CHAPTER  X

 

BURNSIDE 'S CAMPAIGN-FREDERICKSBURG-HOOKER'S CAMPAIGN-CHANCELLORSVILLE.

 

 

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Camps at Sharpsburg---Effort to withdraw the Reserves---Resignation of Colonel Roberts---Colonel Potts-Major Todd---Colonels Talley---Baily-Kirk---Warner---General officers---Supplies for the soldiers---McClellan's delay---Ordered to advance---Stuart's raid---Advance into Virginia---March of the Reserves---McClellan relieved---Burnside assumes command---Plan of campaign---Organization of the army---Movement to Falmouth---Battle of Fredericksburg---Line of battle---The Reserves in the advance---Charge of the First and Third brigades---They pierce the enemy's line---Unsupported-Forced back---Casualties---General Jackson---Death of three sergeants---Captain O'Rourke---General Meade's report---Summer's and Hooker's attacks---Withdrawal of the army to the north bank of the river---Second campaign---Burnside requests to be relieved---Hooker placed in command of the army---General Meade promoted to the command of the Fifth corps---General Doubleday in command of the Reserves---The Reserves transferred to Washington---Hooker's administration---Condition of the army---Hooker's campaign---His plans---Movements---Battle of Chancellorsville---Jackson's assault on the Eleventh corps---Desperate fighting--Death of Colonel Peissner---Generals Berry and Whipple---Sedgwick victorious at Fredericksburg---The Sixth corps struggles against Lee's whole army---Mocker retreats across the river---Loss in both armies.

 

As soon as General McClellan had ascertained that the forces of the enemy had withdrawn from Maryland, he determined to reorganize his army, and to rest his troops. The several corps established comfortable camps, on the bank of the Potomac between Williamsport and Harper's Ferry, and in Pleasant valley below Sandy Hook.

The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, which had marched from the State fourteen months before the battle of Antie

 

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tam, a corps of fifteen thousand men, with well proportioned and thoroughly organized arms of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, was now a mere brigade, mustering less than four thousand men fit for duty.

While the army was at Sharpsburg, the governors of the loyal States called on President Lincoln to confer with His Excellency on the subject of recruiting the old regiments in the field, up to their maximum strength. At the request of the President, the governors addressed him in writing, each setting forth the plan proposed for recruiting in his own State. The following is the letter from Governor Curtin

PENNSYLVANIA EXECUTIVE MANSION

Harrisburg, Sept. 30, 1862.

SIR:  I have the honor to refer to some of the topics of our conversation last week, at which time you were pleased to say, that you desired the governors of the loyal States present to put their suggestions in writing.

"I proposed, at that time, to fill the regiments in service most reduced by the casualties of war, by retiring a given number from the more active service with the armies in the presence of the enemy, and having filled them and obtained a perfect re-organization, return them to the field and retire others until they were all filled to the standard established by the government, in the meantime supplying their places in the field with new regiments. I named ten regiments as the number to be retired at each time from this State. Most of our regiments that have participated in the recent battles are reduced to mere skeletons, and although we have furnished about fifteen thousand recruits for regiments from this State, no efficient strength has been given to any of them.

"The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, numbering` thirteen regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and one of artillery, with a numerical strength of fifteen thousand seven hundred and sixty men, were taken into the service of the United States in July, 1861, immediately after the first battle at Manassas. The thirteen regiments of infantry did

 

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not muster four thousand men after the battle of Antietam. All of these regiments are much reduced in number, whilst many of them can scarcely be said to retain regimental organizations. The brilliant history of the Reserve Corps in the war, and the State pride which has followed then since they entered the service, together with the circumstances surrounding their organization, would, I have no doubt, prove such incentives to enlistment that the Corps could be filled to the maximum in a short space of time.

"I suggest that the Corps be returned to the State, and placed in the camp at this Capital, and, if I am correct in my impression, the success would affect the minds of our people favorably . and other regiments in the service could be filled in their turn promptly.

"It is proper that, in this connection, I should say that the suggestions reflect the opinion of all the officers of the Corps, I take this opportunity of again renewing the suggestions of all the governors on the occasion referred to, that so far as consistent with the interests of the public service, sick and wounded volunteers be taken to the hospitals within the State in which they were enlisted.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. G. CURTIN.

 

To His Excellency, A. LINCOLN, President."

 

Not receiving any reply to this communication, on the 9th of October, His Excellency, the Governor, addressed a similar letter to General McClellan, who thought favorably of the plan, but having immediate use for the troops, was unwilling to retire them at that time.

Finding it impossible, therefore, to fill up the skeleton regiments by recruiting in the State, the officers commenced the work of re-organization. Many of the regiments were commanded by captains; companies were commanded by non-commissioned officers, and the division had become so reduced in strength, that it became necessary to reinforce it by the addition of other regiments

 

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The One Hundred and Twenty-first regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers, a new and full organization, commanded by Colonel Chapman Riddle, was attached to the First brigade, and the One Hundred and Forty-second, commanded by Colonel Robert P. Cummins, was joined to the Second brigade of the Reserve corps. Numerous changes in officers had also become necessary. At the close of the Peninsular campaign, the President of the United States had nominated Colonel Roberts of the First regiment for promotion to a brigadier-generalahip, for gallant conduct on the field; the nomination was sent to the War Department, but on account of circumstances of a personal character, was most unjustly delayed, and on the following day the Senate adjourned. Colonel Roberts, in command of a brigade, conducted it in safety from the Peninsula, fought gallantly in the battles of Bull Run, South Mountain, and Antietam, after which his name was again forwarded, for promotion, by his superior officers, and his friends urged the appointment as a matter of justice to a gallant soldier. But, in the latter part of October, Governor Curtin requested General McClellan to accept the resignation of Colonel Roberts, that he might be returned to his staff:

