The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-12-20
Griffin and Humphrey to the front, but arrived
too late for action. Thus ended the conflict be-
tween our right and the rebel left.

Tne INES OF zen. RANKIN, as fOrmed Tor the
attack, represented an obtnse angle, one line of
which (Gen Reynolds Corps) extended diago-
nally from the river bank. ~ -
river and formed on the right Of Wileox's
Corps. The extreme left was three miles below
Fredericksburg, and the right of the left Grand
Division Was less than two miles from the
town. The extent Of Gen. Frankin's lines then
was more than mile from right to left. .2ai
The position Of the different divisions Vas rs
follows, commencing on the right: First, Brooks's
Division, which lay upon the ground along the
road to Fredericksburg, running parallel With the
river, and half way between II and the rebel
batferiee.If.a svs -l-sssesE, cd, 20 Is..ss
Howe's Division formed on the left; On his
right joined Reynolds's corps, the first Division
Of which, Gen. Gibbons commanding took po-
sition in advance beyond the road Meade's
Division formed an angle with Gibbons and ex-
tend toward the river. Doubleday was aex. to
Meade, and rested on the river. This in general
war the position o. the left Grand Division when
the actiOn commenced. -JlGw ehc..l512sh 2as
The first fire was made by the skrmisbers OF
the 18th Massachusetts, in our front. They had
moved cautiously in advance Of our lines for
half mile, when discovering the enerny's pick :
cts they fred upon them. Cannouadng soon
in earnest The. hazy atmosphere
OF the early part of the day having cleared away
SO as to give 10 each Of the contending parties
view Of the position taken by the other. HalPs
Battery, the I'd Maine, discovereda battery OF
the enemy in close proximity and opened rapid
and vigorous fire uponit.
Ia few moments the artillery FIRE extended
aloLg Che entire 4iness The "a u S.LArti!lery,
Capt. Ransom; Cooper's battery Of Pennsylvania
Reserves, and Others, male and received a Sc
we're attack: The skirmishing was kept up as
our lines advanced, and the position Of the enc
my in the woods was almost reached. A ecat-
tering musketry fire continued from the first ad-
vance, about O'clock, till noon, and with oc
casional lulls, the cannonading was heavy and
severe. zs -s..ss..t-. ga5Fa s4g sgaBs
During tie advance Of the left grand division
upon the enemy's position, Maj Gen. Stone
mans corps Of the Second Grand Division, Gen.
Rockers, which bad moved to the vicinity of
the river the evening previous, moved over the
vance. moved toward the left to the support Of
that portion Of the line. Great enthusiasm was
excited among the troops as the battle Gag Of
Gen. Birney, Of Stonemsn's corps was seen NOV
iog across the plain, in advance of the flag, in
deep column, winding onward from the river.
Gen. Birney had received orders 70 place
himself in position to support the right of Gen.
Revnolds corps in an attack which was momen-
tarily expected to be made. Orders to advance
having been received, Gen. Gibbons and Gen.
Meade's divisions we're directed to advance up.
on the enemy 10 the woods and upon the hill,
holding the position if support should come to
them, abandoning it in case they should be too
severely pressed.
Now came the most successful and determined
effort on this part OF our line. The attack Was
made from the point Of Intersection Of the an
gle formed by our lines already referred To-
This point was nearest the woods, and the ene-
my's shells were falling thickly about it.
Gibbons division and the Pennsylvania Re-
serves advanced boldly towards the works Of
the enemy They pushed determinedly through
the brushxood and brushes on to grove of CO.
dars, and through these up the hills towards the
Of the enemy. The works were
carried, many prisoners captured, and the crest
of the hill gained, not, however, without heavy
Gen. Gibbons has fallen, wounded in the arm,
while leading his comWand to the attack. The
works Of the enemy at this point were gained,
but not held The enemy, unfortunately, pos
seesed the strength to concentrate overwhelming
numbers Of fresh troops upon the threatened
point, and for all the vslor Of those who surviv-
ed, and all the sacrifices Of those who fell, the
position had to be abandoned, and our troops
were compelled to fall back to the plain. 2ssa
They had penetrated beyond the railroad and
the Bowling Green turnpike, through the woods
and across the outer works of the enemy to the
top Of the bill, and were then forced back to
this side Of the railroad, where they maintained
their stand in advance of that they had original
ly occupied. .f;s.s.r
In the meantime Gen. Doubleday had been
constantly pushing the enemy upon the left. A
most determined resistance was made by the
enemy as skirmishers and with reserves and ar
tillery. The FIRE which during the forenoon was
kept up on the left, told of the most severe
fighting. For full a mile the enemy was pressed
back, contesting the ground inch BY inch, re.
ceiving and inficting heavy loss The enemy
fell back upon his defenses and the advantage
gained was ipdecisive.
: During three successive advances and checks
along the center and left Grand Divisions, unin
terrupted Smelling was kept up by the rebel bat
teries upon the bodies of troops at different
points Of the plain At large stone mansion
near the center of our line, used az a held hos
ptal during the day, an incessant firing was d.
rected. tsg ya5 5.a ~ ..
Near this building Gen. Bayard found an IN
timely death. A she'll struck him while sitting
under tree, within few yards Of Gen. Frank,
In, IN the iegs WItHOut eApiVuiuS. 0's1eS Woe
nearly torn of, aud be died in the course OF the
evening. -l.,.-.
Toward the middle of the afternoon the firing
a long the lines OF the left Grand Division grew
weaker aud gradually settled into comparative
lull. ..... ,.f..,. r...eg.
Shortly before sunset, hover. the firing on the
extreme left was again renewed with increased
visor, and kept up until after dark. At O'Clock
it gradually died away, and at it had entirely
ceased
On the left, as we'll as OIL the left, the battle
came short Of our expectations.
We gained some ground, but failed to realize
the main object Of the days work-namely, the
dislodgment Of the enemy from their intrenched
uosition on the nights overlooking the plain. held
BY the left, and the town, occupied by the Right
Division. New efforts, new sacri6ces Of lite will
be required to accomplishit. q7
By far the eeverest fighting occurred on the
risht. All the Generals shat have participated
in the battle Of Antietam, say that to DAYS con-
test on this portion Of the line exceeded it IN
intensity. The rebels had our troops at q disad-
vantage. Their infantry fought principally nm
-h;,o thpir arti1larv had Il almost