Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1862-12-25
offL saai Dispatch from Con. Burnside.

XA
Off. eaal Dispatch from Con. Burnside,
ys Headquarters Army of Potomac, }
Falmouth, Dec 10.
Major G>n. Halleck:
), have a is honor TO offer the following rea.
,sons for NOV ing the army of the Potomac
across the Ra ppahannock sooner than wa.
anticipated by the President, Secretary o.
War, or yourself, and for crossing at a point
different from the one indicated to you at our
last meeting at the Presidents:
! During my prepal,al ions for crossing at the
places had first selected, discovered that
,Shs enemy had thrown large portion Of biz
Force down the river and elsewhere, thus wax.
.suing his defencss in front, aud also thought
discovered that he did not anti, Npate the cross
tng.of our whole force at Fredericksburg, and
L hoped by rapidly throwing the whole COM
UdAd over at that place to separate, by a Wig
.prous attack, the forces of the enemy on the
river below from the forces behind and on the
S-crest in the rear of the town, in which case we
could fight him with great advantages in our
favor.
y To do this we had to gain height on the
Dxtreme right of the crest which height COM
Nanded new road lately made by the enemy
-lor'the purposes of more rapid communication
Nlcng his lines, which point gained, his posi-
Sion along the crest would have been scarcely
aenable, and he could have been driven from
them easily by an attack on his front, in con-
nsetion with movement in the rear OF the
Erest.
y How near we came to accomplishing our OBJ
ject future reports will show. But for the fog
amt unexpected and unavoidable delay in
-buif1ing the bridges, which gave the enemy
Ntwe.ty-four hours more to concentrate his
forces IN his strong position, we would almost
certainly have succeeded, in which case the
battle would have been, in my opinion, far
more decisive than if we had crossed at the
places first selected.
8zaAs IL was, we came very near success.
Ia Ia Failing in accomplishing the main object,
We remained in order of battle two days. Long
selwugh to decide that the enemy would not
.cV}le out of his stronghold to fight us with his
Tintaatry. at.
Alter which we re-crossed to this side of the
yiNer unmolested, without the loss of msn or
property,
a As the day broke, our long lines of troops
were seen marching to their different positions
Is if going on parade.
e ISOt the least ueIlloIdHLtloll OF uleCOuTaSe-
-snent existea @aft bas
Z To the brave officers and soldiers who &C
1complished the feat of thus re-crossing the
river in the face of the enemy, owe every
ching. asfol
g For the failure in the attack | am alone re-
ssponsible, as the extreme gallantry, courage
~and endurance showed by them was never ex
: sceeded, and would have carried the points had
1t been possible.
To the families and friends of the dead |
can only offer my heartfelt sympathies, but for
the wounded can offer my earnest prayers
for their comfortable and final recovery. ~
. The fact that decided to move from War
'renton on this line rather against the opinion
oil the President, Secretary of War and gour-
self, and that you left the movement in nv
@hands without giving me orders, makes me the
responsible one. #Ha
s-sl will visit you very soon and give You more
s.-s T~"''v will send ron
aHennite lnlormaJlon, anu, nn~"s'
my detailed report, in which a speciai acknoW'
1edgment of the services OF the diherent gfaho
divisions, corps, and my general and stan ~
@partments of the army OF the Potomac VIII be
made, to whom | am so much indebted Tor
-their support and hearty cooperation.
..as will add here tnat the HoFcment W@o tA"No
earlier than yoa expected, and after the Presl-
dent, Secretary and yourself requested me not
80 be in haste, for the reason that we were
: supplied much sooner by the different stan de-
partments than we anticipated when ! last saw
- Our killed amounts to 1852 and our wound
SaAsd to about 1900, and our prisoners to about
700. which last have been paroled and ex-
changed for about the same number taken by
rs.
w The wounded were all removed to this side
of the river and are being well cared for,
and the dead were all buried under nag Of
truce. 10,
The Surgeons report much larger proper
ton Of slight wounds than usual, sixteen hun
bred and thirty-two only being treated in
hospitals.
l am glad to represent the army at the
present time IN good condition
- Thanking the Government for that entire
Va support and confidence which | have always
received from them, I remain General, very
respectfully
.a ts Your obedient servant,
r. RuRNSInE