Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-11-26

| without bringing on II he could avoid II a general
| engagement conduct himself a 10 make the
enemy believe that II was hs Intention 10 do so III
, any moment. In other words he was LEFT 10 create
| a formidable diversion. tut StIl! strong enough 10
| tight if necessary. The crossing OF the river was
| accomplished IN the night time. The enemy ;
pIcketS occupied the opposite BANK dud Mtr" WIN
| in easy talking distance ct our mru. The rumble
of heavy wagons carrying the pon'oon boats could
lee heard across The river. and II was therefore de
| tcrnIncd that the boats should he carried down
upon the shoulders oi the men. Inc IiGhi brlSade
| under General CALVIN f. Pratt Were assigned To
| this important duty. Ater, r,much delay trouble and
veNaion the boats were al lisi launched before the
enemy had any full realization uf what was about
| To occur The night was dull and iDgTy. hut
| sounds cOnld nc heard At unusual distance. Two
| thIce times from the opposite bank the rebel
pIckrts hailed with the usual ''lalol there lank,
! what gong OIL over there What are You dolng
our PIE Professionally replied johnny were COM
ing over after YOU" This style OF conversation oc-
| Cured Al intervals during The night As some un-
! usual sound attracted the enemys attention. When
| the boats were launched and manned hy soldiers
| of the engineer brigade as oarsneh, tht troops ni
| General David \. Russell were embarked sixty
| men IN a boat. and IN dcdthlA silence, inc oars
| scarcely making a ripple in the water. forty boat
loads pushed from the shore sid" by sldr, ana were
! LOST in the fog before they hal gone twenty feet
| from land The dead silence stu continued while
| those upon the shore watched with beating hearts.
and listened with anxiety NOT to he described u
! seemed An everlasting tune while each peered
| through the fog which fell like pail upon the gal
LIANT band that mad lett Us Tor the other shore. The
river Is not more than eighty or one hundred yards,
| wide at this point hut the progress oi the boats
owing probably the necessity ui rowing with great
| silence. was unusually slow There WAS ominous
stiffness on the further bank. There seemeh To
be NO movement OF trofps: we ''''i 'oa' n' rdi;l-
/ lie OF artillery. suddenly upon the damp night
/ air there rang from the enemy one single clear
word distinctly heard IN all the boats
and across upon our haak and well under
stood That word was Fire The blaze
muskctry IN the fog along the whole river bank
| for Two hundred yards seemed like the silent, sud
den opening OF one great mouth of name. The
crash that followed TOOK away some of the scenic
cnrc u tins brilliant display AMI was oi Itself ron
bed of It's effectiveness 10y :he uncomfortable
accompaniment OF rattling bullets which, fortu-
nlicly those IN the huaiS aimed too high 10
do mucn harm except upon the innocent sp 'ctiorS
who had not yet embarked. The rebel veil familiar
II was io all ut Us never seemed ~ omInouS AMI
disagrrrahlc. Nothing WAS heard from the boats
/ except here ami there word of command
couragemenI. and afterwards a. the fire from the
further bank continued and grew after the first vol
ley Struggling. The anxiety for one word from
Russell grew grave and great. In a few seconds
boat WAS seen returning. and our hearts grew chI
belirviug that the attempt To Land had been ahln-
Il oned. As the boat however came out of the fog.
1t was seen that II empty except To the oars
men Then In another instant clear loud. eXul-
tlui cheer followed hy another and another, told
Us that the works on the further banks ours.
The boats made another Trip carrying other regl-
mcniS and then the bridges Were rapidly Land down
and completed soon after daylight. In the meln-
time a second crossing was effected about one mile
further below on the river where Reynolds threw
across one of his div slons. For three diyS
NAMED IN this position skirmshIng every day,
keeping two divisions on fhe encmys side OF the
RIVER the rest of The command IN readiness 10 cross.
