The dollar weekly bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1862-1864, 1862-12-25
Official Account of the Battle at
FreuerickSburS.
Headquarters Army of the Potomac.

HEADQUARTERS Army of the Potomac.(
Falmouth, Dec. 10, 1862. :
To ii. w. Halleck, General-in-c chief:
GENERAL-I have the honor to OTTER the
following reasons for moving the Army OF
the Potomac across the Rappahannock soon
| err than was anticipated by the present oecre-
tary of w ar or yourself, and for crossing at
| point different from the one Indicated at our
last meeting at the Presidents. During my
preparations for crossing at the place l had
| first selected, discovered that the enemy
had thrown "a large portion of his force
down the river and elsewhere, thus weak en- :
| ing his forces in 'front.' and | also discovered
that he did not anticipate the crossing Of our
whole force at Fredericksburg, and hoped
that by rapidly throwing the whole COM
mand over at that place, TO separate, by a
vigorous attack, the forces ofthe enemy on
| the river below from the forces behind and
or the crest in the rear of the town, in which
case we could fight him with great advant-
age in our favor.
To do this we had to gain hight on the
extreme right of tho crest, which hight com
manded the new road lately made by the
enemy for purposes of more rapid commu-
nication along his lines, which point gain ed,
his positions along the right crest would
have been scarcely tenable, and he could
3
tack on his front in connection with a m owe
ment on the rear of the crest. How near we
came to accomplishing our object, future re
ports will show; but for the fault and unex-
pected and unavoidable delay in building
the bridges, which gave the enemy twenty
four hours moro to concentrate his forces in
his strong positions. we would almost GER
tainly have succeeded, in which case the
battle would have been, in my opinion, fan
more decisive than if we had crossed at the
places first selected. AS it was, we came
very near success.
Failing in accomplishing the main object
we remained in order of battle two days
long enough to decide that the enemy would
not come out of his strongholds TO fight us
with his infantry-after which we crossed
to this side Of the river unmolested, with
out the loss of men or property. As the day
broke, oNr long lines of troops were seer
marching to their different positions, as il
going Oh parade; not the least demoraliza-
ton or DISCRIMINATION existed. To tn,
brave officers and soldiers who accomplish
ed the feat of recrossing the river in the face
Of the enemy, owe every thing. For thu
failure in the attack am responsible. as the
extreme gallantry, courage and endurance
! shown by them was never exceeded. anC
would have carried their points had it beer
possible.
To the families and friends Of the dead
can only offer my heartfelt sympathies, bu
for the wounded | can offer my earnest pray
ers for their comfortable and final recovery
The fact that ed to move from War
renton on u this line rather against tn
opinion of the President, Secretary of Wa
ard yourself, and that you lefe the who'll
movement in my hands without giving M
orders, makes me responsible. | will visi
you very soon and give you more definit
, information, and finally will send you m,
detailed report, in which special acknowl
lgement will be made of the services o
, the different grand divisions, division corp
and my Generals in the staff departments O
, the Army of the Potomac, to whom l an
so much indebted for their support an,
hearty corporation.
l will add here that the moveme nt wa
made earlier than you expected; and afte
E the President, Secretary Of War and your
self requested me not to be in haste, for tn
reason that we were supplied much soone
by the different staff departments than wa
anticipated when | saw you.
Our killed amount to l, 152; our wounded
to about 8 900, and our prisoners to abou
700, which last have been paroled and ex
changed for about the same number tax e.
by US. The wounded were all removed t,
this side of the river, and ara being wei
cared for, and the dead were all buried un
der flag of truce.
, The Surgeons report a much larger pro
portion of slight wounds than usual SO
only being treated in the hospitals. l an
glad to represent the army at the presen
q time in good condition.
Thanking the Government for that entr
support and confidence which have alwas
received from them. l remain, General, yer
, respectfully, your obedient servant.
A. e. BURNSIDE.
, Major General Commanding.