, 1862-12-19

sAclA3 UlL 11lE4 uft IQu1l&lE lHU DCGn ATk0>
1otte,y was ordered to fall back. Having
alien back, the captain called for volunteers, !
o resu1n and bring of the battery Sergeant
Berry, Sergeant etubbe, Corporal 4. Greeley,
md Twelve men belonging to The 10th Maine
'cgimens; stepped forward. The undertaking,
hough hazardous one, proved successful,
IS the abandoned qua was brought off in safe
+. It Was: while the fight was Progressing at
his point That Gen. Bayard was f,tally wound
ID. He had just reached Gen. Frank1in's
,eadquarters In small grove Of the Bernard
House, and taken seat under one Of the
recs. when ball; striking. . few yards in
'front.' Of him, glanced and then went through /
his thigh, in1icting fearful wound. He was F
Immediately con7eyed to the Bernard House
md placed in charge Of DR.: Phillips, Surgeon |
Inc Chaplain Of The Harris Light Cavalry ap- |
write anything for him. "By-and-by," he |
replied, then turning to Surgeon Hock1ey, he |
inquired if he should be able to live forty !
eight hours. A negat1se answer being given,
Several Of the Surgeons IN attendance thought |
his life might be saved. by amputating the
wounded limb, but the chances were so small
be preferred not to undergo the operation.
He was perfectly sensible, and never for once
lost that selfpozsession which ha 8 always
characterized him on the field Of battle.
About 2 O'Clock Gen. Birney's division, Of
Gtn. Hooker's grand division, which had
been delayed for some time in crossing By the
encmy's shells, moved forward to the left to
ttie, support of Meaae's division. Gibbons
had become much cut up. The muskctry
fight was then very heavy, and this division
suffered severely.
Adjoining tie 1st corps under Reynolds
was the 6th corps under Gen. Smith, pre-
scnting the following formation, in three lines
Burke at the centre, and Gen. Howe on the
left, connecting with Reynolds corps. At
sunrise the skTmishcrs commenced moving
forwar,d d Gen. Finton commanding.
About $ o'clock the rebels opened heavy
cannonadc upon the men. Some Of their bat
burning dwelling, which attracted considera-
BILE attention the night previous, was destroy
cd by them in order to make better their
range. Martins New York Battery, Franks
1st New York, and Shows 1st Maryland re-
piled to the rebel guns with much spirit
At o'clock Gen. Eewton's was withdrawn
from tie extreme Of this corps, and took a
position on the extreme right Of Reynolds
command, where it was actively employed
during the remainder Of the day.
About o'clock tho 4th New Jersey were
ordered to charge upon force Of the enemy
them back for 100 yards or more a superior
force then appearing against them. they we're
forced to retire. Col. Fl. B. Hatch fell,
wounded In the leg. The rebels ceased their
artillery fire on this portion Of the army about
10 o'clock IN tue morning Towam evening,
ton Of Martins battery, Who came on With
yell, expecting to capture it. The warm re-
certioD which they received from the battery
and the 2d and 4th Vermont regiments, which
were acting as EkirmlSheTs, compelled them
10 fall back. At the same time the three lines
Of infantry, composed Of Pratt's and Vinton's
brigades. stood to arms, and advanced with
fixed bayonete. Night put AL end to further
operations on either side, with the exception
Of occasional discharges from our heavy
guns.
left possession Of space about 500 yards in
extent. So far as stnbbornly holding its Own
and even gaining somewhut on the enemy, the
| left grand division deserves credit. 1t had,
| however, failed to perform the tactical mancu-
| yer assigned to it.
| Returning to the right, found Gen. Sum-
| ner seated On the front seat Of an unyoked
ambulance, ut the Lacey House, directly op-
posite Fredericksburg, at the point where the
tirstpontoon bridge spans the stream. The veto
crossing overand directingi in person the move
ments Of his grand division, but the Com
manding General would not permit it, and as
compromise he had come down from the
Phillips House, (which Gen. Burnside had
made his headquarters for the day. Q mile
|
/ brink. I could not help feeling regret thai
tile lcashed old war-dog Was not let loose at
| the throat Of the enemy. Meanwhile, az,
Fredericksburg had become entirely too 1lot
to visit with decent respect for ones safety,
l remained with the General in the ambu
lance, to follow the tide Of batt1e as reported
by constantly arriving aids and couriers.