Meanwhile Hooker with the rest Of th. army had
rapidly and admirably accomplished The crossing Of
the Iiver and the great flank march which formed
the essential feature OF his plan Of action. With
>locum IN advance he was sweeping down upon the
enemy Hank capturing even their outlying pick
cts pom lloukcr's arrival on the field, Tor reasons
never tuliy explained or understood, he checked
Slncums further advance in the direction of Fred
cfcAsourg. CONTRACTED his own lines and seemed 10
assume the defensive. ant maintained II during the
rest of those unfortunate operations. Meanwhile
[ he Withdrew from Srlgwck's command, FIRST
SicklrS corps aud then Reynolds. which had TO
match to JON hIn, by WAY oi one of the upper ors
ami StdsNick WAS left ~ frIpklns crossing three
miles below Frcdcrlrh h~hrS wlth thr sixth corps
alone. which numbered Ell tuIi Inn about twenty
[ Two thousand mrn. "a saturday night Selgwirk
had one DIV tslnn Of HI, command cross the river
,lcplnyrd IN front of the ,ucmyl work extending
about four miles below thr Cy. An order from
General Hooker received ~ half-past eleven at
night lIrctrd him 10 take up his bridges, march 10
Fredericksburg upon our side ot the rIVrr relay the
bridges. cross with his command. capture The
civ, take the heights whch dominated the town
known aS Marc'> heights. march out on the plank
road IN the direction ui charlottesville and JOIN
General ilookcrs command by daylight. The DIS
tancr Of thaucellnrsyilr from Frederick sburg IS
about eleven miles. The distance To be accom-
pishcl hy withdrawing 10 our own side OF the river
/ and marching hy the Falmouth Heights 10 Freder-
/ .rA-hurg about nve miles. lna>inuch n would
have been Totally impossible IN the time allowed
Tor the whole march 20 have taken up The bridges
transported them to Fredericksburg and relaid
them there, General Se'lswirk decided not To
remove the bridges, hui 10 cross with his whole
corps on The bridges constructed and move hy the
falk on the cncuys side OF the river into Frrder-
Ick>hurg Ey DONG this he would save some hours
of tHi- He moved a one 10 cross The rIver with
h.- r,.utl.HtDE DIVISION.
E.unh, Wnn Wa va pl-It,uu fronting the caemy'S
works was >hll ,lt pressed b, their pck'ts IN the
darkness a. 1t th-A desired 10 Know whether
were Withdrawing. Ncw;nu's and Hawe's divi--
with lhr hight brigade, marched IN the dIrec-
ton of Fredericksburg. They were pressed as they
advanced hl the cnrny'' skirmishers who were on
the alert. and their progress resisted, IN this
ncr. WA necessarily cIuilouS and slow.
= l. the opening dawn. therefore. when the first
brigade of Newtnus command reached the town of
wall male memorable 10y the slaughter Of our
troops under Burnside, IN the previous December.
TINS stone wall OF lin" of rie PITS presented 10 US
at the beginning of the slope winch Led up Ia
MarycS llcishj- sm1nih face of solid stone, about
SIN feet high. behind which. hut on higher ground.
WAS 4 strong line 0f tar cucmys infantry. As our
men advanced sIii.nly to the attack. supported 10y
one or iwo hLlttfcS me tlr7l lhllsitlo me enemy
reserved their tirr uutil our line was close AT hand
The batteries Al Mares Heights browning The crest
behind the stone wall opened with terrible effect.
] II WAS impossible To withstand the IRE; the men
were ordered ip fall back and did So IN good order,
and without panic. When they reached fINurlng
ground alur,ug shelter. The lInr was ordered 10
iit. down. and dd 50 promptly and without confu-
si,n S,.ryyick rode Out near The left of The line
and A. ht Witnessed ihtorepuls,' he remained
watching mtrntly the enemy, position with an
t.NpresSiun on his face that | hId never observed
before. All the merry lines ahnut his eyes hal
disappeared his lips had settled into a hNed
expression 81 det' rInmai.on, and the genial face
which | hal never seen before except IN camp.
seemed Al that moment 10 he made OF iron. few
! of his staii were scattered IN the vicinity the
] others wrr, along the line oi the retiring troops.
TO Indicate :hr ppSIfu. where the line w.lI halt
reform and lie down. When this was accomplished
the enemy from the ride pts perceSnE COM
nElndius officer whose very presence indicated
authority, directed Their fire ON t'encral Srigwck.
After a lew seconds OF DELAY, NrHtured tn suggest
to him To rctiir from his exposed position At Irsi
he ,lId not seem To- hear me. pom my repeating
! The suggestion as the bullets became more nuiner-
Gus he iuri sI 10 me with = rapid gesture pulling
down his ud slouch hat as If To- conceal The Intense
expression "l his eyes ami sad with strange enph
4 II n,
lie SLOWLY turned hls horse ahd rode back INTO the
streets al The town.
