was thrown forward, to fire, as was expected, into the
enemy's flank. Across, or to the east of, the railroad, on
the extreme Confederate right, General J. E. B. Stuart,
with his cavalry and horse artillery, covered the flank of the
Confederate line, his rear almost resting upon Massaponax
Creek.

As regards the disposition of the Federal troops, nothing
more is known than that the three great bodies of troops
were commanded, that on the Federal right by General
Sumner, that on the Federal centre by General Hooker, and
that on the Federal left by General Franklin. It is estimated
that not less than 40,000 troops were engaged in the attack
directed by General Sumner, and that 50,000 were employed
on the Federal centre and left.

Friday, the 12th of December, was employed by the Fe-
deral Generals in arranging and massing their troops for
the next day's attack. Ac,ive skirmishing was kept up by
the pickets on both sides for several hours, and in the after-
noon, with a view to feeling the Confederate position, the
heavy Federal guns thundered across the river, and were
only feebly replied to by the batteries on the Confederate
left. The solemnity of the immediately approaching battle
cast its shadow over the scene, and that earnestness and
tranquillity of demeanour which, on the eve of momentous
events, overtake even the most garrulous and thoughtless,
reigned unmistakeably upon every countenance. At night
as the pickets of the two armies were stationed within 100
yards of each other, the Confederates could hear the ear-
nest and impassioned speeches of Federal orators, rousing
the spirit of their troops, and making vehement appeals
to the sanctity of the " old flag." " The old flag is
played out," shouted the Confederates in reply. " Some-
how," remarked one of the Confederates to me, "there
must he a want of grit among the Yankees, otherwise they
wouldn't want all this talking to." It is impossible not to
contrast the spirit of the two armies—the Confederates, so
calm, so resolute, so satisfied with their generals, so suffer-
ing, yet rejoicing to suffer as long as hardship is the price of
liberty; the Federals, lashed into the field by the thong of
golden bounties, and in the field lashed against the enemy
by the invectives and appeals of able spokesmen, so dis-
trustful of their generals and each other, so pampered and
yet so dissatisfied. The aurora borealis which overspread
the heavens, and darted blood-red tongues of flame swiftly
from the meridian down to the horizon, was accepted by the
Confederates as the cross outlined on the sky was accepted
by Constantine—an earnest of assured victory.
DECEMBER 13.
The morning of the 13th of December—a memorable day
to the historian of the Decline and Fall of the American
Republic—broke still and warm, while, as on the preceding
day, a thick haze enveloped the town of Fredericksburg and
the circumjacent valley, and delayed the opening of the fire
by the antagonistic batteries until the sun had been up some
three or four hours. It was strange to contrast Saturday,
the 13th of September, with Saturday the 6th, and to com-
pare the intense cold of the earlier Saturday with the
spring-like warmth and calmness of the latter. The day
which I am describing was one of those outbursts of that
Indian summer which lingers long and fondly in beautiful
Virginia; the morning haze which shrouded heath, and
plain, and forest, was the ordinary prelude to the warmth
and glow of the sun at noonday. As the fog lifted about 10
in the morning, and the sun burst through the clouds, the
long lines of the Federal army, which had passed the whole
preceding day in deploying and preparing for the attack,
were distinctly visible in the plain, and gave awful
indications of the amount of the Federal host
which had crossed the river. The Confederate
army, wholly undaunted by the extravagant stories about
the strength of their foe, waited calmly, drawn up for
the moat part within the fringe of the woods, confident in
their position and in the valour which has never failed
them. And here it may be as well finally to dispel those
illusions under which it is the custom of the Northern press
to veil the disgrace of defeat, when the fact itself admits of
no denial. The whole number of the Confederates in the
field this day did not exceed from 80,000 to 90,000 men. Of
these, some 26,000 men, taking the very highest estimate,
took part in the fight. By the urgent entreaty of several
of the leading Confederate Generals, it has long been sought
rather to keep down than to swell the numbers of the
Southern army. It is well known to the sagacious Gene-
rals of the Confederacy that such an army as obeyed Gen.
, Lee's command this day, if well handled and imbued with
a fine spirit, is more than a match for any number that can
I be led against them. The statements of the Federal Sec-
, rectary of War, to the effect that he has 800,000 men at
this moment in his pay, carry comfort rather than dismay
to the hearts of the Confederates. So cumbrous and un-
wieldy a machine as the Federal army but break down by
its own weight and by the vast amount of transport which
its pampered soldiery requires; and, in addition to many
other testimonies to its immobility, the statement of the
Prince de Joinville, that one railroad is not sufficient to
supply such an army as General M'Clellan led against
Richmond, will carry conviction to the European public.
It is impossible for me to describe the position of each of
the numerous Confederate batteries which stretched along
the length of their six-mile line of battle. It will suffice if
I indicate the batteries which were most hotly errgaged,and
bore the brunt of the action. By fat the most important
position was occupied by the Washington Artillery, com-
manded by Col. Walton, of New Orleans, and posted on
the heights in the immediate neighbourhood of Fredericks-
burg, not more than 400 yares from the town. These
heights, which are precisely of that altitude which
is most favourable for the play of artillery, are sur-
mounted by a brick house, now riddled by round
shot, belonging to Mr. Marye, and are commonly
called Marye's Heights.
.At their base a road wind:
protected on one side by the hills, and on the other
by a solid stone wall, abont four feet ire height, over which
a brigade of Confederates, themselves perfectly sheltered,
poured the deadliest anti most effmtive of fires. A little fur-
ther
back, to the south-east of Marye's Heights, stand,
another and higher hill, from which the most commanding
view of the entire field is obtainabie, and which, as it is the
' usual station of the Commander-in-Chief, is now known as
Gen. Lee's hill. From this hill during a large portion of
Saturday, a 30-pounder Parrot gun, cast at the Tredegar
Works in Richmond, poured a destructive fire into the Fade-
rals. Suddenly, about 3 in the afternoon, on its 37th dis-
charge, this gun burst with a dreadful explosion, but hap-
pily did no injury to any of the bystanders. At the moment
of its explosion Captain Phillips, of the Grenadier Guards
(favourably remarked this day for his behaviour under fire),
Major Venables, of Gen. Lee's staff, and Major Haskell
were conversing within a few feet of the gun. Their escape
without injury was little less than miraculous. As the
Confederate line treads away to the right, the batteries of Gen.
i Hood's division were actively engaged against the advancing
I columns of Pennsylvanians; but next to the batteries on
Marye's Heights and Gen. Lee's hill, I should say that the
artillery commanded by Col. Walker took the most effec-
tive part in the action, as it poured a flanking fire into the
enemy's left. One other battery deserves favourable men-
tion, which it obtained in the short and modest report of
the battle which emanates from the pen of Gen. Lee. On
the extreme right of the Confederates, in front of the posi-
tion occupied by Gen. Stuart's cavalry, a few batteries of
Stuart's Horse Artillery were thrown forward, to flank the
Federals, between Walker's Ar, illery and the river. Gen.
Stuart ordered Major John Pelham, his Chief of Artillery,
to advance one gun considerably towards the enemy, and to
open upon him. Major Pelham obeyed, and pened the
fire of a 12-pounder Napoleon gun with great precision and
deadly effect into the Federal flank. The galling discharges
of this gun quickly drew upon it the fire of three Federal
field batteries, while from across the river two other heavy
batteries joined in the strife and wade Major Pelham
and his gun their target. For hours, not less than 30
Federal cannon strove to silence Major Pelham's popgun,
and strove in vain. The unyielding and undemonstrative
courage of Major Pelham, his composure under the deadli-
est fire, have long made him
o,nspicuous, but never were
his noble qualities the subject of more glowing
eulogy than
upon this occasion. General Lee exclaimed, " It is inspirit-
ing to see such glorious courage in one so young" (Major
Pelham is not more than 22); general ackaant rfAaarAcCl!