After the first call for five hundred thousand troops had been filled, in 1861, Colonel Joseph D. Potts, who had superintended, with great ability, the transportation of troops and materials of war from Pennsylvania, resigned his commission as staff officer to the governor, and retired from the public service to assume the management of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. At the request of His Excellency, therefore, that Colonel Roberts should return to his staff, be resigned, and took leave of his regiment and compatriots in arms, on the 2d of November, 1862. His soldiers, to whom he had endeared himself by an impartial administration in camp, and gallant conduct on the field, parted with him in tears, and loudly cheered him as he rode from the camp near Sharpsburg. Soon after Colonel Roberts had arrived at Harrisburg he received from his

 

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regiment a series of resolutions, of which the following is the closing:

 

Resolved, That time cannot efface from the hearts of his comrades in arms, the recollections of the glorious past-and his gallant leadership at Mechanicsville, Gaines' mill, New Market Cross-roads, Bull Run--together with the crowning act of his military career during his connection with the First, leading it in advance of all others to the bloody summit of South Mountain, his sharing without complaint with his men the toils and privations of along campaign, actuated by no other motive than a genuine love of country, have so endeared him to the regiment, that "the tears of regard will intrusively swell" when the stern fact stares us in the face, that lie is no longer with us and for us.

 

The following is an extract from Colonel Roberts' reply to the testimonial from his regiment:

 

" You have been with me, gentlemen, during the most eventful scenes of my life, and if you are satisfied with the discipline of the regiment, and my conduct of the same upon many a hard fought field, I must, indeed, feel more than satisfied. It was a noble command; one that might gratify the ambition of the loftiest spirit in the land, and if it has now, from hard service and severe losses, grown small, and its officers are few in numbers, we must never forget that its name and fame ought to grow brighter and clearer each day of its history.

“We cannot but feel sad when we think of those who have fallen--they were our friends and associates-but they perished gallantly in a glorious cause, and have left behind them names as imperishable as we trust our country's fame will be.

 

' Their monument must be in the hearts of the people,

Their requiem the blessings of the free.' "

 

The men never waned in their attachment to their colonel; in the winter of 1862, they presented him with a sword and belt, and in the spring of 1864, they sent him a beautiful "corps badge," carved in gold, and having inscribed on it the names of the battles in which Colonel Roberts had led them. Associated with Colonel Samuel B. Thomas, Colonel Roberts continued on duty in the military office of the Executive Department during both administrations of Governor Curtin.

Major Lemuel Todd had resigned his commission, as major of the First regiment on the 3d of September;

 

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Captain William Cooper Talley was therefore promoted to the colonelcy.

William C. Talley was born in New Castle county, in the State of Delaware, on the 31st of December, 1831. By the patronage of Joseph S. Derickson, Esq., he was educated in the Wilmington Classical school, presided over at that time by Colonel Thomas E. Saddler, a graduate of the Academy, of West Point. In 1853, Mr. Talley made a tour through the north-western States, and returning, settled in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and studied law. Subsequently he edited the "Upland Union," a paper published at Media, and in 1860, he established the "National Democrat" newspaper at Norristown. When the great rebellion broke out into open war, by the attack on Fort Sumter, Mr. Talley sold his newspaper establishment, and recruited a volunteer company of which he was commissioned captain, and which became company F, in the First regiment of the Reserve Corps. Captain Talley led his company in the battles in which the regiment was engaged; and upon the resignation of Colonel Roberts, he was promoted to fill the vacancy. He served as colonel of the First, at times commanding the First brigade, until the expiration of the term of service, in June, 1864.

The Eighth regiment, in the absence of Lieutenant-Colonel Oliphant, who was sick, was commanded by Major Baily ; subsequently Lieutenant-Colonel Oliphant was discharged on account of disability, and Major Baily was commissioned colonel, to date from the day of the battle of South Mountain.

Silas M. Baily was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of January, 1836 ; he received a liberal English education, and became an apprentice to a jeweler. After learning his trade, he established himself in business, at Waynesburg, where .he resided when the war began, in the spring of 1861. Under the call for seventy-five thousand troops, Mr. Baily organized a company, of which he was elected captain, and offered its services to Governor Curtin,

 

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but too late to be accepted. Upon the organization of the Reserve Corps, Captain Baily again asked to be admitted into the service. His company was accepted, and became company I of the Eighth regiment. When Major Gardner .left the service, in June, 1862, Captain Baily was promoted to the majority of the regiment. At the battle of Gaines' mill, he was severely wounded in the face, anal was carried, insensible, to Washington for medical treatment. When the Army of the Potomac entered upon the Maryland campaign, Major Baily, though pronounced by his surgeon to be unfit for service, determined to join his command. He overtook the division in camp near the Monocacy, and being the ranking officer, took command of the regiment, which he led with such distinguished gallantry, both at South Mountain and at Antietam, that he was promoted to the colonelcy as a reward for his meritorious conduct on the field of battle.

Colonel Kirk of the Tenth-regiment, whose health had been seriously impaired by the severity of the Peninsular campaign, reluctantly resigned his commission on the 18th of October.

