Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1898-01-05
SEAyIEW. DEG. I7th 1897.

| / saw q communication In q recent
issue of your paper from the Rev.
James Luff barry relating his exper-
ience at the Fredericksburg, Va.
fight on Dec. ID, 1862, and ask king If
there were any readers of your
paper that took part in that bloody
contest where grim Death held it's
sway and reaped such q great har-
vest--as there were over eleven
thousand men fell on that day in the
4 assaults on the rifle pits and bat
teries posted on Mary's Heights and
along the stone wall at the foot of
the hills, OF course the young and
rising generation will tell you that
the war is over, but it still remains
fact that is firmly fixed in the mem
ory of the men that served where
duty called in those trying times in
the dark and troublesome times of
| the country,s history They were
men that were willing to do and
dare for what they believed to be
right. In reply to Comrade Luff-
barry's inquiry, / would say that /
can find men right around him,
some of them, no doubt, members OF
his congregation, that were in that
fight and were in the first Brigade
that crossed the RapahannOck into
| the town after the pontOons were
laid-namely the Third Brigade,
Third Division. Ninth Army Corps,
Burnsides' Old COrps--cOmpOsed of
the Ninth N. Y. Hawkins Zouaves,
| Eighty ninth N. Y, of the Engineer
Corps that laid the pontoons, One
Hundred and Third N. Y. a German
| regt, Thirteenth N. Hampshire and
the Twenty Fifth N. j. Commander
by Gen. Rush Hawkins.
We crossed the river on Thursday
evening, Dec. 18th 1862. about half
past eight O'Clock, and bivouacked
in the streets of fredericksburg, Va.
Co. B. of the Twenty Fifth was
raised chiefly along the Shore and
there are several of the boys pegging
| around yet that have not answered
| their last roll CALL / crossed the
| river, against the advice of my
superior officer, as had been sick
for some time, and it was a bad
crossing the river for me as | play
ed out" and was compelled to lay
on the flag stone pavement all night
la pretty hard bed I assure you.
But played soldiers are nca nRk-
ing for feather beds.
| My company went on picket but
was not allowed to go with them.
They were not put on the picket
line but held as reserve as we did
not know what moment the picket
line would be attacked. The night
passed however, without anything
serious taking place with the excep-
tion of some of the patrol guards
being grabbed up by the Johnnies
thereby getting free ride to Rich
mond and full fare in the Hotel De
EfbDey our buys mad 4ufte an
exciting night in securing around
| to see what they could find. Not
| that they were hunting for anything
to eat, Oh no A hungry soldier
never does that. / suppose they
| were nOsing around just out of idle
curiosity, Be that as it may, some of
them found some hogs in the pen and
were getting ready for hog killing
but some of them a little more ener-
getic, and perhaps not SO fond of
| work, had done even better, for they
| had got into what we at the North
would call green grocery were they
found things to their liking namely,
| fresh carved hams and shoulders, and
side pieces, -four etc. also a ten gal
Ion can of wine-not Communion
wine either. Some others got into
another room where they found a
| large cook stove, and COO ing uten-
sils, and they then prepared repast
that was fit for hungry soldiers or
fit for a ling. | had drawn
their three days ratiOns about two
O'Clock in the morning, as the Head
quarters wagons had come on with
| them, but our boys refused Uncle
Sans bacon that morning as they
had better meat.
] saw some very funny things in
the streets of Fredericksburg on Fri
day. / saw some of our boys chas-
| ing q pig down the street the night
after we went over. Although we
had orders TO build no fires, our
boys thought it better to be shot
| than to freeze, SO disobeyed orders
As piggy came to the corner fire he
was pressed SO closely that he ran
| through the fire. As he crossed the
street one of the New Hampshire
boys ran his bayOnet through him
and swung him up on his soldiers
Foor piggy did not like that but he
was fast and no doubt made the New
Hampshire boy good meal. / saw
one of the Pleasantville boys come
out of a house dressed in woman,s
clothes. Then there was q time.
The boys gathered around him and
cut the ribbons off the bonnet to
send home as souvenirs. /, myself,
had piece of it for a long time. 1t
| was also two of the Pleasantville
boys that engineered in the grocery
store raid, and brave good soldier
boys they were, too. Poorfellowsi
| All of the three have answered the
roll call some years ago, and Joined
the ..silent majority" Some of the
boys found twO-barrels of whiskey
but word was soon sent to the Col.
and as he was a great temperance man
| he ordered two pioneers with their
axes to dispatch the whiskey barrels
and it was quickly in the gutter.
Early Saturday morning we were
ordered down to the lower end of the
town under high enhankment
| along the river and held in reserve
where the Rebs could not shell us.
A large siege gun was on the high
bank on the opposite side OF the
river playing on rebel battery on
the heights. OF course we were be-
tween the two, and the shells went
screaming and tearing over us. A
short cut fuse exploded over us and
hurt several men in Co. g and a piece
Of shell struck the piece OF one Of our
boys and bent it nearly double.
was ordered from my company
by the Colonel, about ten O'Clock,
was taken to his headquarters and
had charge there during the day
had one arm badly wounded standing
guard at the door, and shell went
through the building upstairs in the
afternoon, and grape and canister
ratified on the building pretty lively.
| 1t was hot place but Heaven com
| pared with the Stone wall.
After the whole line had been re-
pulsed Burnside must have lost his
head for he ordered a charge OF his
old Corps After dark our Brigade