" With a Pelham upon either flank I could vanquish the
world."

At half-past 8 a.m. General Lee, accompanied by his full
staff, rode slowly along the front of the Confederate lines
from lett to righl, and took up his station for a time beyond
Hamilton's Crossing, and in rear of the batteries on the ex-
treme Confederate right. It would be presumptuous in me
to say one word in commendation of the serenity, or, if I
may so express it, the unconscious dignity of General Lee's
courage, when he is under fire. No one who sees and knows
his demeanour in ordinary life would expect anything else
from one so calm, so undemonstrative and unassuming. But
the description applied after the battle of Alma to Lord
Raglan by Marshal St. Arnaud, and in which, noticing
Lord Raglan's unconsciousness under fire, he speaks of his
"antique heroism," seems to me so applicable to General
Lee that I cannot forbear recalling it here. At a subsequent
period of the day General Lee assumed his station on the
kill which takes its name from him, and thence, in company
with General Longstreet, calmly watched the repulse of the
repeated Federal efforts against the heights on which he
stood. Occasionally General Jackson rode up to the spot
and mingled in conversation with the other two leading
Generals. Once General Longstreet exclaimed to him,
" Are you not scared by that file of Yankees you have be-
fore you down there ?" to which General Jackson replied,
" Wait till they come a little nearer, and they shall either
scare me or I'll scare them."

