The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1908-02-13

CALCULATIONS to anyone fortunate enough
to save his 1jfe and sweeten it with
the sav6ry mofseI. All this would have
been luhicroES but for the suffering in
hicted on So MANY. Men were mortaliy
hit. and there was no chance to bind
up their wounds; they were almost as
FAR beyond otir help as if they had been
miles away A little was accomplished
| for their relief by passing canteens
from hfttid to hand. keeping them close
to the ground out of sight. 1t was
sad to hear the cries fade away into
low motifs. and then to silence, without
chance to- Help. The laugh over a
successful chase for tobacco would die
away. only to change into a murmur
of indignatiohadt the next cruel slaugh-
ter. Presently a system of reporting
casualties; became established; the
names Or the injured were passed from
mouth to mouth: Capt. NJ, 18th, just
killed Private - Co. c, 18th,
knocked over etc"
with our line rose also few men
from the CHASTITY pile of yesterday
as clutches. These poor fellows had
bound up their own wounds, and the
coffee we had given them had cheered
them into life and hope. Their cheer
fulness grew into hilarity and merri-
ment as they found themselves clear.
at last. from the dead, and facing to-
ward home, with hope not by any
means SO impossible of realization as
1t had seemed not long before. Poor
fellows. Their joy was more touching
than their sufferings, which. indeed,
they seemed to have forgotten"
A Judicial Estimate Of franklin.
Gen. Francis w. Palfrey, whose criti-
cisms 1 have frequently quoted and
which are always worthy of attention,
makes a summing up of Gen. Franklin
at Fredericksburg that gives to that
comman1er all that a military student
car possibly allow him. He says:
ITO do what was required to be done
required time. and a great deal Of time,
and he decided that it was too late to
do anything more that day. 1t is not
easy to blame him. 1t Is easy to defend
him. He occupied a cruelty hard and
difficult position. He was a good SOL
der and a man of character. He had a
large command. He must have known
that much was expected of him, tho his
chief was SO incompetent that he did
not know that much was expected Of
him. His suggestions were not needed,
and he saw the light grow and fade
with the painful consciousness that he
was losing great opportunity, and los
ing it because the General commanding
neither gave him intelligent orders nor
left his action to his own intelligence.
He was right in saying, Our failure
was the natural consequence of the in
sufficient preparation and inadequate
provision for an attack upon an army
like that in front of u.s.
But while it is easy to defend Frank
lin, and impossible not to sympathiZe
with him, 1t Is not easy to feel entirely
satisfied with him. To defeat Jackson
with the men he had and the ground
he held would have been a desperately
difficult enterprise for Franklin, even if
the best possible plan had been made
for him or made by him. 1t was a
hopeless enterprise, absolutely hopeless,
under the vague shadowings which
Burnside issued under the name of or
ders. And yet one cannot help feeling
that with his ability and training Frank
lin might have done something more
than he did, with the large force under
his command, IF he had been impelIed
by the energy of the strongest natures.
What that something might have been
1t is not worth while to attempt to say.
The endeavor Would lead into a region
OF speculation mot only military but
metaphysical, for much would have de-
pended upon HIS success in getting
BurnsideIto comprehend and sanction
such plan as he might have formed. He
tried the experiment the night before
the battle and failed. He may have
been discouraged by the failure, as he
certainly was disappointed. He was not
man of an actiye temperament, and he
was certainly wanting in audacity, but
perhaps II was just as well for the
county and the army that, while Burn
side commanded the army, Franklin
commanded the Left Wing. The enter
prise against Fredericksburg was so
10 hot tel, Lee,
have cost more lives, without any COM
pensation, if fiery fighter like Hood
had been in Franklin's place. One re-
mark must be added, and that is that it
excites both surprise and regret to find
such a total want Of evidence that
Franklin communicated to Burnside
during the whole day of the battle any
thing in the way of suggestions, requests
for instructions or remonstrance. If it
were shown that he let him know that
he did not understand his orders, or
that he had good reasons for disapprov-
ing of them, or that he desired to do
something more or different, or that he
wished ne would come and see for him
self, he would appear better in the his
tory of the battle than he does now"
A Sunday OF Bitterness and Gloom.
On Sunday, Dec. IA, the regiments,
brigades and divisions generally occu-
pied the positions they held when the
fighting closed the night before. There
was something done in the way of in
trenching along the front, and bitter,
pickering fire of sharpshooters broke
out fitfulIy from time to time at various
places along the great sweep of the line,
which rolled furiously to the right or
left as regiments, catching the infec-
ton, would join in with ,volleys. Then
the artillery would wake up, and with
a storm of shell search the town with
canister from the batteries nearest the
front The Smelling did not do harm
in proportion to its noise, as the gum
ners would aim down the center of the
streets, and by watching little it was
easy 80 get under the cover of the
houses and yet advance toward the
front During the day men who had
become separated from their colors
made their way back to their places
under this spasmodic fire, and conse-
uuently the regiments and brigades
grew stronger as the day advanced. The
wounded were taken across the river