Maryland free press., 1863-02-27
amy living thing which showed upon it vas

any living thing which showed upon it was
the target for hundred bullets.
But three or four mornings after the battle
it was seen that the furtive hand which in
variably giides into the pockets Of victory had
bpen buisy at work, aud naked corp5es, and
others from which everything but their un-
derclothing had been iicd, were visible in
abundance. So tremendous was the fire,
chiefly emanating from CJbb's brigade, posted
in the lane at the foot of Niaryes Heights,
that even chickens in the gardens iu front fell
pierced by it. 1t was remarked by Con-
iederate General intimately acquainted with
the Federal General Sumner, who commanded
the Federal right "Was there ever any other
General but Sumner who would have got his
men into place in which not even chickens
could live?" But the fire across the slope was
fatal not only TO men and chickens, but also
to every other living thing. Horses by dozens
We're strewn along the hillside: and occaison!iy
a dead cow or a dead hog lay close to the silent
and too often feariully torn aud niutllated
human bodies, which everywhere met the
view
Such sight has rarely been seen by man.
1t is doubtful wheather any living pen could
do justice to its horrors; but it is certain that
it would be easy to write more than any Of
dinary reader would care to read. 1t is known
that during the nights Of the 18th and 14th
very many no lies were carried OF and buried
by the Federss; but when the party of FEEDER
ais detailed to bury their comrades had COM
p!cted their task, &c was found that under
Marye's heights they had buried ,493 corpses
and 900 more on the Federal left. Comput-
ing that 5000 Federals fell dead on the field,
and adding six or seven times that number of
wounded, you may gain an approximate es-
81 ,,f Il. |, O. M,
cember. To this must also be added upwards
of thousand prisoners taken by the Confed-
crates, and all the straggerS ard deserLers
who started away from the Federal army
1t is incontostable that the 18th of December
will be craven rs deep i'll the annals of the
great Republic as s the anniversary of Jena
upon the hearts of the Prussisn people.
| 1t remains for me to give some account of
the town Of fredericksburg, and the condition
in VIII ch it was left by is ruthless inyadors
Desolatc it had appeared to me at the end of
! last month; how snail describe It's appear
ance ROW? Everywhere the houses have been
| plundcred from cellar to garnet; all smaller
| articles Of furniture carried on all larger Ole,
wantonly smashed. Not drawer or chest
but was forced open and ransacked, Tie
streets were sprinkIed with the remains OF
costly furniture dragged cut of the houses ia
the direction Of the pontoons stretched acros;
tho river Many Of the Inhabitants clung to
the town, aud sheltered themselves during the
sheniug in cellar and Easements. Among
other, it is stated that Mrs. Slaughter, the
wife of the Mayor, returned two or three days
after the bombardment to her house, which
size found ransscked and gated Federal
officer few words of explanation or apol gy
when she replied, pointing to half dozen
dead Federals, lying within sight of her house
81 am rapaid for all have suffered by the
sight Of these"
But there are sights more horrible than the
devastation Of property, aud which, like tho
hillhside below Mayre's Heights, neither slmi;
Of nor invite desert ption. 1t must be rcmen-
hetcd that into the narrow limits OF the town
of fredericksburg four-iiths Of the Feiera
wounded were Carried on the 18th and l4tl
Of December. Hardly house or she'd but
was converted int a hospital, the churehe;
! and municipal buildings were crowei to burst.
ing with dying and mangled men. Shutters
i ard boards were laid down in gardens and
s | ,srds, and mon them layer after layer o.
y Il The 18th the whole town was one cuntiiu.
a Gus lszsr hous; q few days later, when it wa
occupied by hone except the dead became I
continuous charnel-hous Death, nothing bu,
death, everywhere; great masses of bodies toss
e0 OUT OF the cltlrcn 3S the sufferers expired
layers Of oorpses stretched in the balconies o
houses as though oakiug sieSta.
In one yard surgeons block for operating
was still standing, and, more appalling to looi
at even than the bodies of the dead, piles @
arms and legs, amputatei as soon as thei
owners had been carried OF the field, wert
heaped in 8 corner. There were said to h,
houses literally crammed with the dead; bu
into them, Mortified and aghast at what sa W
l could not look, A gentleman who neve
left the town during its occupation by th
Federals, but concealed himself during til,
bombailment in cellar, tells me that fo
hours and hours the long procession Of mel
with strctchers, bearing tie wounded dowl
to the pontoons and across the river, file,
through the streets. If any human bcinl
could look upon Fredericksburg this week ant
fal bitterly to execute the men who, he &c
exposing their little fingers to risk, drive ig
norant German and Irish peasants up such
slops of death, high indeed must be the vau
at which he apprsiscs the Union to the famii,
of man