, 1865-07-19

On The morning of the 3s'h TIE plain on
WEIGH u Federal army lay was 6lul enVe1'
oIcd in fog, making It tr1pas s;ble to discern
lis OPERATIONS. At IN eatly ho1r the battle
RIGS on tie heights Of Stafford began to play
upon Llsssgstsse;s Rosttlon sety ,et ,!as5,S sez
8 la1 &c force moving IN line Of battle against
jackson Dense masses appeared IN tfont ol
4. P, Hill. stretching far up the rireT, In the
direction OF fredericksburg. "a lhe7 nd
yHncea, Mai. Pelham. of Stua1r6 horse arttl-
lery, who was stationed near the Port Aoynl
road with o1la section, opened tap'd nod
wcll-dlrected cEalsde Ore, which atTcs:sd
turntd upon him, but be. sustained their
btayy fie with the untinchiog courage that
ever distinguished him. Upon his Withdrawal
the cnemy extended his left down the Port
Roynl road, and his numerous batteries
orened with Ngor upon Jackson's line. Eli
citing no resEonse, RS infantry moved tos-
ward to seIze The position occupied by Lieut..
Col. Walker. The latter, 1esesyina his fire IN
I'll their line had approached within less than
eight hundred yards, opened upon It With
ouch destructive effect us to cause 1t to
wavcr, and soou to retreat IN confusion.
About p. m. the main attack On the right
lcgan, u furious cannonade, under caver
yRuce1 against Ellis front. They were re-
ceived as before BY cur batteries, by whose
fire they werc nomentari1y checked, but soon
recovering. theY pressed forward. until com.
ing within range Of our infantry, the contest
Decame fierce ard bloody. Archer and Lane
1epulsed those portions Of the line immedt-
ately in front Of them but before the inter-
val between these two commands could be
closed, the enemy pressed through In over
whclming numbers, and turned the left Of
Archer and the right Of Lane. Attacked In
front snd flank, two regiments Of the for
ner, md the brigade OF the latter, alter
bare and obstinate resistance, gave way.
Archer held his line with the Lat Tennessee,
aud, with the 5th Ala bama battalion, asEis.
the ed Virginia battalion. continued
the struggle until the arrival Of reinforce.
ments Thomas came cal1antly to the re.
Lief Of LaEe, and Joined By the Tth and
tart Of the l8iA North Carolina, Of that brig
ede, 1cpu1sed the column that had broken
1ane's lire, and droyei II back TO the he1ailtoad.
In The meantime, large force had penc1ra.
encountered Grece'a brigade. The attack
IVES 50 sudden and unexpected that Orr's
rifles mistakiDg tie enemy for our Own troops
1etitiog, were Ihtown Into confusion. While
in the act Of 1aIlring them. that bsave sal
sa,, der a1a q, true p,1nist, B,iS Gen. Maxey
ton, upon whom The command derolyed,
with the four remaining regiments Of the
brigade and one company OF the rifles, met
the enemy firmly and checked his further p:o-
gIess. The second LIE was advancing to
the support of the first. Lawtou's brigade Of
Ear]y's disieiou, under Col. Atkinson, 1rst
Rs qsrt the he enemy 's quickly eTed o.
Of Trumb!e, under Col. noke, and Early,
under Col. Walker. Ta1,atc;ro,s diTision
moved terEard at the same lime On Early's
left, snd hls right regiment, the End Tlr-
gtnia, belonging TO Pa1ton's brigade, Joined
in the attack. The contest In tie woods was
short and decisive. The enemy was quickly
routed and driven ont with loss, and, though
hugely reinforced, he was forced back, and
pursuld to the shelter Of the railroad en-
banIment- Here he Was gallant1y charged
by TIC bri.2dcs Of Hokn and Atkinson, aud
driven across the plain to his batteries. At
kinson continuing the pursuit too far, his
flank became exposed, and, at the same time,
. heavy fire Of musketrs and artillery was
directed against his front. lis ammunition
becoming exhausted. and Col. Atkins IN being
severely, and Capt. Lawton, Adju,ant Gen.
ctal. mortally wounded, the brigade was coul-
PEELED to fall back to the main body,
now occupying our original line Of
battle, With detaehmeats thrown for.
~a1d TO the Eail1oAd. The attsck on Hilrs
LIFT VAS repn,sed By the artillery on that
part Of the line, against which the enemy d.
iccted lot fire from twenty.four guns. One
brigade advanced up Deep Run, sheltered
by It's bauGs from our batteries, but was
charged ard put to fight by the 18th
North Carolina, Of Pender's brigade, assisted
by the saith and 57ih North Carolina,
Ct law's brigade. Hoods division.
The reRulse Of tue enemy en- our right VAS
decisive, snd the attack vas not rene xcd.
but bis batteries Kept up an active fire at In
terya1s, ard eha, ,pshootsrs skl,nished along
Abe front dur}pg the rest of the afternoon.
