The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-12-25
FREDERICKSBURG AS
VIEWED BY UNION MAN
Blood-Bathed Fields-Sidelights on Two Great
Encounters The Past Rises as
Dream to Visitor.
tBy Colonel j. a. watrous In the c
easo record Heraldl

(By Colonel j A. watrous In tho Chi
caso Record Hcrald1
no pass along the streets Of Fred.
erlcksburs. to stand OH stafford Height
mud view the auclen, city. nearly tive
hundred years old 10 look at aiaiyes
Heights hack of the town, and then
along the rIdgeg 10 the right aud th'
loft of those never -to-bc-fcrgotten
Heights. and recall the city IS II was
nearly ntty years ago; RECALL the In
tenseiy interesting scenes enacted ne.
tween the city aud Marycs heights.
recall tho heroic struggles 10 the right
and the left Of the city in the great
battles fought Tia December, 1852, and
the latter part OF April and carly IN
MAY, 1863, Is an experience TO rerieni.
her. and one that may well touch
emotions springs and bring fresh
prints OF scenes. deeds and Incidents
stamped upon memoryts plates In the
long ago. near Fredericksburs and lis
things that will interest mill
tary men Of this and other countries
for centuries to como.
IN a letter last week ! spoke OF q
revisit to fredericksburg after All alb
scncc of nearly half century. The
larger part of that letter was devoted
TO the washlngtons. In this shall
try 10 say something that VIII interest
the average render concerning events
that have made Fredericksburg point
OF Worldwide interest.
The Encounter of 1882.
After tho battle OF Antietan, Soptem-
her II. 1867, when both OF the contend
ing armies received blows that greatly
weakened them, they rested for more
than q month, the Northern army in
tho Vicinity OF tho great battlefield
md the Southern army IN Virginia, o
few miles away.
After the rest the faces OF both
armies were turned in tho direction of
fredericksburg, and both reached tha
vicinity of the old city about the same
time, in November. General Mcclellan
having been relieved OF the command
u the Army OF the Potomac, General
Burnside succeeding him, and General
Lee retaining command ~ the Amy Of
Northern Virginia, which he held from
Iune. 1862. until .Appomatto%.
In this article / shall not attempt
too many details both for lack of space
and because very full details have been
given heretofore
General Les was never before or
after so we'll situated in position ani
gencrals, ana the Northern army sell
dom. If ever, fought a battle under
such unfavorable circumstances as TO
position and generals.
"StoucwnIl, Jackson There.
Under Lee, there was tStonewall"
Jackson, one OF the greatest military
men the war developed. and in gofue
respects ohe OF the most remarkable
characters OF his time. He had been
General Lees strong right arm from
tho battles IN front of Richmond back
to Malvern Hill.
Then there We're the Hills. a. P. and
D H.. and General Longstreet, a genius
In war and mighty power for tho
South. the cavalry being under Cen
etal stuart, who won renown By his
tour around Mcclellan while on the
Peninsula and the famous raid around
the same general and his army IN
Maryland after Ant!etam.
While General Burnside was waiting
for poutoons to bridge the Rappahan-
mock and attack the flower of the
southern army commanded by the
nower of Southern generals, General
Leo was fortifylng hts position, and
day after day added to. the certainty
of a Confederate victory and a crush
Ing Union defeat.
Fedcrals In Three bodies,
The Union army in Virginia had been
organized into three grand divisions.
manded by General Edwin V. Sumner.
veteran of Indian campaigns and the
Mexican War father OF the present
General sumner; the central one by
General Joseph Hooker. and the left
by General w. P. Franklin,
Ny own small part was with tho
left grand division. but in this paper
| am dealing with the whole battle,
looking through eyes that viewed the
field soon after the great struggle
eyes that have scanned carefully tho
pages of hlstors-looking again, but
through old and DINNER eyes.
Scene Nividly l,ccnllrd.
As i stool OH Stafford Heights last
week memory was so helpful and gen
crous that i could almost hear the
roar of the opening guns from those
heights and the quick replies from
Marye's Heights it seemed as II q
could see the engineers LAYING the pow
toon bridges upon which Hookers and
Summers grand divisions crossed the
Rappahannock--an enterprise that cost
many a precious life; It seemed as II
I could see the pontoon bridge below
fredericksburg upon which Frsnklin's
large grand division crossed and moved
into position on the extreme left, and
hear the shells and solid shots that
made the new, untried troops grace
fully dip their heads after shells and
shot had passed the danger point.
IT seemed as If could hear the rat
Ting OF tens Of thousands OF Hluskots
on that awful 18th Of December, a roar
and a rattla that extended from SUM
ner OH the right down through Hook
er's heroic forces to the extreme left
of Franklln's line: 1t seemed as II !
could see the plains back of Fred
ericksburg strewn with men In blue,
the dead and wounded, after the re.
peated charges on Marye's Heights
Victims Cover Acres.
There We're literally acres covered
with the dead and wounded, The cen-
tire suffered more than the right and
the left, because tho centre faced
AIafye's Heights. which bristied with
ramon and where many thousands OF
men had an impregnable position he
hind stone walls and strong fortllca-
tics,s recently St:onstruetei; because
General Lee end General Longstrees
lWero conducting the movements OF the