The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-02-02

fought. Boldly az the assault was made, i
met sudden and bloody repuise; no.
was It again renewed on that portion O
tue line: The sound Of the guns engaged
mere had scarce ceased, when the deep roal
OF artillery on our left told that the enemy
were sweeping on in the frat OF those des.
perate charges, which left half of their a..
ssauiting columns dead and wounded before
Marye's fatal hill. All efforts to storm this
posltion were repulsed with terrific slaugll-
Ter, and night fell on a field over which the
southern cross hoated in triumph At ter
minaticn OF campaign seldom equalled in
the magnitude aud glory of its achieve
ments. One result Of this battle, a result
which had followed every engagement be-
tween the two armies, was the removal of
the Federal Commander who was snpsrse-
ded by Hooker. This officer spent the res
ldue OF the winter in recognizing his dis
committed and dispirited army, so that
wnen spring opened he wac prepared to
take the field with one hundred aud forty
thousand tl4O, OoC men, fully equipped,
and constituting, ia his own opinion at
least, the 6nest army on the planet"
Lee still occupied his old position near
fredericksburg, with force Of less than
forty five thousnnd $4,000 men, Long
streets corps having Oeen sent to the south
OF the James river. Awaiting himself of the
to turn Lees left, which would force him
in the language employed on this osca-
sion by the Federal communicable seth.
or TO ingioriously fly, or como out from be-
hind his defences and give us battle on our
own ground, where certain destruction
awaits him." These were the boastfnl words
in which he-forgetfnl of the example of
Pope, unmindfal of, if he ever knew the
girdeth on his harness boast himself as he
that putteth it off''-addressed his troops.
In order to cover Ills real movement lie
crossed one portion of his army to the
south side of the river below Fredericks-
burg, and with the rest of his command he
passed the Rappahannock and Rapidan
above their junction, concentrating his
troops at Charlottesville on the Both of
April.
umns together, our great captain moved to
meet him. No operations of his are marked
by greater boldness, celebrity and brilliaacy
than those attending that terrific conflict,
which was soon to light mp, with the Gres
of death, the gloom of that great wilder.
nese, which held in its dark recesses the
two hostile armiee, on that eventfal night
small lorce, to hold In check the enemy, who
was threatening fredericksburg from below
Lee boldly threw the rest Of his army
against Hooker. The conduct of this
movement was committed to bis great
lieutenant, who was destined to fall on this
his most glorious, but to US fatal field,
where victory was dearly purchased by the
life blood of jackson!
Marching ali the night of the 3Oth, Jack
son encountered the enemy at nine O'Clock
on the morning of the LIST of May, and he
immediately proceeded to carry out the or
der of Lee, which was to ':attack and re-
pulse the enemy" When Hooker found
that Lee had "come out of his defences to
give battle" instead of "ipglorionsly flying"
lie seems to have lost what little head lie
ever had, and he at once retreated to
where he began to fortify
his position. The strange spectacle was
thus presented, of an army more than
eighty thousand (sO, OO0) strong, which had
moved out only the day previous in the
assurance OF victory, covering
itself with breastworks and two hundred
(200) pieces of artillery, to save itself from
q force not half its number." And if any
thing could add to the strangeness of this
spectacle, it was the fact that this small at
lacking army had in its rear another body
of not less than thirty thousand (30, 000)
troops But critical az was Lees position,
he was equal to the emergency. With
small force, he threatened the enemy in
front, while jackson was sent to turn his
left flank. That Success attended this
it is scarcely necessary to say,
for jackson conducted it. Plunging into
the gloomy depths of the great forest, he
passed with his usual rapidity and secrecy
across the whole front of the enemy aud ut
Ave o'clock in the afternoon he was com
pletely in rear of his right flank. While
Hooker was buoy congratulatiug his army
in foolish orders, on having turned Lees
left flank, Lee bad effectually turned his
right, and was ready to strike one of those
heavy blows he 30 often dealt. AS coon as
Jackson gained the position he desired, he
struck tho enemy with his accustomed ir-
impetuosity and his tried veter-
ans, led in person by their beloved chief,
swept every thing before them. Bnt the
very Eigor OF their attack and the ardor of
their pursuit produced confusion in their
ranks and owing to the darkness of the night
it became necessary to halt, and reform
their line. Fatal pause! For at that mo-
ment Jackson" who had ridden forward to
examine the position of the e0emy, was
fred on by his own troops, and Cell in the
very hour of victory struck down by the
men who would willingly have given their
own lives to save his. Lee had lost "his
right arm,n and the South a soldier whose
very name was tower of strength to her
and terror to her enemies.
An English writer-one who distin-
guished himself in the Crimean War-has
40 happiIv drawn the character of this