, 1862-12-19

S, s, Range OF thickly wooded heights, with |
masked rebel batteries.
ing every inch cf the ground rs our ekirmisll-
crs advanced. Caroline, or Main street. was
occupied by Gen. Kunbslrs, Gen. Fcrrero's,
Acting Gen. Zook's brigade, with portions Of
Hancock's division; the latter, with artillery,
lined the bank Of The river in the neighbor-
hood Of the middle crossing, which is Just be-
low the railroad bridge. Other troops from
corps Of Generals Wilcox and Coueh occupied
the other streets Of the town nearer the line
Of advance. Oar batteries replied across the
river, covering the advance Of opr forces
In the meantime Franklin had been for
couple of hours b1iskly engaged with the en-
lad driven the rebels out Of the suburbs Of
the town and rested their column on the canal.
The time had now come to attempt al advance
on the rebel position.
The orders were to move rapidly; charge
up the hill and take the batteries at the point
ii tue bayonet. Orders easy to give, but, ah!
how hard Of execution!
Look at the position to be stor1ned.
There is q bare plateau Of a third Of mile,
which the storming party will hive to cross.
In doing so they will be exposed to the fire,
first, Of the e1lemy's sharpshobterE, posted
behind stone wall running along the base of
the ridge-of a double row Of rifle pits on the
rise Of the crest the heavy batteries be-
Lind strong field works that stud the top Of
the hiil-of a powerful infantry force now
lying concealed behind these-of 4 plunging
fire from the batteris on tile 1oTcr range-of
4 double cniladlng fire from '*cannon to right
Of lllen, cannon to left Of themk" sebastopol
IVES not half as strong.
corps, fhe 2d,) composed Of #e divisions Of
French, Hancock and Howard ,Stthe left Of the
lire abnttipg OH Sturgis' divisaon Of Willcox's
corps, !{tlle :Hh.) The frst advanced vas
FrencA's composed Of the ,brtgades Of Kim
cocks division, consisting Of the brigades Of
Caldwell, Zook and Meagher.
Forming his men under cover Of 4 small
knoll in the rear Of the town. skirmishers
| were deployed to the left toward Hazel Deli,
| Sturgis, supporting at the same time, moved
| up, and rested On point on the railroad.
/ The moment they exposed themselves on
| the railroad, forth burst the deadly hail From
| the ritc-pits came the murlcronsly aimed
| missiles; from the batteries, tier above tier,
OIL the terraces, shot planes Of fire; from the
enflading cannon, distributed on the arc Of
| circle two miles in extent, came aeross show
| ers Of shot and shell.
Imagine if you can, for my resources are
ton Of that la saiiant 6ut doomed iivision.
| Across the plain far 4 while they swept un-
| der this fa.a1 ire. They were literally moved
down. The bursting shells make great gaps
in their ranks; but these are presently filed
Immortal minutes at least they remain under
this fiery surge. Onward they press, though
their ranks grow fcarfully thin. They have
| passed over greater part Of the interval and
brigade after brigade Of rebels rise mp on the
crest and pour in fresh vo1leSs Of musketry at
short range. To those who, through the
glass, looked Oh, itwas parlous sight Indeed.
Flesh and blood could not endure it. They
fell back shattered and broken, amid shouts
! anf7 cells from fhn rnrmV
| Gen. Frenchs division went into the fight
COCO strong: late at night he told me he could
count but ], 800.
The fire Of the rebel batteries was not the
only thing from which our men had to suffer
| Thinking to silence the enemy's guns our
batteries planted on the bluff, IN The north
side of the river, embracing the ~ siege
guns, some batteries Of 2e-pounder Parrots,
and The artillery Of the left and left centre
tween 2, 10 and 5000 yards; too great dis,
t1nce to calculate on the projectiles carrying
with accuracy-particularly contractors aul
nlunition.. If shell should fall short, or take
; al ob1ique direction, and explode among oul
. troops, it would be difficult to see how panic
could be prevented: Promptly seeing thi;
; danger, Gen. Hunt, chief Of artillery, instant
Iy dispatched orders to cease firing. It wa:
well he did so, for immediately atterward al
Aid came galloping from Gen. Couch, from
tie other Side Of the river, begging that GU
4
| firing into his command
Willie the broken column retires to it,
| original position in the outskirts Of the town
: to reform for new encounter, let US SCI
| what goes Oh on the left.
