The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1862-12-25
nrI- nJTRNsIDE's REPORT.
HEADQUARTERS ARxr OF Porox1c' :
NEAR falmouth, Va, Dec. ~. }


NEAR FALMOUTH, Va, Dec ny
w ur,rcr. Geueral.in- Chief, Washing
ton:
GENERAL: have the honor to ofer
the following reasons for moving the
army of the Potomac across the haPPa.
han mock sooner than was anticipated "
the President, Secretary Of War, or your.
self. and for crossing at a point d'ffereht
fron, the one indicated to you at our last
meeting at the Presidents:
During my preparations for crossing at
the MACE I had first selected, l discover
ed tia. the enemy had thrown large
norton of his forces down the river and
elsewhere, thus weakening his defenses
in front, and also l discovered that
he did not anticipate the crossing OF our
Who'll. force at Fredericksburg, and l
hoped, by rapidly throwing the whole
command over at that place, to separate
By a vigorous attack the forces OF the
enemy on the river below from the forces
behind and on the crest in the rear OF
the town; in which case We could tight
him with great advantage in our favor.
TO do this we had to gain height on
the extreme right Of the crest, which
height commanded the new road lately
made by the enemy for purposes Of more
rapid communication along his lines,
which point gained, his positions along
the right crest would have been rendered
untenable, and he could have been driv-
en- from them easily by an attack on his
front 10 connection with movement on
the rear. How near We came to accom-
plishing our object, future reports will
show, but for the fault and unexpected
and unavoidable delay in building the
bridges, which gave the enemy "a hour:
more to concentrate his forces 10 hi:
strong position, We would certainly hav.
succeeded, 10 which case the battle would
have been, in my opinion, far more de
cisive than if We had crossed at the plsc'
first selected; as it was, We came yer,
near success. Failing in accompliship!
the real object, we remained in order o
battle two days, long enough to decid
that the enemy would not come out Q
his strongholds to sht US with his 10
fantry, after which we crossed to thi
side of the river unmolested, without tn
loss Of man or property. As the da
broke, our long lines Of troops were see
marching to their different positions a
if going on parade. Not tho least de
moralization or disorganization existed
To the brave officers and soldiers VIII
: accomplished the feat of re. crossing tn
river, in the face of the enemy, ow
everything. For the failure of the attack
| am responsible, as the extreme gallant
~, courage, and endurance shown b
e the was never exceeded and would hav
carried the point, had it been possible
To the families and friends of tn
dead l can only offer nv heartfelt sym
pathles, but for the wounded can offe
my earnest prayers for their comfortabl
aud final recovery.
O The fact that decided TO move from
, Warrenton to this line rather against tn,
opinion of the President, Secretary o.
War, and yourself, and that you left the
whole movement 10 my hands, without
e giving me orders, makes me responsible
will visit you very soon and give you
more definite information, and finally
will send you my detailed report in which
special acknowled oment will be made Of
!. the services of the different grand divis.
0 ion corps and my general and staff de-
e partments, to whom | am SO much in.
: debted for their support and hearty co.
operation.
| will add here that the movement YVES
r made earlier than you expected, and after
, the President, Secretary of War, aud
, yourself requested me not to be 10 haste,
for the reason that We were supplied
much sooner by the different staff de
partments than when saw YOU.
Our killed amounts to 1852; our
wounded to about 5000 and our prison.
ers to about 700, which last have been
paro!ed and exchanged for abou, the
same number taken by us The wound.
ed were oil removed to this side of the
river and are being we'll cared for, and
the dead were all buried under flag of
truce.
The Surgeons report a much larger
proportion Of slight wounds than usual;
l,632 only being treated 10 hospitals,
l ain e lad to represent the army at the
present time in good condition.
Thanking the Government for that en-
tire support and confidence which l have
always received from them, l remain,
General very respectfully,
Your obed't servt,
A. Z. BURNSIDE,
Major General Commanding