Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-30

ana ne didn't have to ask the second time
inoeeo. 1t II asserted that pressure was
Drought TO bear to make him ask for it.
Gen. George Meade succeeded him. Then
sns gettysburg campaign opened, and the
operations about Fredericksburg were sus-
pended FOR few months. After Gettys-
purg' there ensued a campaign Of maneuv-
ers between Meade and Lee, which brought
potn those generals back to practically the
same ground coupled by them before the
night north. and, though both would have
liked to go into winter quarters, the state
u mino In the north was such that Meade
neIt that he must make some aggressive
movements before he settled down In a state
OF mastery inactivity. He therefore plan
neo the movement of Mine Run, only about
SIX or seven miles west Of the battle field Of
Cnanceiiorsvflle. The ENLARGEMENT took
place on the 9th of November, 1853, and
was IN the nature of a skirmish. in which
the loss was about 800 side. Meade was
TOO SLOW, and when he came to round things
UP Tor action he, or rather some of his corps
commanders. decided to face criticism in
preference to sacrificing more precious lives
ana refused to take their troops into ac-
tion. so sure was the rank and file of the
army OF the Potomac, brave men that they
were mat certain humiliation awaited them
II tney went into action at Mine Run that
AFTER having been disposed on the evening
oe1ore, so as to be ready for attack on the
early morning. they spent the long night
nouIs writing messages to their homes and
writing their names and addresses on slips
OF paper, which they pinned on their
otousss- Not one Of them ever expected to
death. Ava
Grant and the Wilderness.
Inc operations In Virginia ceased, after
me failure at Mine Run. until spring came
anu kindly nature covered with her long
grass and flowers the graves Of those who
14H%
Grant started on his Richmond campaign,
ana on the banks Of the Mine Run. where
a year before the bloody battle of Chancel-
lcrsville had crimsoned its gloomy waters.
and less than six months before the ARMY
or the Potomac had stared certain death
IN the lace. he met Lee in the battle of the
WV. Mnoerness Swinton says of this place:
lures of a forest. The region rests on a
eelt OF mineral rocks. and for above a hun
dred years extensive mining has been car
r,ed on. To feed the mines the timber Of
the country Tor many miles had been cut
down, and in its place there had arisen a
oense undergrowth of low-limbed and
scraggy pines, stin and bristling chinka-
pins, scrub oaks and hazel. 1t is a region
neuvering here was necessarily out of the
question. and only Indian tactics told The
troops could only receive direction by a
point OF the compass; for not only were
sight OF the commander. but no officer
could see ten files on each side Of him. Ar
tllery was wholly ruled out of use: the
massive concentration of 800 guns stood
silent ana only an occasional piece or Sec
ton could be brought into play in the road
SIDES. Cavalry was still more useless. But
In that horrid thicket there lurked 200 900
men. and through it lurid fires played; and
though no array Of battle could be seen,
there came out of its depths the crackle and
roar and roll of musketry like the noisy
boiling of some he'll cauldron that told the
oreao story OF death. Such was the battle
neid OF the Wilderness. Combinations or
grand tactics there were none; the order of
battle was simple, and was to all the corps
attack along the whole lire. The
Sattie OF the Wilderness was a mortal COM
Dat There Is something horrible
yet fascinating In the mystery surround
Ing this strangest Of all battles ever fought
"a battle which no man could see, and
whose progress could only be followed by
the ear, as the sharp and cracking volleys
OF musketry and the alternating Union
cheer and rebel yell told how the fight
surged and swelled."
SpOttsylvania's Carnage.
Horrible in its intensity and sacrifice of
ife 1t was in every respect a drawn bat
tie. and after a Union loss of over $4,000
and 1000 to the rebels Grant moved south
ward to Spottsylvania, fighting every foot
Of the way. For twelve long days and
nights tney kept up the mortal struggle,
which eliminated finally In the slaughter
at Spottsylvania, In what is now called the
hercest and deadliest combat of the war
Of the rebellion. More than 40 900 men had
fallen between the Wilderness and that
point in the twelve days of fighting, yet
with courage that stands almost unex-
ampled, the broken and wearied men met
the enemy In a hand-to-hand encounter In
the Bloody Angle at Spottsyivania and
fought with sabers and dubbed muskets
over ground where their comrades already
lay three and four deep, planted their col
maintained the position they had seized
despite the desperate efforts of Lee to re-
cover Ii. Nearly 13, 900 men were numbered
among the killed, wounded and missing
and brave Sedgewick and wadsworth were
killed. The rebel loss was 1900 and a Sc
we're blow to them. Finding the position
absolutely fmpregnable. despite his ham
mering. Grant went south on the 10Th of
May and, for the first time in two years
the people of Fredericksburg could sleep
without the roll of cannon in their ears
The curse had been fulfilled.
On fair Marye's Heights, once drenched
IN the blood Of contending armies, sleep
side by side in two cemeteries those who
here paid the price of desperate devotion
to patriotism and principle. Dead on the
field Of honor, they lie couched on the
bosom Of mother earth and canopied by the
blue May skies. Over their graves the
flowers bloom. History has built them
monument of fame and love has laid upon
the Utmost shrine its unfaltering devotion
Where those heroes are now housed the
color Of the uniform they wore is not
questioned. ISABEL WORRELL BALL.