HAYS’S BRIGADE OF STONEWALL .JACKSON’S CORPS, AT HAMILTON’S CROSSING.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL THOMAS R. R. COBB, C. S. A. Killed at Fredericksburg.
of the condition of affairs on the left, and seeing the enemy routed in their front, were amazed at this confusion. Officers and men on the right were enraged at what seemed to he cowardice, and, rushing toward the broken lines, officers leveled their pistols and, with many privates, fired into these fleeing comrades.
Presently the true condition of affairs appeared when the victorious brigades of Franklin emerged from the woods. Line and field officers rushed to and fro, wildly shouting, “Into line, into line!” and, even in the face of a flanking foe, the gallant Colonel Turney, who temporarily commanded Archer’s brigade, succeeded in re-forming his regiments at right angles to the former line of attack. This gave a brief check to the victors. Still the infantry and artillery fire scourged the line. The rout or capture of the Confederates seemed inevitable. Turney was struck by a Minié ball, which entered his mouth and came out at his neck, and his apparently lifeless body was hurriedly placed on a blanket, andf our of his devoted followers attempted to carry him to the rear. They had not proceeded far when a shell burst among them, and they in turn lay helpless by the side of their bleeding commander. Colonel Goodner also did gallant service in preventing a rout, for, with the part of the 7th that still held its ground, he formed a line at right angles to their former position, and aided in checking this dangerous reverse.
Up to the time of the break in our line no one in the ranks apprehended any danger. Those in front and near this scene of defeat and confusion made desperate efforts to rally the men and prevent a stampede, for we looked for nothing but defeat or capture. We were unaware of the fact that we had any reserves. Presently Early’s division, in the very mood and spirit that had characterized Archer’s brigade before the breaking of the lines, came at double-quick to our relief, jesting and yelling at us: “Here comes old Jubal! Let old Jubal
swept the plain in advance of Franklin’s columns, while at the same moment his smaller field-pieces in front and on the flanks joined in to sweep the open space on all sides. This mighty cannonading was answered by the Confederate ordnance. Onward, steady and unwavering, these three lines advanced, preceded by a heavy skirmish-line, till they neared the railroad, when Jackson’s right and right center poured into these sturdy ranks a deadly volley from small-arms. Spaces, gaps, and wide chasms instantly told the tale of a most fatal encounter. Volley after volley of small-arms continued the work of destruction, while Jackson’s artillery posted on the Federal left and at right angles to their line of advance kept up a withering fire on the lessening ranks. The enemy advanced far in front of the River road [and crossing the railroad charged the slopes upon which our troops were posted], but at length wavered, halted, and suddenly retreated to the protection of the railroad embankments. The struggle was kept up by sharpshooters for some time, when another general advance was made against a furious cannonade of small-arms and artillery. Again the scene of destruction was repeated; still the Federals crossed the railroad, when a gap in Jackson’s line between Archer’s and Thomas’s brigades was discovered by some of the assailants. This interval was rushed for by a part of Franklin’s troops as a haven of safety, while the rest of his command were repulsed in the utmost confusion.
The extreme left of Archer’s brigade, and the extreme right of Thomas’s brigade, that is, the 14th Tennessee and 19th Georgia, commanded by Colonel Forbes, and a part of the 7th Tennessee, commanded by Colonel Goodner, of the former brigade, believing they were about to be surrounded, gave way. Their comrades on the right, unaware 176
JACKSON AT HAMILTON’S CROSSING.
BY J. H. MOORE, C. S. A.
THE morning of the 13th [of December] dawned with a dense fog enveloping the plain and city of Fredericksburg, through which the brilliant rays of the sun struggled about 10 in the morning. In front of the right of the Confederate army was displayed the vast force of Franklin, marching and countermarching, hastily seeking the places assigned for the coming conflict. Here was a vast plain, now peopled with an army worthy of its grand dimensions. A slight but dazzling snow beneath, and a brilliant sun above, intensified the leaping reflections from thousands of gleaming bayonets. Officers, on restless horses, rushed from point to point in gay uniforms. Field-artillery was whisked into position as so many fragile toys. Rank and file, foot and horse, small-arms and field-ordnance presented so magnificent a pageant as to call forth the unbounded admiration of their adversaries. In a word, this was the grandest martial scene of the war. The contrast between Stonewall Jackson’s corps and Franklin’s grand division was very marked, and so far as appearances went the former was hardly better than a caricature of the latter.
When all was in readiness, adjutants stepped to the front, and, plainly in our view,read the orders of the day. This done, the fatal advance across the plain commenced. With gay pennants, State, regimental. and brigade pennants flying, this magnificent army advanced in three closely compacted lines of battle. At intervals, in front, preceded by horse artillery, and flanked on either side by numerous field-pieces, hundreds of heavy field-pieces from the north bank of the Rappahannock belched forth their missiles of destruction and
MAJOR-GENERAL J. B. KERSHAW, C. 8. A.
150, out of a present-for-duty strength of about 1,000 men. This would have been a fair average loss in any ordinary battle, but we had suffered it as we lay on the ground Inactive, without the excitement and dash of battle and without the chance to reply: a strain upon nerves and physical endurance which we afterward remembered as severer than many more fatal fields. In the midst of our buzz of relief and mutual congratulation, the expected summons came for us to fall back to the town. Once more we formed an upright line of battle, then faced by the rear rank and marched in retreat, with muffled canteens and many halts and facings about toward a possible pursuit. Reaching a slight bank, we descended to the meadow through which the Fredericksburg raceway was dug, and here we changed to a flank march and filed into the highway. The highway soon became a street, and we were once more in Fredericksburg. . . .
BRIGADIER-GENERAL ROBERT RANSOM, C. S. A.