Willie these events we're transpirfng on our
tight, the enemy, In formidable numbers,
made rep<ated and desperate assantta upon
the left Of Cur line. About eleven q. m,
houses Of FredeEicksbure, he moved for
ward in strong column to seize Marya's and
Wtllls's hills. Gen. Ransom advanced Cooks
brigade to the top Of the hill, aud placed
bis own, With the exception of the aish
NsIth Carolina: short distance
IN The rear. Al the batteries on the Stat
ford heights directed their fire upon the
y!sx to silence 1t, and cover the movements
Of the infantry. Without replying 10 thls
furious cannohade, our batteries poured q
rapid md destructive fire into the dense lines
of the enemy Us they advanced to the al
tuck. frequently breaking their ranks and
forcing tlem to retreat to thc shelter Of the
houses. Six times did the enemy, notwith-
standing the havoc chused by our batteries,
Pr es on With great dctcrm' nation, to within
one hundred yards Of the foot Of the hill !:
,ut lelr, tueounte1lfg the deadly tlre Ut cur
Infantry, his columns were broken aud fed ID
couiosit to the town. In the third assault,
The brave and lamented B:a9. Gen. Thomas
Il. Il. Cobb fell, ut Tho head Of his gallant
tlotps and almost at the sam: mc1ueut Brig.
Gen. Cook Was BONE from the field severely
wounded. Fearing that Cobb's brigade might
exhaust its ammunition, Gen. Longstreet had
directed Gen. kershaw 10 take two se;i-
mtnts to ns support. arriving after the
iall eiGtn: Cobb, 1e assumed command, hls
troops king position on the crest tnd at the
foot Of the hill, 10 which point Gen. Ransom
also advanced three other regiments. Tbe
Washington ARTILLERY, With had sustained
the heavy fire Of artillery and infantEr With
un-haken steadtnees, aud contributed much
10 The 1epntse Of 1he eneDy, having exhausted
IT'S ammunition, was relieved Rtout D. III.
By Col. Alexander's battalion. Tbs hitter
occupied the position during the rest Of the
engage ment, and by its we'll directed fire
rendered great assistance In repellipg the as
sRu1ts made ID the afternoon, the last Of
which occurred shortly before dark. This
effort met the fate Of those that preceded 1t.
masscs OF The entmF hsd diaappeated In the
town. ltavlng the field covered With dead and
wounded. Anderson . division supports I'd the
batteries on Longstreet's left, aud though
not engaged, was exposed throughout the
day to hot artillery FIRE, which 1t sustained
With steady courage.
Durlpg tie night our 1lncs were etrength-
cped by the construction Of earthworks at
exposed points, and preparations made to
receive the ereEy next day. The 14th, how.
ever. passed without q renewal Of the attack
The enemy's batteries on both sides of the
river played upon our lines at intervals, our
o*n firing b1t little. The eharpshootera on
zach side sklrmlshed occasionally along the
front. On the 18th the enemy still retained
his position. appa1ntly ; ready for battle but
the day passed On as the preceding.
The attack on the 18Th had been so easily
IepuiEed, and by 20 Em0l part of cur army.
ttat It was not supposed tue enemy would
nit bis tttrts to one attempt, which. In
v.eF Of the magnitude Of his preparations,
comparatively insignificant. Believing, there
fore. that he would attuck us, it Was not
deemtd e1ped}ent 10 lcse the advantages OF
cur position, and expose the troops to The
fire Of his Inaccessible batteries beYoud the
river, by advancing against him. But VIC
were necessarily ieporaut of the extent to
which he had suffered, and only beea me
aware Of It when, on the morning OF the lG:h.
II was discovered thai he had avalled him.
self Of tht da kness Of the night, and tho
prevalence OF q violent storm Of wind aud
rain, TO rc-cross the river. The town was i'm.
mediatelE re+occup!ed, and cur positions on
the river resumed.
In the engagement, more than nine hun
d1ed prisoners, and nine thousand stand Of
a'ms were taken. a large quantity Of au-
muritiop WAS found In Fredericksburg. The
extent Of cur casualties will appear from the
accompanying report Of the Medical Director.
We have again to deplore the loss Of
valuable lives. In BrIgadier Generals Gregg
ard Cobb the Conftderacy has lost two Of
its nobleEt citizens, and the army. two OF its
bravest and most distinguished others. The
country consents to the sacrifice Of such
men as these, and the gallant soldiers who
fell with them, only to secure the inestimable
blessing they died to obtain. The troops
displayed, at Fredericksburg, in high de-
gree. the splfit and courage that distinguish
ed them Throughout the campaign, while the
calmness and stcadiuess with which orders
we're obeyed, and mancuvres executed, IN the
midst Of battle. eyinced the discipline Of a
veteran army. The artillery rendered ell