James T. Kirk was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of September, 1825 ; be was educated in the public schools, and for many years was a merchant tailor in his native village; in 1851 he removed to the town of Washington in Pennsylvania, and engaged in the mercantile business. 'Then the call for troops was made in 1861, Mr. Kirk was a lieutenant in a volunteer company called the "Jefferson Light Guards" of Canonsburg. Captain Wm. S. Calahan of this company offered its services to the Governor of Pennsylvania, which were promptly accepted. Before the company marched from Canonsburg Captain Calahan resigned, and Lieutenant Kirk was chosen to be his successor. On the 27th of April, the company marched to Pittsburg, where it remained a few days, and was then sent home, the quota of the State under the call for seventylive thousand troops having been filled before the arrival

 

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of the company in camp. On the 7th of May, Captain Kirk was again ordered to Pittsburg, and placed in camp Wilkins, where, on the 19th of June, his men reinlisted for three years, or during the war; subsequently, the "Jefferson Light Guards" became company D, of the Tenth regiment of the Reserve Corps. When the regiment was organized, Captain Kirk was elected to the lieutenant-colonelcy and served under Colonel McCalmont, from whom he learned many valuable lessons in military discipline. On the 15th of May, 1862, upon the resignation of Colonel McCalmont, Lieutenant-colonel Kirk was elected and commissioned colonel. The arduous duties, that fell upon all the officers in the Reserve regiments, during the campaign on the Peninsula, in front of Washington, and in Maryland, had so greatly impaired the health of Colonel Kirk, that the surgeon advised him to resign, and return to the healthy atmosphere of his native county. The resignation was accepted by the Secretary of War, and Colonel Kirk retired honorably from the service of his country.

Adoniram J. Warner, lieutenant-colonel of the Tenth regiment, who was promoted to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Colonel Kirk, was born in Erie county, in the State of New York, in the year 1834. He received a liberal education, and in 1855 removed to Mifflin county, in the State of Pennsylvania, where he was appointed to the principalship of an academy, and subsequently was elected to the office of County Superintendent of Common Schools. 'When the war broke out, in 1861, Professor Warner was a resident of Mercer county, and upon receiving the news of the attack on Fort Sumter, recruited and organized, by the aid of the active citizens of that county, a volunteer company for the three months service, but being too late for the first call, the company was re-organized for the three years service, and Professor Warner was elected to the captaincy. It afterwards became part of the Tenth regiment. On the 14th of May, 1862, Captain Warner was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy,

 

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in which position he served through all the campaigns until the battle of Antietam; he commanded the regiment at South Mountain and again at Antietam, where, early in the morning of the 17th of September, he received a severe wound in the hip, from which he will never fully recover. On the 18th of October, Lieutenant-colonel Warner was promoted to the colonelcy, but had not sufficiently recovered from his wound to take command of the regiment until in April, 1863.

In the Bucktail regiment, Captain Charles F. Taylor was promoted to the colonelcy, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Colonel Hugh McNiel.

When General Reynolds returned to the army he was s assigned to the command of the First corps. Genera! Meade then resumed the command of the division; General Seymour took command of the First brigade, Colonel Magilton continued to command the Second, and General Jackson, having recovered from the injuries received at Bull Run, returned to the command of the Third brigade.

While the army rested at Sharpsburg it was visited by thousands of people from the Northern States, who brought with them boxes, barrels, bags, and wagons filled with provisions, including butter, bread, fruits, vegetables. and delicacies for both the sick and the well. The relief societies sent forward immense trains ladened with all manner of good gifts for the soldiers. Mrs. Harris, who was never absent from the army, was, again, the first to bring on the field articles of comfort for the wounded. The Sanitary Commission's 'a gents soon followed; and the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster, whose boxes of lint reached the field almost before the smoke of battle had risen from the scene, rapidly sent forward great wagon loads of provisions, which Professor Kevinski, accompanied by Rev. F. W. Conrad, drove into the camps of the Reserves, and distributed to the men.

On the 22d of September, General McClellan sent a large force under General Sumner to occupy Harper's Ferry, and

 

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instructed the commanding officer to fortify Maryland, Bolivar, and Loudon heights. Five days later General McClellan wrote to the President:

“This army is not now in condition to undertake another campaign, nor to bring on another battle, unless great advantages are offered by some mistake of the enemy, or pressing military exigencies render it necessary. We are greatly deficient in officers. Many of the old regiments are reduced to mere skeletons. The new regiments need instruction. Not a day should be lost in filling the old regiments-our main dependence--and in supplying vacancies among the officers by promotion.

"My present purpose is to hold the army about as it is now, rendering Harper's Ferry secure and watching the river closely, intending to attack the enemy should he attempt to cross to this side."

On the first day of October His Excellency the President visited the army of the Potomac, and remained several days, during which he went through the different encampments, reviewed the troops, and went over the battle-fields of South Mountain and Antietam. The President returned to Washington, after having carefully inquired into the condition of the army, fully convinced that there was no proper cause for further delay on the Potomac. Accordingly, on the 6th of October, General Halleck telegraphed to General McClellan as follows

" 1 am instructed to telegraph you as follows: The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy, or drive him south. Your army must move now, while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be reinforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immedi-

 

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ately report what line you adopt, and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-inforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on, before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads. I am directed to add, that the Secretary of War and the general-in-chief fully concur with the President in these instructions."