The battle opened when the sun had let in enough light
through the mist to disclose the near proximity of the
Federal lines and field batteries. The first shot was fired
shortly before 10 a.m. from the b ttteries in the Federal
centre, and was directed against General Hood's division.
The Pennsylvanian Reserves advanced boldly under a heavy
fire against the Confederates who occupied one of the copse-
wood spurs, and were for a time permitted to hold it, but
presently the Confederate batteries opened on them, and a
determined charge of the Texans drove the Yankees out of
the wood in a confusion form which notning could subse-
quently rally them. Simultaneously a heavy fire issued
from the batteries of General A. P. Hill's ar.d General
Early's divisions, which was vigorously replied to by the
Ftdeial field batteries. The only advantage momentarily
gained by the Federals in this quarter, and which is noticed
in General Lee'e report, was on the occasion of the cal-
lapse of a regiment of North Carolina conscripts, who broke
and ran, but whose place was rapidly taken by more in-
trepid successors. The cannonading now became general
along the entire line. Such a scene, at once terrific and
sublime, mortal eye never rested on before, unless the
bombardment of Sebastopol by the combined batteries of
France and England revealed a more fearful manifestation
of the hate and fury of man. The thundering, bellowing
roar of hundreds of pieces of artillery, the bright jets of
issuing flame, the screaming, hissing, whistling, shrieking
projectiles, the wreath of smoke as shell after shell burst
into the still air, the savage crash of round shot among the
trees of the shattered forest, formed a scene likely to sink
for ever into the memory of all who witnessed it, but utterly
defying verbal delineation. A direct and enfilading fire
swept each battery on either side as it was unmasked, vol-
ley replied to volley, crash succeeding crash, until the eye
lost all power of distinguishing the lines of combatants, and
the whole plain seemed a lake of fire, a seething mass of
molten lava, coursed over by incarnate fiends drunk with
fury and revenge.

Twice the Federals, gallantly led and encouraged by their
officers, d .shed against the forces of General A. P. Hill and
General Early, and twice they recoiled, broken and discom-
fitted, and incapable of being again rallied to the fray. The
eager Confederates drove them with horrid carnage a
mile across the plain, and only desisted from the pursuit
when they came under the fife of the Federal batteries
across the river. Upon the extreme Confederate right
General Stuart's Horse Artillery pressed hotly upon the
fugitives, and kept up a fire subsequently understood to

have been very effective, until after dark. Upon the Con-
federate right, where the antagonists fought upon more
level terms, the equality of loss upon both sides was greater
than on the Confederate left; but even here the Federal
loss in officers and men far outnumbered that of their op-
ponents. General Bayard, the best cavalry officer in the
Federal service, fell dead almost on the eve of the day
which was to have witnessed his nuptials ; General Jack-
son, of Pennsylvania, shared his fate. Many other gene-
ral officers were carried to the Federal rear, grievously
wounded; whereas of the Confederates only one officer of
rank—General Gregg—fell upon the right ; and only one—
Gene, al Cobb—upon the left.
Meanwhile, the battle, which had dashed furiously
against the lines of Generals Hood, A. P. Hill, and Early,
was little more than child's play, as compared with the on •
slaught directed by the Federals in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Fredericksburg The impression that the Con-
federate batteries would not fire heavily upon the Federals
advancing in this quarter for fear of injuring the town of
Fredericksburg, is believed to have prevailed among the
Northern Generals. Hew bitterly they deceived themselves
subsequent events served to show. To the Irish division,
commanded by General Meagher, was principally com-
mitted the desperate task of bursting out of the town of
Fredericksburg, and forming, under the withering fire of
the Confederate batteries, to attack Marye's Heights, lower-
ing immediately in their front. Never at Fontenoy, at
AlLucta, ut at Watutivo was more uudoublad uuttrage dis-
played by the sons of Erin than during thcse six frantic
dashes which they directed against the almost impregnable
position of their foe. There are stories that General
Meagher harangued his troops in imps ssioned language on
the morning of the 13th, and plied them extensively with
the whiskey found in the cellars of Fredericksburg.
After witnessing the gallantry and devotion exhi-
bited by his troops, and viewing the hillsides for acres
strewn with their corpses thick as autumnal leaves, the
spectator can remember nothing but their desperate courage,
and regret that it was not exhibited in a holier cause. That
any mortal man c,uld have carried the position before
which they were wantonly sacrificed, defended as it was, it
seems to me idle for a moment to believe. But the bodies
which lie in dense masses within 40 yards of the muzzles
of Colonel Walton's guns are the best evidence what man-
ner of men they were who pressed on to death with the
dauntlessness of a race which has gained glory on a thou.
sand battle-fields, and never more richly deserved it than
at the foot of Marye's Heights on the 13th day of Decem-
ber, 1862.

