The National tribune., 1901-03-14

withdraw my command. Permission was
given and the command was withdrawn,
! but the advanced line OF pits was held
by the sharpshooters. When it was seen
! that Wofford's Brigade could not mount
the parapet, Gen. q. T. Anderson's Bri-
gade, of Hoods Division, came rushing
up to the assault, in the same place where
my command had attempted it, but was
repulsed at once and retired"
Gen. McLaws further says: "The as
sault failed because of the state of the
weather on the night previous to the as
sault and the night of the assault, it hav-
ing rained on the night of the 9th, and
| then, turning cold, the parapet was hard
frozen and a heavy ice crop was formed
| by the moisture from the bank, which
prevented the men from Obtaining a foot
hold, and the absence of d bernie from
which they could mount and start. The
main cause of failure was, however, the
sipperiness of the parapet, upon which it
was impossible for any large body of men
| to gain 4 foothold, and the severe fire
! from the north side Of the fort, which
drove the men from the most accessible
points of assault. And, / may add, that
| it is the opinion of distinguished officers,
| who were engaged in the assault, that If
| the skirnishers on the railroad side of the
| work had silenced the eDemy's FIRE coming
| from that side, as it was silenced by my
| line of sharpshooters, the work would
have been carried in spite of all the other
| obstacles. l do not think that ladders
would have been of material assistance,
unless they could have been furnished in
great numbers and had been 20 feet long.
The reconnoissances were also defective,
giving false notions of the character of
the work and of the ditch"
Capt. Benjamin, who commanded the
Federal artillery in the fort, said that If
the attack had been made at any other
point than upon Fort Sanders, il must
have been successful.
Col. Poe, Burnside's engineer, who di-
| rected the construction of the fort, says
| that no bastion in the works was com
pleted except the one assaulted by Gen.
McLaws. He further says that the ditch
that had to be crossed by an assaulting
column was - feet wide and in many
places eight feet deep.
In his official report, Gen. Burnside
says: "At about 6:3O a. N. the enemy
opened furious fire upon the fort; our
batteries remained silent, and the men
quietly awaited the attack. In about 20
| minutes the cannOnading ceased and a
fire Of musketry was opened by the en-
emy. At the same time heavy column
that had been concentrated under the
ridge, near the fort, during the night,
charged on the bastions at q run. Great
| numbers of them fell in passing over the
| entanglements, but the weight of the col
umn was such as to force the advance
| forward, and In two or three minutes
\ they had reached the ditch and attempted
| to scale the parapet. Our guns opened
upon the men in the ditch with canister
and our infantry shot or knocked back ali
| those whose heads appeared above the
| parapet. The forces placed on the fianks
of the fort had q cross-fire on the ground
over which the enemy approached. Most
Of those who reached the ditch were either
killed or mortally wounded. Such us coulG
not retreat surrendered, in all about 500
The ground between the crest and the fort
was strewed with dead and wounded. wht
were crying for help, and after the re
pulse was fully established, / rendered
the enemy flag Of truce for the puprposC
Of burying the dead and caring for tn,
| wounded"
1t will be seen from the above the wir,
entanglements on the open ground did mo-
materially retard the advance of Me
Laws's assaulting column. The Confed
crates lost about 900 men, killed, wound
ed and captured. Gen. Burnside reportet
only IL killed. The FederaIs, themselves
said that it would have been almost i'm
possible for large body OF troops to as
cend the icy parapet. even had il not beer
so valiantly defended.
Gen. Burnside's engineer, who direct
ed the construction of the fort, in his of
fetal report says: "It is FASHIONED
earthwork, built upon an irregular quadri
lateral; the sides are respectively II.
yards southern front, 95 yards western
front, 125 yards northern front and &.
yards eastern front. The eastern from
was entirely open; the southern front wa.
| about half done; the western front WA,
finished except cutting the embrasures
and the northern front was nearly fin
ished. Each bastion was intended t.