General McClellan made numerous excuses for not complying with this order. The cavalry was poorly mounted, artillery horses were broken down, the men had no shoes, and many other reasons were alleged, why it was necessary to remain in camp at Sharpsburg and Harper's Ferry. Meanwhile, on the 10th of October, the rebel General Stuart crossed the Potomac at McCoy's ferry, with a force of two thousand cavalry and a light battery, with which he passed in the rear of the Army of the Potomac, crossing the railroad communication with Harrisburg, at Chambersburg, where he destroyed the railroad buildings and captured a supply of government clothing. The band of raiders retreated towards Frederick, and recrossed the Potomac at White's ford without loss.

The orders from Washington directing General McClellan to move were several tunes repeated, but it was not until Sunday morning, the' 26th of October, that the army commenced crossing the Potomac at Berlin. On the same day, amid a severe rain storm, the Reserve Corps broke. camp near Sharpsburg, marched in a south-easterly direction, and encamped during the night in Pleasant valley, at the base of South Mountain. The army crossed the river at two points on pontoon bridges, one at Berlin and the other at Harper's Ferry, and occupied eight days in passing over the Potomac. General Meade led his division across the bridge at Berlin on the 80th of October, and moved beyond Lovettsville, where the regiments encamped until the morning of the 1st of November. The army continued its march up Loudon valley until it reached Warrenton; the Reserves marched through Waterford, Penn-

 

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ville, Union, and Middleburg, and finally encamped south of Warrenton, on the evening of the 6th of November.

During the march up the valley there were almost hourly skirmishes, between the cavalry in front and the enemy's rear guard. The movement of the Army of the Potomac, from the time it broke camp at Sharpsburg, was so tardy that the enemy easily succeeded in making his escape from the valley of the Shenandoah, and concentrated his forces at Culpepper.

General McClellan was relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac on the 7th of November, and was ordered to turn it over to General Burnside. He took his leave of the army on the 10th, and retired from active service, and on the 8th of November, 1864, resigned his commission as an officer in the army of the United States.

When General Burnside assumed the command of the army, the First, Second, and Fifth corps, the reserve artillery, and general head-quarters, were at Warrenton; the Ninth corps was on the line of the Rappahannock, in the vicinity of Waterloo; the Sixth corps at New Baltimore; the Eleventh corps at Gainesville, and Thoroughfare gap ; Sickles' division of the Third corps, on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, from Manassas Junction to Warrenton Junction; Pleasonton across the Rappahannock at Amissville and Jefferson, with his pickets at Hazel river, facing Longstreet, six miles from Culpepper Court House; Bayard near Rappahannock station.

Whilst the Reserves were in camp near Warrenton General Seymour was transferred from the Army of the Potomac to a command in the department of South Carolina. Colonel Sinclair of the Sixth regiment, who was the ranking officer, assumed command of the First brigade of the Reserve Corps.

In his testimony before the Committee on the Conduct of the War, General Burnside said:

 

"When, after the battle of Antietam, General McClellan decided to cross the Potomac, I said to him that, in my opinion, he would never be

 

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able to take this army on that route beyond the Rappahannock, unless he succeeded in fighting the enemy at some place on this side ; that if he proposed to go to Richmond by land, lie would have to go by way of Fredericksburg, and in that he partially agreed with me ; after we had started we had another conversation on that subject, and several other officers were present ; on the 6th of November, after this conversation, General McClellan gave an order to Captain Drum, his Chief Engineer, to have all the pontoon bridges at Berlin and in that neighborhood, that could be spared, taken up and sent down to Washington, with a view of getting them down, in case he decided to go by the way of Fredericksburg; the letter conveying that order `vas written on the 6th of November, but, as I understand, was not received until the 12th of November. On the 7th or 8th of November, I received an order from the President of the United States, directing me to take command of the Army of the Potomac, and also a copy of the order relieving General McClellan from that command. This order was conveyed to me by General Buckingham„who was attached to the War Department. After getting over my surprise, I told General Buckingham that it was a matter that required very serious thought ; that I did not want the command ; that it had been offered to me twice before, and that I did not feel I could take it. I consulted with two of my Staff officers in regard to it for, I should think, an hour and a halt'; they urged upon me that I had no right as a soldier to disobey the order, and that I had already expressed to the Government lily unwillingness to take the command. I told them what my views were with reference to my ability to exercise such a command, which views were those I had always unreservedly expressed, that I was not competent to command such a large army as this. I had said the same over and over again to the President and Secretary of War, and also that if matters could be satisfactorily arranged with General McClellan, I thought he could command the Army of the Potomac better than any other General in it; but they had studied the subject more than I had, and knew more about their objections to General McClellan than I did. I then assumed the command in the midst of a violent snow storm, with the army in a position that I knew but little of; I had previously commanded but one corps, upon the extreme right and had been upon the extreme right and in the advance since that campaign had begun; I probably knew less than any other corps commander, of the positions and relative strength of the several corps of the army. General McClellan remained sonic two or three days to arrange his affairs, and came with me as far as Warrenton, and then left, having given me all the information he could in reference to the army; General Halleck came down to see me on the 11th of November; on the 9th I made out a plan of operations, in accordance with the order of General Halleck,

 

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which directed me not only to take command, but also to state what I proposed to do with it."

