The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-05-16

Yet distinguished oficeriad said, only
. short time before, that ito attempt TO carr
y the place by storm would be waste OF
Attempts to storm were to DO made 81
multaneously by Gibbon on the right,
Howe On the left, and Newton on the CEN
ter, and were 30 made; but inasmuch %
NewtOn's was the successful attempt-a0
he was the first to penetrate the line, and
as when the line was once penetrated at ono
point it was no longer tenable anywhere
Newton's assault appears to deserve the es-
pecial honor.
1t was made on the center against Marye's
Hill. Directly west, out Of the town of
Fredericksburg, runs road that finally
reaches Charlottesville. just in the out
skirts of the town, at much less than q mile
from the main street, this road ascends .
hill that, while it is sufficiently steep to
render the ascent toilsome, is not so steep
as to render any less effective the fire of ar
tillery and musketry. This is Marye's
Hill, 1.-THE name is pronounced Maree,) and
at the summit Of this Hill is Marye's house.
Near the hill a road leaves the ChancellOrs-
Vile road, runs toward the south across
the front and right of the hill at its base
The latter has substantial stone wall ON
each side of it, and these roads, with a lit
tie assistance from the spade, have been
converted into excellent breastwOrks.--
About the center Of the first wall was a lit
tie house which made the position the
stronger, and this was only the base of the
hill. No artillery fire could touch these
walls, for it wasa sunken road, and, though
the walls were four feet high in the road, in
the fields their tops were level with the sur
face. Thus, as seen by our batteries, there
were actually no walls there. Behind the
second line of pits rises the hill and around
| Its whole crest runs well constructed
earthwork, in which there was one largo
lhowitzer. Both TANKS of this hill were COM
pletely. swept by the fire of works of the
same character on either side. ..r
! To the left tour left) of this position was
an open ploughed field, on the further side
OF which We're the stone walls. To the right
was an open green plain, and here there
were no pits at the foot of the hill; so the
way was clear to the crest, though of course
every inch of it was under fire. Worst Of
all, perhaps, was the central approach,
which was the road Though at it's exit
from the town, this road is covered by a
few houses, it is fairly under fire all the
way, and at the ascent of the hill it is q
mere gulch, broken and stony, and an aw-
full place for men to be packed in under q
plunging fire of grape and canister in adj
dition to the musketry fire.
| The right column was formed of the 6lst
Pennsylvania Regiment, Colonel Spear,
and the 43d New York, Colonel Baker. It
was supported, as we have said, by two
regiments in line, the LIST Long Island, Col |
Cross, and the SD Pennsylvania, Maj. Bas-
set. These two regiments were part of Sha-
ler's brigade, and Shaler went with them.
| The left column OF attack was formed Of
the 9TH Massachusetts, Colonel Johns, and
the 36th New York, Lieut.-Col Walsh
This column was supported by two regi-
iments in line of battle and regiment of
skirmishers in the open field to the Left
These skirmishers were the 43d New York.
The regiments in line were the 9th Maine
and the 5th Wisconsin. These two columns
and their supports numbered in all $500
! men. They moved out of town to the as
sault about IL o'clock. ..r.. "a
As soon as they came well into the enc
my's field Offire, the terrible fusillade be-
gan. Colonel Spear was the first one hit,
| and his fall affected his men so that they
wavered and fell into confusion and disor-
der, and communicated it to the 43d be-
hind them, and much of the ground gained
pulse. But in this critical juncture COL
onel Shaler, with magnificent gallantry,
| rallied the column, brought it up to the
work once more, and took it up on the hill
again,
Meantime in the lift column matters were
somewhat the same. The Colonel of the
Massachusetts, 18th was hit and his regi-
ment faltered also but was rallied handsOm-
| ly by Col. Walsh of the 36th New York,
and with these glorious fellows it went on
once again. The supports on the open
plain drew the enemy's fire heavily but
they went on steadily from the first and
went into the works with the rest. Indeed
Colonel Burnham of the 9th Maine, claims
that the colers of his regiment were first
planted on the hill.
! Many of the enemy's men were slain I'm
their places in the pits, where they stood
till the last moment, and resisted even ~
our men clambered over the walls.