The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1862-12-19

and th every man took Q personal interest IN
10 execution Tor the experience Gt Saturday
had fully Satltled both officers and men that It
wou!1 be 1 useless sacrifice ot brave soldiers TO
renew the attempt to carry the rebel FORKS by
assault. The position was known to be u very
strong oao bar the effort 70 dis.odc3 tue enemy
revealed new and previously uniooNsd :or diff,
cultics
The enemy had been successfully deceived as
70 tie point We should attack, aad y large
part OF their arGy. under jackson, lad been
rapidly marched to /. point fifteen or twenty
mills down the river, and another portion OF it
under d. H. Hill, n the opposite direction, in
ant cIpation OF the crossing at one or the other
Of those points.
Thus, while they were least Of all expecting
the Union army to cross il front Of the town,
their forces were so disposed as TO make tho d.
rect 4ttact the on!y one likely to SGcce,d, Their
torcas had been divided, and !; sudden assault
upon their centre promised 70 place Us in pos
session OF their well chosen position, and be-
tween the right and lett wings Of Their army;
which would have compelled them to fall back
and open the way for our advance upon Rich
mond by their line OF retreat.
These, understand, were in part tho reasons
which operated in tho m ind Of Gen. Burnside
for crossing where he did, and it is presumed
that the same arguments secured The assent of
the majority Of the Corps Commanders to tn:
plan.
That it did not succeed is, no doubt, ewing
to the delay of whole day in throwing the
army across the river, and attacking the enemy
while he was off his guard delay which was
caused by the stubborn resistance Of brigade
Of Mississippi rlhemen, (Gen. Barksdale's,)
WI pi hal nd stn llv
and in brick stores and houses opposite to and
near the landing, and thrice compelled our men
to abandon the attempt by their deadly fire.
A whole day was thus ,0red 10 the enemy, who,
notified of our movements, rapidly counter.
marched his forces, and concentrated them be-
hind his skllliully-chouen position. Gen Jack
son. on bis return march, was just in time to
All upon Gen. Frankins left flank, who had
crossed two miles below the town, while the two
Hills and Longstreet engaged him 10 front, and
prevented him from forming junction with
the right and centre Grand Divisions, under
Sumner and Hooker.
The details of the gallant fight which was
made by our troops, against one of the most for
mldubie positions ever confronted by an army,
have already been lad before the public, and
It's result is known. After an cxhaustlng and
bloody struggle, beginning early in the day and
lasting until long after the darkness OF nj yht
had thrown its mantle over the field, our brave
boys laid down beside their wounded and dying
comrades upon the bloody ground, within rice
shot of tho enemy 8 ntrenchments, which hui
man courage and endurance had proved made
quate to scale
The natul al formation of the ground had been
most ingeniously improved by the rebels on
which to construct enfading batteries, with
long lines OF rIfle-pits and trenches at the base
of she hills under cover of their guns. These
all raked our line Of advance. and exposed our
men to terrific cross fire of shrapnel, shell and
s)lid shot.
The position of Gen. Franklin on the left,
though Offering comparatively open field for
operations, was found 80 be very critical, be-
leaguered as he was on three sides by the most
experienced rebel generals in command of the
best portion 0. tho southern forces, equal, if
not superior, in numbers. Though his losses
were severe, the enemy here suffered q much
more proportional loss than he did at tho right,
where he kept under cover Of his arthworks.
Here, ON the left, they had only one line Of dc
fence in advance OF the wooos-ths railroad
out-out of which they were soon driven by the
impetuoss courage of Franklin's m,n, to take
shelter in their isvorits haunts, the woods and
rAvinss beyond
The result Of the days struggle, however,
only proved that there Was no hope OF forming
junction with tho right and centre, and . re-
newal of the engagement would only weaken
eur forces wnhou. accomplishing anything de-
osivs.
Under these circumstances, = conference OF
several Generals took place late in the evening,
and Gen. Burnside, At midnight, proceeded to
confer with those general officers who could not
leave the field.
On Sunday nothing occurred to indicate that
either party would abandon its position. The
rebel batteries kept up an irregular Smelling of
our pontoon bridges whenever the notion sIezed
them, and the picket lines continued to fire oo-
casionally upon each other, when tho relief
went and came.
oc h. cd mod tha Eola