At daylight. the forces comprising the lcf
grand division Of the army, appeared drlW1
| up in battle array on the brold plain be1ov
Fredericksburg and skirting the Rappahan
mock.
l A1carly morn the 18th Massachusetts,, Penn
: | cr1ronio R,,ol-taf1s md fExo or thren ofhn
l regiments, were deployed in front as skir1n
|. | ishere, between whom and the rebel skirm
ishers considerable firing took place. N
: sooner, however, had the heavy mist cleare
u u away, than Capt Halls Battery, Cd Maine,
n planted at the right Of Gibbons, division
:; opened fire upon the rebels. Artillery firm
:, now became general along the whole lint
9 which Was returned by the rebels. Heay
r siege guns in our rear, the 1st Maryland, i
e Massachusetts batteries, and battery D, st
:, Capt. Walkers in front, and Cowan's Ne
!. York, and Lieut.. Harms Sd New York Indt
!. pendent On the left, and other batteries, keE
l.. up terrific fire on the rebels, Orders no
e e came to advance, and about Q o clock Gibbons
- add Meade's divisions commenced m0Vln
slowly forward.
Il Gen. Meade's command, consisting of Il
!e PENNSYLVANIA Reserves, arranged in the to
:. lowing order: First brigade, embracing t
8 1at, I'd, l2lst and 9th regiments at the lefl
y SeCOuu DEIEauH, ou 4lu, 4lu <4tlu Sl43 EtNtAs
q and third brigade, (Jackson's,) 5th, 18th au
+ 18th, at the right.
is Tie advance resulted in almost straightel
- our lines, which we're before somewhat Of
t9 T crescent.
d Considerable resistance was met with, =
3, the forces continued to move forward, uni
u ut midday the line Of battle was three-qua
e ters of a nile in advance Of where it had bet
s at the outset. But now came the reserve fl
II II Of the enemy with terrific force. Shot, she
L. x-n1 x~-{- En-
le various points, while the rebel infantry d
= pearing, fred with rapidity. Still they co
d iinued to press on. Several batteries nov
e forward at the same time. As our troops sa
"a q the enemy giving way, cheer after cheer re-
u, | the air.
y About O'Clock, Gen. Meade ordered
N charge, which WIS well executed.-the m
SO pressing on the edge Of the very crest, q!
et skillfu1ly penetrating BY movement on t
is- tiank an opening which happened to occur r.
II Brigade, captured several hundred prisone
4 4 belonging to the 61st Georgia and s1st MOI
u u Carolina. :,
IGe: e. While the fight was progressing at Il
3e 1e point, the enemy sent tour heaFg colnm
=; handsomely repu1sed and driven back, ho
ed ever. hy Gen. Doubleday Division, Cowal
ne ne New York and Lieut.. Harms 18th artillery, q
~ | Sd New York batteries aiding very maferia
[a1 IN the discomtitnle Of the enemy ny 0Tang Fan
IN command was obliged to fall back quar
o, Of mile, where they remalned--three-qu
~ ~ ters Of mile beyond the ground first oc'
~ pied.
ng Very heavy musketry firing continued alo
id the line, neither side gaining any material
er, vantage. About 1-3 o'clock, the first linz
III battle in Gen. Gibbons diFision was reliez
ted | by the second, when Towers brigade, II
ae- Commanded by Col. Root, charged over
Of open field beyond the railroad, and down il
a. the edge Of the woods, occupying the bres
aid works which the enemy had Constructed be
on~ and capturing 2M prisoners belonging to
t., S6th North Carolina md South Carolina 7
ark | iment. Gen. Gfbbon was severely woun'
We in the right hand. They held their oEsn
,ur some time, but were eventually compelled
fall back The I'd Maine battery adyan
an with Gibbons division. When it fell b
sed three guns were left to bear upon the adys
ib ;sb, to ccase firing, as the force coming from
rSn | woods were our own men. When It had
est, s' 7anced, however, to within fifty yards,