 

General Burnside, on the 9th of November, sent to General Halleck a plan for a campaign, in which he proposed to concentrate the army in the neighborbood of Warrenton, to make a detached movement across the Rappahannock as a feint, with a view to divert the attention of the enemy and lead him to believe that he was going to move in the direction of Gordonsville, and then to make a rapid movement of the whole army to Fredericksburg, on the north side of the Rappahannock. General Burnside, at the same time, requested that barges filled with provisions and forage should be floated to Aquia creek, where they could be "easily landed; that materials be collected for the reconstruction of the wharves there, and that all the wagons in Washington, that could possibly be spared, should be filled with hard bread and small commissary stores, and, with a large number of beef cattle, started down to Fredericksburg on the road, by way of Dumfries, and that this wagon train and herd of cattle should be preceded by a pontoon train large enough to span the Rappahannock twice.

The army was organized into four grand divisions. The right, consisting of the Second and Ninth corps, was commanded by General Sumner; the centre, composed of the Third and Fifth corps, was commanded by General Hooker; the left, being the First and Sixth corps, was commanded by General Franklin; and the reserve, the Eleventh corps, was commanded by General Sigel.

General Burnside had fully explained all the details of his intended movements to General Halleck, and supposed that General Miegs would promptly send forward the trains and supplies, but it subsequently turned out, that the authorities at Wasbington expected that General Burnside would send an officer from the army, to superintend the forwarding of the pontoon-train.

On the 16th of November, the army at Warrenton was put in motion towards Fredericksburg, and, on the after-

 

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noon of the 18th, Sumner's grand division, which was the advance corps, reached Falmouth, and on the following day, the whole Army of the Potomac closed up its columns and encamped opposite Fredericksburg. General Burnside waited anxiously for tidings from the pontoon train. 'the Army of the Potomac, unaccustomed to even ordinary daily marches, had, by marching sixteen miles per day, been rapidly transferred from Warrenton to Fredericks. burg ; but, most unfortunately for its success, the pontoon trains had not been started from Washington until the 19th, or one day after the advance of the army had arrived at Falmouth and having been delayed by heavy rains and bad roads, did not reach the army until several days after the troops had been concentrated opposite Fredericksburg. In the meantime, the enemy had occupied Fredericksburg with so large a force, that it was deemed impracticable to attempt to cross on but two bridges. General Burnside, believing the bridge trains would reach Falmouth at about the same time that Sumner's troops arrived there, intended to throw Sumner's whole command across the Rappahannock, to fill the wagons with small stores, and taking beef cattle for meat, make a rapid movement down the railroad in the direction of Richmond, and, if possible, meet the enemy and fight a battle before Jackson, who was in the Shenandoah valley, could form a junction with Longstreet, below Fredericksburg. This movement, . however, was rendered impossible by the delay of the pontoon bridges, and all. the advantages that had been gained by a silent and rapid movement to Falmouth, were therefore lost.

The left grand division, to which the Reserves were attached, marched from Warrenton through Bealton, and thence by a road leading to the left from the river, moved off to Stafford Court House, where the troops of the First and Sixth corps encamped until the 10th of December. On the 8th of December, Captain John Cuthbertson, of the Ninth regiment, resigned ; he had been severely wounded in the battle of New Market cross roads, while leading his

 

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regiment in the desperate charge for the recapture of Cooper's battery, and being unable to rejoin his company, resigned and was appointed provost marshal of the Twenty-fourth district in Pennsylvania.

As soon as a sufficient number of bridges had arrived at Aquia creek, General Burnside ordered them to be brought forward and placed in readiness to be thrown across the Rappahannock; he then called a council of his generals, to decide on a plan for crossing the river. It was, at first, decided to cross at Skinner's neck, about twelve miles down the river, but the enemy having discovered the movements in that direction, concentrated a large force opposite the neck; the plans were therefore changed; the demonstrations towards Skinner's neck were continued, but active preparations were, at the same time, made to cross at Fredericksburg. General Burnside expected by this movement to be able to break through the enemy's centre, and to destroy his army in detail. A colored man, who had escaped from the enemy, informed the general that the rebels had cut a new road along the rear of the heights, back of the city, which connected the two wings of their army. The commanding general saw the importance of seizing that road, and obtaining a position between the enemy's forces.

On the 10th of December, General Burnside ordered the army to cross the Rappahannock on the following morning; one hundred and seventy-six pieces of artillery were opened on the enemy from the bluff's on the river, and beneath the smoke and fire, the pontoon bridges were laid, and before night, the army had a firm hold on the south bank of the river.

Three miles below the city, General Franklin had constructed two bridges, secretly, during the night, and on the morning of the 11th, was crossing his troops. Before Tuesday night, the 12th of December, all the troops of the right and left wings had crossed the river, and were in line of battle; Summer on the right, above Fredericksburg, and Franklin on the left, below the city. General Hooker's

 

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troops remained on the north bank ready to cross. Genera: Reynolds, commanding the First corps, formed the left of Franklin's division, and General Meade was ordered to place his division of Pennsylvania Reserves on the extreme left of the army. In this position the army bivouacked on Friday night. The plan of battle was to push forward the left wing, and break through the enemy's line, in order to seize and hold the new road connecting the wings of the rebel army. General Lee had constructed his line on the heights beyond the city; Jackson's corps formed his right wing, with his right resting on the railroad; General Longstreet's corps on the left extended to the river, above Fredericksburg.

