The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 41, 31 March 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1863.

The mail which has just arrived brings us more definite information concerning the battle of Fredericksburg, and places it beyond doubt that the Federals have sustained a most disastrous defeat, which will, in all probability, have the effect of considerably shortening the struo-gle between the North and South. The " Times special correspondent" furnishes us an ably-written account of the fi'jht. It would appear that there is considerable difficulty in keeping up a newspaper correspondence between the Southern States and England. Ue says — " It has just been brought to my knowledge that not one of the letters which I wrote during the latter half of October and at the commencement of November, was successful in making its fxit from the Confederacy ; and such is the interest of events now passing, or immediately imminent, that there is little temptation to endeavor to re-write such portions of tlie missing letters as might even now possess interest for the European reader.'' From the very commencement of this great struggle for independence, the men of the South have displayed such courage and powers of endurance, their rulers such talent in making the most of the resources of the country, and their Generals (hitherto, be it remembered, for the most part untried men) such

skill in handling large bodies of troops, that it wasjevident that the chances of preserving the Union intact were very small, and that without the intervention of the European Powers the North would in tire end have to submit to a stern necessity, and . see the world's model Republic fall in pieces, notwithstanding all their efforts to the contrary. Apart from all the accidents of war, the fact that the two contending parties are in a great measure of different races, that their pursuits, their political tendencies and their institutions are, in many cases, essentially different, renders it improbable in tire last degree that they should again be united under one ! Government ; but we have now the assurance that victory has declared on the side of the Can federates, and that the Northerners are so overwhelmed by the extent of the reverses ■which have overtaken them, that it is by no means rash to predict that a few more mouths will see the termination of the conflict,and the Confederates reaping the benefits arising from their heroic endurance. The 13ih of December — the day on which the battle of j Fredericksburg was fought — will be for ever memorable, for on that day the most powerful army which President Lincoln could scud into he field, was utterly routed by a loice of Confederates immeasurably their in erior, both in numbers and the ■materiel of war. We could have wished to huve reprinted the whole of the .eport of the buttle, as furnished by the Times Special Correspondent, but our space warns us that we must, at all events, defer it to a future issue. After describing the manner in which, on the 10th and I lth, the Federals crossed the river in front of the Confederates, and on the 12th took up their position, the writer says : — '' The battle opened when the sun had let in enough light through the mist to disclose the near proximity of the Federal lines and field batteries. The first shot was fired shortly before 10 a.m. from the batteries, in the Federal centre, and was directed against General Hood's division. The Pennsvlvaniau Keserves advanced boldly under a heavy fire against the Con- j federates who occupied one of the copsewood spurs, and were for a time permitted to hold it, but presently the Confederate batteries opened on them, and a determined charge of the Texaos ; drove the Yankees out of the wood in a confusion from which nothing could subsequently rally them. Simultaneously a heavy fire issued from the batteries | of General A. P. Hill's aod General Early's divisions, which was vigorously replied to by the Federal field batteries. I The on! v ad vantage momentarily gained j by the Federals in this quarter, and j which is noticed in General Lee's re- I port, was on the occasion of ihe collapse of a regiment of North Carolina con- I scripts, who broke and ran, but whose j place was rapidly taken by more intrepid successors. The cannonading no* became general along the entire line. Such a Scene, at once terrific and sublime, mortal eye never rested on before, uuless the bombardment ot Sebastopol by the combined batteries oi Fiance and England, revealed a more fearful manifestation of the hate and fury of man. The thundering, bellowing roar of hundreds of pieces of artillery, the bright jets of issuing flame, the screamin";, hissing, whistling, shrieking projectiles, the wreaths of smoke as shell after shell burst iuto the still air, the savage crrish of round shot amonj; the trees of the shattered fonst, formed a scene likely to sink for ever inro the memory of all who witnessed it, but utterly defying verbal delineation. A direct and enfilading fire swept each battery upon either side as it was unmasked, volley replied to volley, crash succeeded crash, until the eve loit all power of oistinguishing the lines of combatants, and the whole plain seemed i a lake of fire, a seething mass of molten ' lava, coursed over by incarnate fiends lirunk with fury and revenue.' 1 The Irish brigade under General Meagher appear to have distinguished themselves greatly. To them " was principally committed the desperate task of bursting out of the town of Fredericksburij and forming under the withering fire of the Confederate batteries, to attack Marye's

Ilei^his, towering immediately in their front. Never at Fontenoy, at Albuera, or at Waterloo was more undoubted courage displayed by the sons of Erin than during those six. frantic dashes which 'h.-y directed against the almost impregnable position of their foe." The loss of the Confederates is stated to have been about 1,800 killed and wounded, but the Federals have suffered fur more severely, and it appears doubtful whether they will ever be able recover from the effects of their defeat. Bef'oiv tin's battle, the enormous amount of difficulty experienced in recruiting the Federal ranks was proverbial, and there can be no doubt that that difficulty will be now increased a thousand fold.