The National tribune., 1908-02-20

against the wafis of the city at that
] hour of the night would have been lit
tie better than madness. The Confed-
crate Held WIS arranged for defensive
battle Its abrupt termination could
not rave beeatta anticipated. nor could
any skill have ,r1larsialed our troops for
offensive Operations in time to meet
over broSsh country, so much so that
the troofs could not be promptly
/ handled n Offensive operations Jack
sons Corps was in mass. and could he
have anticipated the result of my bat
tie. he would have been justified in
pressing Franklin to the river when
the battle of the latter was lost Other
wise, pursuit would have been as I'M
wise as the attack he had just driven
off. ThehFederal batteries on Stafford
| Nights were effectively posted to pro-
tect their troops against our advance,
| and Franklin would have been in good
defensive position against attack on the
next day. 1t is well known that after
driving off attacking forces. if mme-
date pursuit can be made so that the
victors can go along with the retreat
| ing torces pell-mell, it is well enough
to do so; but the attack should be i'm
mediate. To follow success by coun-
ter-attack against the enemy in posi-
ton Is problematical. In the case of
the armies at Fredericksburg it would
have been. to say the least, very haZ-
ardous to give counter-attack. the Fed
erai position being about as strong as
ours from which we had driven them
back. Attempts to break up an army
by following on its line of retreat are
hazardous and rarely successful, while
movements against the TANKS and rear
increase the decentralization and offer
better opportunities for great results.
The condition of retreating army may
lrrctr ,tx.l .y-,,
messed 80 years ago on the western
plains of Texas. A soldier of my regi-
ment essayed to capture a rattleSnake.
| Being pursued, the reptile took refuge
in a prairie-dog's hole, turning his head
as he entered it, to defend the sally
| port. The soldier, coming up in time,
seized the tail as it was in the act of
passing under cover, and at the same
| instant the serpent seized the index
| finger of the soldiers hand. The re-
suit was the soldier lost the use of his
finger. The wise serpent made a sue
cessftl retreat. The rear of a retreat
ing arm is always its best guarded
aoint
After the retreat, Gen. Lee went to
II. -.imond to suggest other operations.
but was assured that the war was vir-
tually over, and that we need not
harass our troops by marches and 9TH
er hardships. Gold had advanced in
New York to 200, and we were assured
by those at the Confederate capital that
in 80 or 40 days we would be recog-
nized and peace proclaimed. Gen. Lee
did not share in this belief.
II have been asked if Burnside could
have been victorious at Fredericksburg.
Such thing was hardly possible. Per-
haps no General could have accom-
plished more than Burnside did, and
it was possible for him to have suffered
Tho hattie nf ErnI-
ericksburg was great and unprofta-
BILE sacrifice of human life made, thru
the pressure from the rear, upon a
General who should have known better
and who doubtless acted against his
judgment. If had been in Gen. Burn
sides place, / would have asked the
President to allow me to resign rather
than execute his order to force the
passage Of the river and march the
army against Lees stronghold"
Boy Soldiers RecoIIectiOns.
Comrade Thos, S. Hopkins, Washing
ton, d. c., Past Commander, Depart
ment of Potomac, gives in the History
of the 18th Me- his memories of Meade's
attack on the Left:
The morning Of December 18th
found us opposite Fredericksburg, |
of the Rappahannock River. We spent
the whole dax IN watching our bat
teries throwing shells over the river
into the burning city. With the aid of
a field-glass, we could see the enemy's
works stretching a long distance down
the river. That night their camp fires
were plainly visible and we could some
times hear their loud cheers. The en-
gineer corps was endeavoring to layl
pontoon bridges for the army to cross
on. They were made of long fiat
bottomed canvas boats. placed side by |
side in the water. fastened together, |
and upon which was laid plank walk. |
The enemy's sharpshoOters holly con- |
tested the laying of these bridges and
many a poor fellow lost his life. But
at last they were ready, and on the |
morning of the 18th. in dense fog, |
we crossed about two miles below the |
city. AS we climbed the banks we |
passed an aristocratic stone mansion, !
which soon became hospital. That
whole day and evening the entire army
lay within easy range of the enemy's |
guns; but they fired not shot, and
some of us were unwise enough to
think they were afraid. We knew
that the next day we were to make the |
attack. Our supply of cartridges was
better than our supply of food, and
that day I husbanded my resources |
by dining and supping on parched corn. |
slept soundly upon the frozen ground
that night, and before light the next |
morning, we were all up and had cook |
ed and eaten hearty breakfast Up |
(Copfinued nm pnpa fnurN