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| Depiction of Union Army artillery unit at Fredricksburg, VA, December 13, 1862 |
FREDERICKSBURG 1862--A soldier in the Pee Dee Artillery of South Carolina
wrote his father the night of the battle, describing his experiences in
repelling the Union attack at Prospect Hill.
This letter poignantly describes a firefight near Fredericksburg, VA the
evening after the December 13, 1862 battle.
This battle and the next one at Chancellorsville, VA in early 1863
staggered the Union forces but didn’t chase them from the war. By mid-war, the overwhelming Union advantage
in men and materiel kept unrelenting pressure on rebel general Robert E.
Lee.
While the south crowed over
the victories, the Union methodically replaced fallen soldiers with fresh
troops in overwhelming numbers.
Confederate survivors of these two terrible battles were weakened by war
and lack of food. At the prelude to the telling
battle of Gettysburg, PA in July 1863, Lee’s men were starving. Hours before
the Battle of Gettysburg began one of Lee’s finest cavalry units was still in
the field being used to find food instead of gathering intelligence.
Though, Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville are in the history books as rebel victories, the cost in terms
of manpower was the beginning of the end for the Confederate cause. The South did not have the ability to increase
its ranks compared with that of the Union.
The late Shelby Foote, an award Civil War scholar has written “for the
most part the Union fought the Civil War with one hand tied behind its
back.” When the other hand was untied
(General Grant taking over command of the Union Forces for the remainder of the
war) the South slowly and bitterly bled to death.
A LETTER FROM A CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD
“…Camp near Fredericksburg,
December 13, 1862
Saturday Night.
Dear Father:
I promised to write you immediately
after the fight. All day yesterday we lay in position. Today I have been in the
hottest fight I have ever heard of. From ten o'clock this morning till an hour
or two since shot and shell, and Minie balls, having been perfectly hailing
around me. All the other fights crowded into one would hardly make anything to
be compared to today's fight. Our battery has lost three men killed and sixteen
wounded, eighteen or twenty horse, one limber and one caisson blown up, and one
gun disabled . . .
“... A piece of shell went through my
coat sleeve; it stung a little. A Minie ball went through the ramrod, and it or
a splinter struck me on the head. I was by the gun looking at the Yankees when
a great piece of shell, big as my two fists, came along and knocked a spoke out
of the wheel, and it or a piece of the spoke, or something else, hit me square
in the breast. I did not know whether I was mortally wounded or not, but after
a while I opened my shirt, and found that the skin was not bruised. I saw a
piece of shell go a "kiting" by my leg, missing it an inch or two.
That is only a few of the narrow escapes that I made today. The trees around
our guns were literally torn to pieces and the ground plowed up. I have been
several times covered with dirt, and had it knocked in my eyes and mouth . . .
“…We were posted on a chain of hills.
Just in the edge of the woods before us was a wide level plain extending to the
river, some three or five miles wide. I could see fully half the whole Yankee
army, reserves and all. It was a grand sight seeing them come in position this
morning; but it seemed that that host would eat us up any how. I felt uneasy
until I saw Gen. Lee, and right behind him the "Old Stonewall,"
riding up and down our lines, looking at the foe as cooly and calmly as if they
were only going to have a general muster. The Yankee batteries came into
position beautifully, and commenced shelling the woods we were in. It was hard
to take it, but we had strict orders not to fire. Their infantry advanced in
beautiful order.
“…When 1000 yards distant we poured a
perfect storm of shell into them from 50 or 100 guns, but on they came. Our
infantry was too much for them they had to leave. Oh! it did me good to see the
rascals run; but here comes a fresh line. Far as the eye can reach the line
extends. They have the fate of their predecessors, but another new line
advances. I had been uneasy, perhaps scared before, but now had death or defeat
been offered me I would have taken the former.
“…Some of our bravest were down . . .
. Pegram's men (a Virginia battery stationed by our side on the right) had left
their guns. Capt. Pegram wrapped his battle flag around him, walking up and
down among his deserted guns. It was a time to test a man's courage. Our cannon
flamed and roared, and the roar of musketry was terrific. The foe halts, wavers
and flies. We double charging our gun, pour the canister among them. As they
get out of range of that we send them an occasional shell to help them on.
"Cease firing!" What means that yell to the right. No one answers,
nor do we need an answer, for our gallant boys are seen pouring from the woods,
double quicking on the charge. On they go, (Gregg's brigade leading) nearly up
to the Yankee batteries. How my heart did beat then. My hat couldn't stay on my
head. I would have hollered if I had been killed for it the next minute, simply
because I couldn't help it.
Affectionately yours,
BEN…”
Published in the Charleston Daily
Courier, December 30, 1862
Source:
Editor’s note: The
above URL takes you to an amazing—no punches pulled—narrative, an account so
stunning and detailed that it is deserving of journalistic merit for public
service. The website and account of the
days leading up to the battle in early to mid-December, 1862 is some of the
best Civil War reporting this editor has read.
The National Park Service is to be commended for its coverage of the
Civil War, 150 years later. The letter
above is part of that coverage.
Fredricksburg Notes: Brendan Hoffman writing for
the New York Times penned a story on
historic Civil War items that were recovered from an excavation site for a new court
house construction project in downtown Fredricksburg. That story can be located at the following
address: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/us/construction-site-offers-fleeting-glimpse-of-the-civil-war-past.html
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