Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-05
Jackson prominent the battle of
Fredericksburg.

ladies and . few gentlemen. When We crossed
they emerged from their place Of refuge and
received us with open arms. The majority of
them are good Union people, and are not un-
known 70 . number Of our officers who were
here some months ago. had but little oppor-
tunity Of speaking to them. In all. suppose
some Is or 20 families remained, and cannot
see what saved them all from one common
destruction Instead Of looking for q house
that has been struck. the difreulty Is TO flnd
one that has not suffered more or less. The
streets piled with bricks from the chimneys
and. I'm fact. the city looks as II IL wanted 30
be made all over again The churches have
wonderfully escaped. having been but partially
injured. and the steeples are nearly good as
ever. The Bank OF the State of Virginia was
burned down, and I am very much surprised
that the greater part of the city was not reduced
to ashes, rs the number of frame houses, one
would suppose, would serve to spread the flames
t'T'HE street running along the river gave
strong evidence of the intention Of the
rebels as to stopping our crossing. II was
completely lined with Ilde pits. and stone fences
were made to answer the same purpose. Prom
behind these the sharpshooters picked OF our
men until compelled to retreat themselves.
'aThe houses were nearly all empty Of furni-
ture, with the exception Of some old chairs,
tables, and the like. In one house &as good
piano. uninjured Whatever remained in the
buildings was soon in the possession of the
soldiers and as there was nothing of value, it
was some little time before they were inter-
fered with. Some ludicrous scenes were the
consequences, the men arraying themselves In
old hats, bonnets ETC.. and parading the streets.
This interfered with discipline, however, and
an order was given that any one found with
orkfn hat tai from a Should
be at once arrested. Gen. Patrick, the pro-
vost marshal is deserving of great praise for
his exertions in this respect. The men for a
time took all they could lay their hands on,
and tubs, rakes, baskets and pots Of all descrip-
tions were carried away, to be thrown into the
street at the next crossing. Tobacco appeared
to be very plentiful, and all the soldiers had
their pockets and hayersacks filed with it. 1t
was quite a luxury to them, as they had been
paying the robbing suffers from 50 to So
pound for wretched stun.
I'm an Enclosure on q corner perceived the
bodies Of about dozen men, who were lying
there previous to being buried. They were
all our own men, with one exception, and he
was an aged man. to all appearances fully 60
years old. His dress was that of citizen and
he had been shot while in the act of aiming
his piece; for even in death his arms retained
their position, and in his face was the mark
of hate. Probably the old man, carried away
by his passion, volunteered, but dearly he paid
for his mistaken zeal. Our own men were
properly inferred, with their names and regi-
ments placed over their graves"
One can easily imagine the suffering endured
by the people of Fredericksburg, who were
through the hard necessities Of war, dispossessed
OF their homes. Upon their return the Con-
federate Army turned over to the mayor 81, 1871
for their assistance.
L OoKING at this great battle from a North
ern standpoint, one would be well justified In
saying that Burnside was certainly unfortunate
in taking the command Of the'9Arn,y Of che
Potomac just at this critical timeu4or Ellke he
realized his incompetency Is history: end. On