Durins The few moments thai Il. >t"hl gazing al
/ the eutIny's works his plans We're completed and
/ were carried out without the loss oi a single IN
stInt.
/ Gibbons division which hal cgu-,rd over
/ a bridge newly Land directly IN front oi the
/ town WAS ordered tn move forward "n The right 10
/ develop what could be- accomplished by an attack
! IN that direction. Howe was urtrrcdto execute
similar movement ON the LETT. In the meantime
from \rwtou'S DIVISION and The light brigade as
saaltiug columns were urganlZed tu carry the
heights directly III unr front II the nanh movements
should prnsc mpraricIte. Ghhon ioand himself
, confronted 10y The canal running parallel 10 the
cnrml- position AMI under the ul nre ui all ihrlr
batteries This he could not cross IN line oi battle
/ To cross II IN column on a bridge constructed Tor
The pun pose under the lrc which could ~ cnhcti-
tr.lel On him WAS destruction. Hazel Run nn our
LETT with lis deep and precipltOuS banks rendered
similar good service 10 the enemy ~ part ul ithcit
defensive line and checked Tor the time the at
F vance OF Howe. The regiments for The mann ..7-
slii from The centre on MarIrs Heights were col
I,ctod quickly possible. These regiments
wtr" drawn from HE various 'liN isonN oi The corps
Our extreme left WI, still back Al the position hrli
ON The previous 'Il ind strongly sklml,huG with
the enemy their front. II therefore ten
O'Clock before the a-aiilting columns were formed
and ready To Attack.
From ihc main street of Frederick slGrl. running
right angles to the river, The plank r" leads III
to the rentfc of the encny's position.
From the limits u the cItV To the crest OF Mary =
Heights tnc distance Is about half mile. toll
gate stands ahnui half WAY W the slope The
heights on b,ih sides of IN, road were crowned
~ ALA lfts nj
The commencement ut the sleeper slope tn Inc lcit
oi The road as we faced the cuens'S position, was
The Stone wall occupied still hy strong line oi M
tinitA. IL itohi "i me stone WALL !h"u ihtr' hh'i-
tll Yards below al Hcar the outskirts uf the CiN,
was our me OF battle rrpused at daylight The
rhrhy plainly saw oar preparations l"l me is7luil
and evidently drl n"i wish To lhierirre win
them Th"y sccinei perfectly c"nllienl
of The result, ani when they saw
that we Ialrnlrd 10 attack their direct front and
centre, they scarcely disturbed our intentions hy a
/ single shot. Al last II duty To report tn the
General thai everything IN readiness. His III
4;ulriIln, were tuat one column formed on ih'
street leading - lhc llInA-rndd should march I'll
rccily upthc p!IuA inIl that another AID parallel
60 urnn i"Im'i on i street about sNlN wards i"t
ttpu s!IpuI MA. rt u through thr Fields toward t1t
tnll-guir Al Tins point nr kurW thJt they would
receive The h"lNi"ol 81 IN" rurluN ht' Hr"irrti
ol lhIl the line oi iitic slill lying m front ui IN,
stone wall aud unr pts 10 the lett "l the plank
road should tI-c up Al that instant and - forward
wiih a cheer, ana At double quick
Ia this plan there was an admirable calculation
lul combination al Nlili MAY hc called The mora
,G',t+ and Wu!,u are 81 uIGgh Importance IA
movement ut tii- kud. lh" advance "i our lei
rnlUnu On ihr ilant -lril he knew would hr temp
tE target ur lnr Ilr pl5 On thril irll and maj h'
ttr ini' th' h'hi "' 10" column approached ih'
tn gale they would no dnuht draw The rniitr nr'
tom the Inr pts; thu holm columns would dlildc
- ihr iu attention ui th' hitleins un the height,
lh1 The ilt' would reach ii- highest intensity ~ tI
, h,.j,i. al M, columns rri-htd the tpll-sdr, tlh
tu, II Al t,Ii ih,y would rumm,hrr - WINcI and
/ single cheer nom au HiNahcug hur "t Amctrit
% -uulti delivered I,ihc SIXTH Corps kHrw how t
i deliver ii. w'ul'i not "nly pat new h'ui m'n ih'