The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1862-12-26
Rurnslne.h Renort.

The Richmond Dispatch has scathing
article upon Burnside's Repor. OF the
Rattle of Fredericksburg, We quote the
concluding portion of it,
"Ipstead. however. of annoying our
readers further with Burnside's direct lies
and suppressons Of the truth, we VIII
state certain facts, detailed TO US by gen
tleman who was IN the battle Of Saturday
A small proportion OF our army only was
engaged, not more than 25'VOo men NJ
farlhest. Burnside rates his own force al
10000. II was certainly double that figure
Burnside writes that he lost but b,UVu'
men. General Armistead. OF the Conied-
crate service, took the precaution tocount
the dead bodies left on the field by the
Yankees, and they were rather more than
$500. This was on Tuesday, after the
Yankees had employed two whole days
in burying. At the lowest calculation,
then. we must have killed at least 5000
of their men, and this may be what Burn
side means when he says his loss was
5000. The wounded, after battle, usu-
ally stand TO the dead in the proportion
of five to one. so that $4,000 OF the IAN
KEGS must have been wounded, and their
whole loss, exclusive of l,3OO prisoners,
must have been $4,000 men. Any person
who saw the field and Fredericksburg afs~
ter the retreat, would readily credit this
estimate. At the place where General
Cobb was killed, within the enclosure of
stone fence, a regiment Of his brigade
was posted. II was assaulted by whole
brigade of Irishmen who behaved with
II 4 4 Ira
repeatedly led to the assault. Only four
of this egiment-eXclusiye OF Gen. Cobb
himself-were killed, and they killed
more than five hundred of their enemy,
whose bodies were left on the field. In
Fredericksburg, across one OF the streets,
the Yankees dug a.trench, and let be-
side it five hundred dead bodies piled up
| Our informant had no doubt that they in
| tended to make n breastwork OF these
bodies, as they placed them on the edge
of the ditch and covered them with dirt,
as if they had been logs. All about the
streets in every direction, dead bodies of
the Yankees were lying in piles OF two,
three, and as high as a dozen. In the
porch of Mayor Slaughter's house there
were no less than five dead Yankees
The night of the battle, the dry grass in
portion of field took fire. and many of
! the Yankee wounded were burned. The
explosion of the cartridge boxes, as the
fire reached them, and the shrieks of the
sufferers were heard all night long by our
pickets, who had it not in their power 10
relieve the sufferers.
That the Yankees were greatly averse
to the fight, and that they could be
brought to engage in it with great diff
Guilty, is absolutely certain. section of
the LIST Howtzers (Richmond) was placed
upon an eminence which commanded a
! full view Of the whole Yankee army. Be-
fore the cannonade began, on their part,
they were of course all busy in looking at
the advancing enemy. They distinctly
saw large bodies Of men marching behind
the advancing columns with fixed bayo-
nets, evidently forcing them into battle.
On more than one occasion they saw the
officers fire OH their own men, and re.
peatedly they saw them riding after and
endeavorlng to bring them up. Little idea
had we of the tremendous defeat we had
inflicted on the enemy.
The battles of the war have hitherto.
been fought in the woods. The battle of
| fredericksburg like the European bat,
ties, was fought in clear space, which,
might be taken in at single glance, 1t
formed the grandest panorama ever wit
messed on this continent, 1t continued
after nightfall and the long line. Of fire.
was visible for miles around. 1t was one
Of the most sublime sights il is possible to,
conceive.