The plan of attack involved the initiatory advance of the left wing. A great work was to be accomplished there, before the army would advance in full force to battle. Franklin's grand division numbered nearly forty thousand troops; Reynolds' corps contained about sixteen thousand, and Meade's division, four thousand five hundred. From this division, numbering in the aggregate about forty thousand of the best troops in the army, the remnant of the Reserve corps, General Meade's division of four thousand five hundred, was designated to lead the charge that was to break through the enemy's lines. Once more the Pennsylvania Reserves must lead the Army of the Potomac to battle. The troops on the left were drawn up on a plateau near the river ; immediately in their front there was a depression several hundred yards in width, which extended to the base of the heights beyond; the Richmond railroad track lay through this hollow, on its western slope. East of the railroad the ground was clear and mostly cultivated fields, but beyond the road, and up the slope to the heights, it was covered with woods. The enemy occupied these heights and the wooded slope, and posted a strong line behind the railroad embankment in the hollow. From the nature of the ground, the movements of the rebels were completely screened from view, whilst

 

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every position of the National troops was clearly visible to the enemy.

The First brigade, commanded by Colonel Sinclair, was formed in line on the right of the division, parallel to Gibbon's division of the First corps, which stood in line of battle on the right of the Reserves. The Third brigade, commanded by General Jackson, formed on the left of the First; the Second brigade, commanded by Colonel Magilton, was held in reserve. At one o'clock on Saturday afternoon, the line was ordered to advance ; the Sixth regiment was deployed as skirmishers in front of the First brigade, and the Ninth regiment skirmished in front of the Third brigade. The skirmishers kept up a steady fire; upon the enemy until two o'clock, when the whole line began to advance across the fields in their front. The enemy defended his first line of rifle-pits with great determination, but the steady advance and accurate fire of the First brigade, finally forced him to retire. The moment Colonel Sinclair perceived that the enemy faltered, he ordered his brigade to charge. The men rushed forward, leaping over the ditch along the railroad, over the abandoned intrenchments, and fell upon the enemy in his second line before his forces had time to reform. The rebels threw down their arms and fled in confusion from the wooded hill. The Reserves dashed after the panic-stricken enemy, until they came upon the third line, where they found the stacked arms of whole regiments, that had fled in hot haste from before the victorious troops of the First brigade. The charge of the Third brigade was equally brilliant and successful. It found the rebels strongly posted behind a stone wall, but the regiments steadily advanced, dislodged the enemy, drove his battery from the hill, and seizing on a strong position, held it against vastly superior numbers for more than an hour.

The Second brigade advanced in support of the First, and became vigorously engaged at the railroad embankment, where the Eighth, and the One Hundred and Forty-

 

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second regiments were checked, and finally came to a halt, but the other regiments cleared their front and gained the summit of the heights, where they encountered a terrific fire from a concealed foe that suddenly confronted them, and forced them to retire beyond the railroad, but not until they had sent to the rear three hundred prisoners and a stand of rebel colors.

The First and Third brigades had completely broken through the enemy's lines, and were able to keep their front clear; but two-thirds of the rebel army was on their right, and one-third was on their left flank, and unless these hostile forces were vigorously pressed by other troops, they would crush the valiant brigades between them. Unfortunately, General Gibbons' division did not advance in a line parallel to its own front, and to the line of the Reserves; and General Birney's division was not promptly ordered up to Meade's support. General Lee saw that his line was broken, and immediately directed all his energies to regain his position on his right centre; heavy forces were massed against the handful of brave men on the hill. General Meade, quickly discerning the movements of the enemy, sent. repeatedly for reinforcements, but none came up; his men were firing their last rounds of ammunition and could hold out but a few minutes longer; dirty grey, and earth-brown lines of rebel troops were pouring in on the right of them and on the left of them, but firmly believing that, from the tens of thousands of their unengaged comrades, lying on their arms close in the rear and within sight of the battle, some corps or division would be sent to their aid, they fought on; strengthened by their faith they moved not a step, but vigorously plied their arms until the last cartridge had been fired, and the enemy was charging down upon both of their unprotected flanks. Perceiving the critical situation of his command, General Meade, recollecting that, though fighting in a brigadier-general's uniform, he had in his pocket the commission of a major-general, galloped down to General Birney and

 

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exclaimed, "General, I assume the authority of ordering you up to the relief of my men !" General Birney quickly put his division in motion, but it was now too late to do more than to rescue the remnant of the brigades, whose broken fragments were slowly retiring from the hill.

General Meade says, in his testimony before the Committee on the Conduct of the War: “My division succeeded in driving the enemy from all his advanced works, breaking through his lines, and occupied the heights he had occupied; piercing his lines entirely, and getting into the presence of his reserves. The division on my right, which I had understood was to have advanced simultaneously with my own, did not advance until I was driven back. It advanced until it came within short range of the enemy, when it halted. The officers could not get the men forward to a charge, and the division was held at bay some twenty or thirty minutes, during which time my division had gone forward. That delay enabled the enemy to concentrate his forces and to attack me in front and on both flanks. I had penetrated so far that I had no support on either flank, and was therefore forced to fall back; as I came out, General Gibbon's forces advanced, and got as far, probably, as the railroad, which was the enemy's outer line. I think if we had been supported by an advance of the whole line, there is every reason to believe we would have held our ground: The effect of this would have been to have produced the evacuation of the other line of the enemy's works in rear of Fredericksburg.”

The Reserves had gained a most brilliant succes ; they had accomplished just what General Burnside had desired they should accomplish. The fruits of the victory were, however, speedily snatched from the victors. Unsupported in their charge, and unsustained in their victory, the regiments firing to the right, firing to the left, and firing to the front, fought valiantly until their ammunition, as well as their hope, was exhausted; the enemy closing in upon them on

 

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all sides, they, were broken, crushed, and driven from the hills. The broken lines reformed on the plateau from which they had started less than two hours before. Upon calling the rolls it was found, that one hundred and seventy -sip had been killed; one thousand one hundred and ninety seven wounded, and four hundred and sixty-nine were missing. In all, one thousand eight hundred and forty-tw< were absent from roll-call.

