, 1862-12-19

1as6ed the whole success Of tile plan on the
accomplishment Of a certain maneuvcr {F rank
iln|E ability to swing round On the rebel flank,
namely), where all the elements of the prob
lem Werc completely wauting9 What far
fnl fatality, too, that our accumulation Of A.
t1Iery vas all but entirely useless to us, owing
% the distance Of the range and the exposure
o. our own troops. And what misfortune,
eql 7aIy iamentable, that the approach to the
reb< Il position back Of Fredericksburg was an
area 50 restricted that our field batteries wcre
almos.t equally useless, oHing to The imposBi-
bility Of naneugering!
In the course Of this correspondence, from
the time .f our first occupation Of Falmouth,
ment of the rebel position, from an absolutely
defense1essc oEdition to the time that it became
another Gibraltar. Never for moment did
We, who watched this progress, suppose that
i would ever l'c attempted to be taken by
Agrllng masses Or men against those works.
Ne had supposed tEat the resources Of strut
eg{ won!d assured1T afford other unears Of ac-
coHplishing the desired end
Regarded asa position OF defense. that %Ilich
the rebel. leaders aFc'taken up on the Rap-
pahannock, and which VIC lave been pleased
to asEail in the manner indicated and with the
result known, none could possibly be mere
magnificent or more nearly lmpregnable. With
SO: eco men they should easily hold it against
three times that number Of assailants- AMI
indeed they appear never to have employee
more than about that number: Every TING
ready reinforcement6 to match. From
prisoners taken, I learn that On the
right, commanded By Jackson, half Of
t6r force only (and chiefly the division Of A.
?. Hi, and Early brigade, was engaged.
take it that they had all along the line Of the
Rappahannock about 100, 600 men, and that
$1,000 more OF less were actually engaged in
| The contest.
The Confederate leaders have acted with
their usual witness in this wholematter: They
| did well toilet us 60 easily into Fredericks-
burg, firing but hllf !: dozen guns when they
| could have brought Il hundred to bear upon
/ us. The city itself #as tile vericst trap that
ever was Laid and ne have walked into it.
| Is it any wonder that with such d position
| on tie inside Of IN arc Of 4 circle Of bate
| rics-
":Nid upper, neither and surrounding 6res::'-
our troops were over and over again broken
| and shattered in the attempt to take it, The
wonder is tlat such admirable pluck was
| shown.
It is a hopeless task to 60 back over the
series Of blunders that have made this disas-
ter possible-to inquire, for instance, who is
| responsible for the delaying Of the pontoon
bridges ten days beyond the time promised
Gen. Burnside, thus enabling the rebels to
| render their position impregnable. Enough
that the inquisitlon will come by and by.
At the close Of tbs battle Tonight, General
| DuFuS1QE ucClAFEu EEI nt WOULD rene" fnG
contest in themorning. There is to my mind,
however, little probability that this will be
| done, or can be done. It is likely the council
| Of gencra}s-composed OF Burnside, Sumner,
| Hooker and Franklin-now meeting at this
house, will shake this determination, as I
know they are al opposed to this measure
Indeed, one has only to SO oyerto Frcdericks-
burg, where the army is now huddled, and see
its shattered and broken condition--regi-
ments scattered disorganized, Sc.--to see that
. renewal Of the fight In the morning or even
for some time, is wholly impossible.
What the upshot of the whole affair is des
tined to be. it is, Of course, fruitless to con
lecture. We can, no doubt, by tho adoption
Of the right plan, force their position. fhei1
right is really their weak point; and that, b]
the way, they are how busily engaged il
strengt thening tonight. The line Of the rive
/ is, however, entirely too long to be guarded
against enterprising attacks, and With thu
proper dispositions, their position can Eeadil.
be 1ankcd. The situation Of our army, how
crcr-e7l chesez Of 4 riyer-is n perilous ono
one Of the most demoraliziug known; and i
may be the dictate Of prudence to Withdraw
the army as soon as possible to the north banl
ofthe Rappahnnnock.