An opportunity of sending this letter, with an encourag-
ing prospect of its reaching England, compels me to defer
a further account of the gallant defence on the Confederate
left of the town of Fredericksburg and of the battlefield
until a subsequent letter. But it is important to add that,
even at this early date, there are abundant evidences that
the Confederates, themselves sustaining a loss of about
1,800 killed and wounded, have inflicted upon their enemy
a defeat from which it will take him months and months to
recover. Such was the demoralisation this evening of the
Federal troops as they ran through the streets and cowered
in the cellars of Fredericksburg, that hundreds of soldiers
exclaimed, "You may shoot us down, may hang us, or do
what you like, but back there," pointing at Marye's
Heights, "we will never go again." I forbear to state the
estimates of the Federal loss, which place it at an appalling
figure, and yet are believed not to be far from the truth.
It is not likely that the full details of this battle will be
generally known in the North for weeks and weeks ; but
if, after the failure of this last and feeblest of all the Fede-
ral attempts to reach Richmond, with the Northern army
unnerved, demoralised, and starting asunder like a broken
bow, the Irish and Germans are again tempted to embark
in so hopeless a venture, then is the conclusion irresistible
that, in addition to all the shackles of desptlism which they
are alleged to have left behind them in Europe, they have
left also that most valuable attribute of humanity, which is
called oo mmon sense.

RESPITE OF MARY Cox.---On Saturday morning
Mr. Green, the governor of Durham 61,01, received
a communication from Sir George Grey, the Home Secre-
tary, ordering that Mary C x ehould be respited until fur-
ther signification of her Majesty's pleasure. The prisoner,
it will be remembered, was convicted along with her hus •
band, John Cox, at the last urham assizes, of the
murder of an old woman, named Ann Halliday, at a
place called Broadatires, near the city of Durham. John
Cox was executed on the 23d ult., but the sentence on Mary
Cox was ordered to be deferred until after her confinement,
a jury of matrons having declared her to be pregnant. The
decision of the Heme Secretary was made known to the
prisoner by the ttev. Provost Platt, Catholic priest, who
has been in attendance upon her since her condemnation.
STATUE OF LORD COCKBURN.—A statue to the
late Henry Cockburn, the eminent Scotch barrister
and judge, has just been placed in the Parliament-house,
Edinburgh. Though comparatively little known south of
the Tweed, Cockburn is a name familiar to every Scotch-
man. He was throughout his long life closely associated
with Francis Jeffrey; especially in the institution of the
Edinburgh Review, and in the early movements in Scotland
for political reform. When Jeffrey became Lord Advocate
on the Whigs coming into office in 1830, Cockburn was aprbadaetAcdkt
-
displaystill h i his e loefv
ta.otri
eo
nn
it
co
et hl
oel
übe ennaccreehevaei
lrnroeohikrBeeea3dgr4ad.
hs
aetsao
spacwlmoei
taotchdnhegrhbithgahrihset
pointed Solicitor-General of Scotland, and held that office
amiaods t
hsitsr i
judicial and
decisionspersuasive
admiration and respect. But it was as a patriotic
and kindly Scotchman, deeply attached to his
country and
his countrymen,
that his memory is most revered in the
North. As the biographer of Jeffrey, whom he survived
four years, he produced one of the most interesting books
in Scottish literature. The statue, which is erected by
subscription, is from the chisel of Mr. W. B. Brodle,
R.S.A. It is a full-length figure, in the robe of Solicitor-
Geaeral. The likeness is remarkably truthful and vivid,
and the attitude very faithfully represents the placid but
dignified deportment of the man. The work is undoubtedly
the finest this able sculptor has produced. The following is
the incription on the pedestal :—" Henry Cockburn, born
October 26, 1779 ; Solicitor-General, 1830 ; Senator of the
College of Justice, 1834 ; died, April 26, 1854," The
figure is placed a little to the right of Roubillac's famous
etatue of Lord President Forbes. The old Parliament-
house of Scotland (which has been since the Union an ad-
junct to the law courts) has now a series of seven statues,
those of Lord Jeffrey, and Lord President Boyle, by Steell,
being (=opting Cockburn) the latest additions.