The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-12-01
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.
From Tie fhdricston .Sun,iuy Neus.

I 'dlIcu LOT 10 Tcpnr. 10 GCn. Lee tent
! ! vas one Of the six, and when we re
4 ported Gen. lee called US into the
tent. He then asked us how we were
mounted and what We had in our
havrrsacks He then said to "
'tGcntlcmcn. am sending y,u
night to Gen. Jackson, who i, on his
way from IIarpcrs Ferry to join rs.
He is coming on the Virginia side Of
the Potomac. and ynu will find him
on the road. You will 90 from here
to Sharpsburg and cross the river at
that point. thence down the river
towards llarpcr's Ferry. 1t is more
than probable that you will fall in
with the enemy tonight, but you must
make your way through by some
means. If the bearer Of the dispatch
IS captured he must Immediately dc
stroy the dispatch by no means let it
fall into the hands Of the enemy. 1t
is Of great Importance that it be delv-
cre1 to Gen. Jackson with ali speed. !"
I Gen. Lee was evidently much dcprcss-
ed. the first and only time | ever saw
anything Of the kind in him. We
Immediately set out, and in half an
hour had run into the enemy in the
streets Of Sharpsburg. This body of
the enemy turned out to be the four
hundred cavalry that had escaped from
llarpcrs Ferry, aud were making their
way up the north side of the river.
They were resting in Sharpsburg when
We ran into them, and evidently
thought that the whole of Stuart s
cavalry was upon them. In fact,
Stuarts cavalry was only mile away,
and they had good reason to think so;
at least they scampcred off at head
long gait and left lis masters Of Sharps-
burg. Suffice it to say that Jackson
marched on the field Of Sharpsburg
early the next morning. The body Of
cavalry was the same that struck Lees
unguardcd ammunition train on the
Williamsport road after they had left
Sharpsburg and it has always been
historical query why they did not cap
turc the train instead of riding through
it, and leaving the whole train to cs-
cape over the river The explanation
has always been simple to me. They
were fleeing from Harper's Ferry and
expecting every moment tc encounter
Stuart's cavalry, and when the little
adventure have related occurred they
were sure the whole Of Stuart's cav
airy was upon them. The battle of
Sharpsburg, which occurred the next
day, is matter Of history. After
that battle we were concentrated at
Culpepper Court House. Gen. Burn
eide was nov IN command Of the Fed
cral army, and Lee, uncertain as to
what move he would make, had as
sumcd mastery strategy, ready to
meet any possible contingency. AS is
we'll known Gen. burnside determined
to march upon Richmond by way of
Fredericksburg Scarcely had he COM
mcnced mo- elnent when Lee broke
camp and, marching three miles to his
one, whipped around over the Kappa
hammock and faced him at Fredericks-
burg with his concentrated army.
Gen. Burnside spent three weeks re-
covering from the surprise Of finding
Lee i1 his front, when he thought he
had left him at Culpepper Court
House, and then commenced crossing,
having bombarded and burnt n large
portion Of the city preparatory there
to. The line of battle of the Confcd-
crates was on range Of hills about
mile and.a half from the river, and
parallel to it. Between this range of
hills and the river is level plateau
about four miles long. Upon this
the Federal army formed, near the
river and below the city; the city be-
ing to their extreme right. Opposite,
and forming the Confederate extreme
left, was Marye's Hill. Around the
front Of Maryc's Hill ran road and q
stone fence or wall, some three or four
feet thick, and about four and one
half feet high. Behind this stone
wall were masscd two brigades in tri-
pie lines. On the top Of Marye's
Hill, just above the stone wall, was
the battalion of the Washington Ar
tillcry, Of New Orleans, under Lieut..
Col. Walton. Maryc's Hill rises i'm
mediately from the road and stone
wall and is quite steep. The enemy
had about one hundred pieces Of ar
tillcry on Stafford Heights, just across
the river, which easily played on
Marye's Hill. But the position, de-
Tended as it WIS, was almost impreg-
hlo Al -