Among the number of the dead was General Jackson of the Third brigade, who fell mortally wounded at the head of his command, while in the act of directing the men to charge on a battery that was enfilading their lines.

Conrad Feger Jackson was born in Berks county, on the 11th of September, 1813. His father, Isaac Jackson, was a member of the Society of Friends, but in 1812 became a soldier in the army of the United States, and died in 1818, from disease contracted while in the service of his country. Conrad Feger Jackson was named after his maternal grandfather, Conrad Feger, for many years Sheriff of the county of Berks. Soon after the death of his father, Conrad was taken into the family of his uncle, Joseph Jackson of Chester county, where he was educated in the Society of Friend, and fitted for the active duties of life. At an early age he opened a commission warehouse in Philadelphia; finding the counting house too monotonous for his temperament, lie accepted the appointment of conductor on the Philadelphia and Reading railroad. In 1815 he was appointed, by President Polk , a lieutenant in the revenue service of the United States, and a year later, was sent to Mexico as bearer of despatches to General Scott. Subsequently he became a conductor on the Pennsylvania railroad, and in 1860, resigned that position, and assumed the management of the business of a Petroleum Oil Company in Kanawha valley in Virginia.

When the State of Virginia attempted to secede from the Union, 112r. Jackson returned to his native State, and entered with great zeal into the service of the Government ;

 

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he recruited a company, of which he was commissioned captain, and upon the organization of the Ninth regiment, he was promoted to the colonelcy, a position for which he eras eminently qualified, as his subsequent career fully demonstrated. His regiment soon became one of the most efficient in the service, and in every battle in which it found the enemy, evinced its superior discipline.

On the 1 7th of July, Colonel Jackson was-promoted to a brigadier-generalship for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles on the Peninsula, and was assigned to the command of the Third brigade of the Reserve Corps. At the battle of Fredericksburg, General Meade who was on the right of the division, saw a column of the enemy moving against his left flank, and establishing a battery on a bluff to enfilade his lines; he immediately despatched his aid, Lieutenant Arthur Dehon, with a message to General Jackson, directing him to move his brigade into a ravine and charge the battery in flank. Lieutenant Dehon fell dead just as he was in the act of saluting the general. Though General Jackson did not receive the message, he rode forward to order a similar movement, but as he was about giving the order, he was struck by a volley from the enemy and fell mortally wounded; yet, so thoroughly were the troops disciplined in battle, that without orders or leader, the men executed the movement, and drove the battery from the field. Well might the commander of such troops, in admiration, beholding their conduct, exclaim, " every one of those men is fit to be a general officer !"

The casualties in the First regiment were two killed, thirty-two wounded, and five captured; in the Second, thirty-one were wounded and thirteen were missing; among the wounded in this regiment were Captains Richard Ellis and P. J. Smith, and Lieutenant Hugh P. Kennedy; in the Third, nineteen were killed, forty-nine wounded and sixty captured; among the killed was Lieutenant Jacob V. Shilling, and in the list of wounded were Captain William

 

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Brain, and Lieutenant Michael Walters; in the Fourth, two were killed, thirty-four wounded and four missing; Lieutenant-colonel Woolworth commanding the regiment was among the wounded. In the Fifth regiment, twenty were killed, eighty-eight wounded, and sixty-one captured; among the killed were Major Frank Zentzmyer, Captain Charles Wells and Lieutenant David Zentzmyer; Lieutenant-colonel Dare, commanding the regiment, Captains C. D. Shaffle, J. E. Wolfe, and A. D. Collins, and Lieutenants J. H. Livray, J. P. Lucas, John A. Willoughby and J. K. Kinch were wounded.

In company K, of the Fifth regiment, there were three sergeants bound together by the strongest ties of friendship ; they were Christian young men, who at the beginning of their term of service had resolved to read a portion of the Holy Scripture each night before lying down to rest; also, that no profane or vulgar language should be tolerated from any one while in their tent. These young men pledged themselves to be a help to each other in times of need, and if sickness, wounds, or death fell upon either, the others were pledged to administer whatever comfort was possible, and' finally to transmit to friends at home a report of the fate of their comrade. But when the fierce storm of battle swept along the heights of Fredericksburg, Sergeant James Speaker fell dead upon the field, and near by his side lay Sergeants Edward M. Shreiner and Charles Hollands, both mortally wounded, yet each unconscious of the others' presence. When night came, and the rebels were on the field plundering the dead and wounded, Sergeant Shreiner was so rudely handled that he groaned aloud, and immediately in a weak and low voice, some one inquired, "Edward, is that you?" The companions recognized each other, and Sergeant Hollands gave the sign of Masonic recognition, which was responded to by the rebel bending over him, and the fainting comrades were placed side by side. In the morning they were taken to Richmond. Shreiner died, and was buried in the rebel capital, Hollands

 

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lingered many months, was paroled and sent to Annapolis. He advised the friends of his slain companions, how .hey had fallen, and of the final dispositon that had been made of the bodies of Sergeants Shreiner and Speaker, and having thus lived to discharge his last promise, he died in the hospital soon after landing from the steamer.