The old man looked anxious ard fearful
Things we're not going well with his COM
mand. For three hours his men had been
<;r11fi NJ $ft1
llauEted, their loss was excessive and nothing
had been accomplished. Indeed, to the tcs1
of the ear, at the point where We we're 10
Gated, it seemed as though they were being
badly pressed. The batteries had been brought
down and planted at the heads Of the streets
Tie troops were hugging the Cit, closely te
escape tie fearful fire. "Where is Franklin y
was the eager inquiry. stEvcrything depend:
on Frank1in's coming up on the HANK
Franklin's position was plainly observable
to our left below. He was making no nearer
At 3 o'clock an aid arrives from Gen Coucl
| to say that his {Couch's troops were advanc
ing finely; but that Wilcox was not keeping
up. ssTcll Gen. Wilcox" replies Gen. Sum
ner, sttell him he must make the 9Th army
At 3 - o'clock, Sturgis, who has beel
: clingipg to the valley amid showers of fire, i
| so Gotly pressed that the hardly thinks b
can hold his own till Griffin comes up"
At o'clock, French reports that his RICH
is held By brigade (Mason's] a'hieh is a'tthos
Sumner sends message begging Burnsid
that franklin be directed to advance. Blu
Franklin cannot advance &c has enough t
do at this moment to hold his own, for Jack
T son has just thrown in reinfoIcements, and
; pushing hard to turn his left.
Meantime the reserves have not been toucE
ed. Rockers Central Grand DiSision-50,0 ,0Q
) fresh men-have not yet been engaged; il
| deed are yet mainly on this side Of the river.
+Teu Gen. Burnside that be had better, b
r al means, throw some Of Hooker's in.n
dered Hooker to go in, and that every man Q
3 this side of the river shall cross.
(, Promptly the column is pushed down to tt
G pontoons, Humphreys division Of Butte
fields corps, leading; The wary rebels shar
4 and having battery or two admirably tra!1e
= on the bridge, pour III the shells, and som
+ what delay operations. Happily, though TIL
fall all round the bridge, and kill some Hi
T. on the banks, they do the structure no har1
r In case they do, however, q corps Of ront
At4o'clock, Gen. Hooker, who had not :
Q been across the river, proceeded over, I
q marking to a friend thnt he "was going
J put this thing through"
!, In half an hour prodigious vol1eys Of MT
8 kerry announce that Hooker, with the ]
= serves, Is eHEaScu. 4ulS lstst ttesstult1AE u
,1nn consisted Of the divisions Of Hu1nphrs
It Monk, Howard, Getty and Sykes. They ha
hardly, however, got fairly engaged
q fore the sun went down, and night clos
" around the c1amorous wrath Of the comb
, auts.
1t At this time, Gen. Burnside, who had
', mained all day at the Phillips House, cal
;. down to the Lacy House; and, in the gard
g faeiDg the city, followed the progress Of t
fight. Externally calm, the leading player
ie i this tremendous game, was agltated by su
u intensity Of feeling as one can conceive, &
le he paced the garden gloomy at night.
:; "That crest" he exclaimed passionate
;; "1nust be carried tonight! ~
i'd The breyity Of time into which the stup!
douB issue Of the day had to be crowd
4 seemed to add redoua1ed energy to the fury
q the combatdnts.
Not t.Night OF Blucher,' as Wellington
et claimed at Waterloo, but rather Ajax's pra,,
III for s'more Light" !" was the prompting Of EFT
r. heart.
IL Wfieh We had been unable al day to w7er
m from the rebels. The other forces rushed
P the crest. Our field batteries, which, owl
d, to the restricted space, had been OF but lit
ed use all day, we're brought vigorously into pl
!" It was the fierce passionate climax Of the
Mt tie. From both sides two miles Of batter
Q dark background Of the night. Vo1Iey=
en- musketry were poured forth such as We b.
I'D no parallel of il all our experiences Of
ne war, and which seemed IS though all
'e- | demons Of earth and air were contendlng
RS | gether. Rushing up the crest our troops
tn When the hill top swarmed forth in new re
fo1cements Of rebel infantry, who, rush
lis upon our men drove them back. The tu11
ns die decides such situations The day I