The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-08-06

Esfs$s5 w y ~ w d s,1l4IhSu the
~ 2I1H e battle. On { no
/ yy " Sother battlefield
/ ~ of the war was
! J !: J !: !
MTySNSATIfN7l there Drawer ex-
1NlGssEs y : posture to danger
| "a qfA<a4lHSsa or grfea ter.
(11IlsaSZsg, ~ slaughter than
t3N@sZlNI in the charge
g, FISH against the stone
-: ~ 49, 49, wall at Freder-
icksburg. The
imagination shrinks before the picture
painted in the soberest colors. It was q
| fight against fate, a march into the laws
Of death, with no hope Of success and
| where each individual could only count
upon luck to spare him. Yet how grand
| " the heroes stormed the barrier! They
halted at the dead line, which was not
the stone wall, but the limit where the
Confederate bullets would surely strike
an erect man down. It was a few PAGES
on the blue side Of the stone wall, be-
hind which the men in gray, safely and
therefore coolly. loaded and fred.
1t takes a mans weight in lead to
kill him in battle, and soldiers risks
for his country flag may be determined
by the amount Of flying death he has
faced. If he fought in the ranks, where
one man in ten was killed, then he was
where four men in ten were shot down.
His chance for escape was 1 in 81. If
one looks at the regimental losses at
Fredericksburg for evidence that the
| fighting was remarkably deadly, the
case cannot be proved, taking some
notable cases for comparison. There
We're no regiments wiped out. But there
were many regiments which lost more
than one in ten killed and more than.
one in three shot down Hancock's di-.
vision Of 5000 men lost 1900 killed
and wounded, and with scarcely an ex-
ception his regiments lost 10 per cent
killed and more than 80 per cent wound
ed A man who marched with Hancock
that day has a battle record to be envied
if he did not see another fight during
| the war.
The ground to be charged over be-
tween the houses of Fredericksburg and
the base of the hill known as Marye's
Heights was not accommodated by the
Federal officers for the reason that it
lay under the Confederate fire. It was
scanned through feldgl glasses, but always
from distant elevations, and the real OBJ
stacles in way of charging column
could not be detected. It looked to befa
clear field with the exception Of the usu-
al fences and buildings Of suburb.
When this cleared field should be passed,
q short, sharp run would take the assail-
ants up the slope to the Confederate
lines. Freach's division was first to
charge. TWAS led by Kimball's brigade,
and to Kimball's brave men itfell to
discover the blind obstacles in the way
Of brilliant dash.
Kimball had not marched 200 yards
before his line came to canal too wide
and too deept to be crossed without break
ing formation and moving by the flank
over several little bridges. The Confed-
crates on the heights took advantage Of
the halt and delay to rain shot and shell
upon the column. After passing the
canal Kimball S men marched to a slight
ridge $50 yards to the front and reformed
for the grand charge The Confederate
gunners on Marye' IS Heights, the marks
men of the famous w ashingt ton artil
lery, have waited hours and hours for
I just this. Their screaming shells and
roaring cannon make terrible din as
Kimball's men rush onward with a
''Hil hill hi!'' battering down fences
with their dubbed muskets as they go.
Soon the Confederates change the am
munition from shot and shell to canister
and spread havoc in the ranks Of the de-
voted brigade, but the survivors go
steadily on until staggered by an unex-
pected volley Of musketry almost in
their faces. The second hidden obstacle
4 to their march has been met, the snnken
road and stone wall, alive with Gonfed-
crate rifemen, who until now have held
their fire. Kimball's men look around
4 for their supports and see none at hand.
Half their number has fallen on the
way across the plain, and now the regi-
ments plant their colors and lie down,
covering themselves as best they may
4 from the whitening fire and awaiting
re-enforcements. The brigades of An
dreWs and Palmer, also Of F'rench's di-
vision, follow Kimball from the edge Of
the town with the same experiences,
and they, too, halt and lie in their
tracks. But this is not the dead line.
At the base Of Marye's Heights a
sunken road runs the whole distance
4 parallel with the crest, and on the side
toward the town this road is protected
by a high stone wall. There being a
4 gentle s1nnn3 from tho haSa nf fhn hill to