The casualties in the Sixth regiment, commanded by Major But, were ten killed, ninety-two wounded, and seventeen miss= ing; Lieutenant William Burgess was captured. In the Seventh, six were killed, seventy wounded, and ten captured; the officers who were wounded in this regiment were Colonel Henry C. Bolinger, Adjutant Charles M. Stout,, and Lieutenants J. Q. Snyder and J. S. Zug. In the Eighth, twentytwo were killed, eighty-six wounded, and twenty-two captured; of the officers, Adjutant J. L. Ingraham and Lieutenant George W. Miller were killed, and Colonel S. M. Baily, Captains R. E. Johnson, John Eichelberger, H. C. Dawson, William Lemon and J. M. Kent, and Lieutenants Samuel McCandless, J. A. Diebold, S. B. Bennington, H. H. Maquilkon and James M. Owen were wounded. In the Ninth, four were killed, twenty-seven wounded, and sixteen captured; among the officers Lieutenant Reuben M. Long was killed; T. Brent Swearingen, assistant adjutant general of the Third brigade, and Captain Charles W. Owston, Lieutenants 0. S. McIlvaine and Charles K. Chamberlin, aid-decamp in Jackson's staff; were wounded. In the Tenth, the casualties were eleven killed, seventy-five wounded, and fiftyone captured; of the officers, Captain Daniel W. Mayes was killed; Captains C. M. Over and J. R. Smith, and Lieutenants George L. Knee, H. J. Howe and Alexander McGilkey were wounded. In the Eleventh regiment the casualties numbered ten killed, one hundred and forty-seven wounded, and fifty-four captured; Captain William Steward was killed; the wounded officers were Captain J. P. Speer, and Lieutenants L. A. Johnson and Cyrus Butler. In the Twelfth, Adjutant Theodore McMurtrie, Lieutenants Simon Briggs, Edward Snyder, Chil Hazzard, George Huber, and Wm. H.

 

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Kern were wounded; the full list of casualties was thirteen killed, seventy wounded, and thirty-four captured. In the Bucktail regiment, commanded by Colonel C. F. Taylor nineteen were killed, one hundred and thirteen wounded, and thirty captured; the loss of officers was Lieutenant W. B. Jenkins, killed; Colonel Taylor, Captain E. A. Irvin, and Lieutenants 0. D. Jenkins, D. G. McNaughton, Thomas B. Winslow and R. F. Ward were wounded. In battery A five men were killed, Lieutenant William Still and six enlisted men were wounded; in battery B, one man was killed and four wounded; in battery G, one man was killed, three wounded, and five captured; in Captain Ransom's battery, company C, Fifth U. S., five men were wounded, The new regiments that had been attached to the Reserves after the battle of Antietam, fought bravely, proving them. selves worthy of their association; both .sustained heavy losses. In the One Hundred and Twenty-first regiment, commanded by Colonel Chapman Biddle, fourteen were killed, eighty-two wounded, and forty-seven captured; of the officers, Lieutenant George W. Brickly and Mark W. C. Backlay were killed, and Captains Samuel S. Floyd and William H. Woolridge, and Lieutenant Charles H. Raymond were wounded; and in the One Hundred and Forty-second, commanded by Colonel R. P. Cummins, seventeen were killed, one hundred and eighty-two wounded, and forty-five were captured; among the wounded were Major John Bradley, Captain William H. Haviland, Lieutenants E. B. Hurst, G. J. Gordill, Hugh Cameron, and Cyrus Campbell. At the battle of Fredericksburg, Captain P. I. O'Rourke, of the First regiment, had command of the division ambulance corps. Before the fighting commenced, he addressed his stretcher-bearers, and instructed them to keep well to the front, and to carry away the men as soon as they fell. After the First brigade had crossed the railroad and was advancing up the slope beyond, Colonel McCandless, at the head of the brigade, seeing an officer riding towards him, turned about, thinking the rider might have a message for him, when, to his sur-

 

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prise, he discovered that the officer was Captain O'Rourke; " Why, Captain," said the Colonel, "I thought you had charge of the ambulance train." "So I have," replied the Captain. "What are you doing then out here on the skirmish line?" Captain O'Rourke turned his head significantly, and in a rich Irish brogue replied, "An' Colonel, will I find the wounded in the rear?" The troops were rapidly advancing, the dialogue ceased, and each officer addressed himself to his duty, the Colonel directing his soldiers and the Captain urging forward his men to carry to the rear those who fell. It is the testimony of the troops, that they never before saw an ambulance corps so ably commanded during a battle; and after the army had withdrawn to the North side of the Rappahannock, Captain O'Rourke received the following testimonial, signed by the division and brigade surgeons of the Reserve Corps:

 

"CAPTAIN : The undersigned having witnessed your gallant and efficient conduct during the late action at Fredericksburg, as commander of the ambulance corps, take great pleasure in tendering you this, a voluntary testimonial of their appreciation of your services; the coolness and energy displayed by you on that trying occasion will ever be remembered by the grateful and suffering wounded, as well as by your friends."

 

General Meade thus reported the battle to General Reynolds:

 

" CAPTAIN: I have the honor to submit the subjoined report of the part taken by this division in the recent operations in the vicinity of Fredericksburg.

"This division is composed of three brigades, organized and commanded as follows

"The First brigade, Colonel William T. Sinclair, Sixth regiment Pennsylvania Reserve corps, commanding, consists of the First rifles, (Bucktails,) First, Second, and Sixth regiments Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.

"The Second brigade, commanded by Colonel 11. L. Magilton, Fourth regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, contains the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Eighth regiments Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, together with the One-hundred-and-Forty-second regiment Pennsylvania volunteers.