THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 42, 3 April 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.

(From the London Times Special

Correspondent.)

Head Quarters of General Lee, Near Fredericksburg, Dec. 8.

To pick up dropped stitches in an unprogressive web, to walk Ceaselessly in a SaUe des Pas Perdus — such is at this moment the lot of a correspondent immured within the limits of the Confederate States. It has just been brought to my knowledge that not one of the letters J wrote during 1 the latter half of October and at the commencement of November was successful in making its exit from the Confederacy; and such is the interest of events now passing, or immediately imminent, that there ia little temptation to endeavor to re-write such portions of the missiDg letters as might e\eu now possess interest for the European reader. With two immense armies facing each other across an insignificant river, and threatening momentarily to come into collision, the ear is strained to catch the report of the signal guns which will be the prelude to the thunder of 600 pieces of artillery ; and there is every indication that not many days, perhaps not many hours, can elapse without bringing on a general engagement. Never was the Confederate army in finer heart, or better prepared for it. The interest is enhanced by the speculations in reference to the destination of General Banks, who is collecting a mighty flotilla of transports at Fortress Monroe, nominally designed to enter the port of Brunswick, in Georgia, but by many supposed to contemplate a blow at a point much nearer to Richmond, Tho York and James Rivers, or the coast of North Carolina, are spoken of as the points of his possible attack; while by some it is fancied that the Washington Cabinet, wincing under the execration which General Butler's doings have elicited from the whole civilized world, is about to put General Banks in his place, and to withdraw from New Orleans a tyrant who has made Galigula or Alva seem mild and respectable, and who has added to his appalling acts of cruelty that stain which is seldom absent even in the purest Yankee natures — the lust of gold "smartly" acquired, which in European phraseology means disreputably, if not dishonestly. There is hardly a man in the Northern States but is a%vare that General Butler has taken advantage of his positiou in ]N r ew Orleans, and has engaged in every description oC surreptitious and illicit traffic, from which his gains are already reported to have reached a fabulous amount. The chosen instrument for conducting this masked trade is General Butler's brother-in-law, once the keeper of a gambling-house in ; California, but now likely to issue from New Orleans a millionaire more pletiioric than the gaming frateruity whose fine houses and high-stepping horses are the wonder and shame of New York and San Francisco. But does any one in the Washington Cabinet, which can no more absolve itself from the charge of complicity with General Butler's frauds than it could if they were perpetrated by Mr Seward — does any one Northern individual, lay or clerical, in public or private, condemn General Butler's knavery? "Pretty smart man, General Butler, I reckon !" When Mr Everett, or Mr Henry Ward Beecher, or any other public speaker of authority shall dare lo tell a popular audience that there is a Divine commandment which proclaims "Thou shalt not steal," and which is of as stringent obligation now as it was 4000 years ago, there will be a hope that the model Republic will cease to put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, and that common integrity and guileless honesty will emulate the example of the precious metals on this continent, and will for the first time rise to a pre-

mium

But, in my judgment, the Federal Government cares no more for the howl of execration of which General Butler is the object than it does for the expression of indignation which has burst from every civilised nation on earth in reference to the recent ruthless murder by General M'Neill of ten Confederate prisoners at Palmyra, in Missouri. Gen. JButler will probably remain at New Orleans until his bags of gold have swelled to bursting, and until he thinks proper to go elsewhere to realize. I have noticed in former letters the ominous language of the lip and eye which follows the mention of General Butler's name anywhere in the Confederate States, and does not augur well for his tranquil enjoyment of his acquired property in part of the world where he may choose to reside ; but all this is nothing to his government, which chuckles when General Butler announces to the citizens of New Orleans (as he didrecently) that whereas last winter he lashed them with whips, he would this winter lash them with scorpions. In one of my missing letters I mentioned a story, communicated to me by Mr Benjamin, which will bear repetition here. Mr Benjamin has two sisters and a niece who reside within fire miles of New Orleans. One of the sisters and her daughter are both widows, the other sister is unmarried. Recently, about 8 o'clock in the evening, a Federal officer with a dozen soldiers called at the house of these ladies and informed them that they must evacuate it there and then, as it was seized for military purposes. The ladies pleaded hard for a respite until the rrorning, which at last, with the utmost difficulty they obtained. Meanwhile the officer told all their slaves that they were free, and in the teeth of

their urgent % rem6ns'trahceis against this forcible emancipation insisted upon their proceeding at once to New Orleans. The ladies were permitted, to pack up a few personal effects for their own use, but, as they did so, the officer sat over them and frequently snatched from them with a jeer, any object which took his fancy, alleging that it was required as a military necessity. At 5 the next morning these ladies and their boxes were turned into the road. Such is the terror which General Butler has inspired that none of the neighbors dared give them shelter. They made their way weary and foot-sore, to New Orleans, where they had no small difficulty, penniless (Gen. Butler allows no " rebel '* to draw his or her own money from a bank) and on foot, in procuring a temporary aeylurn. Such a system of warfare, which haunts out unoffending and helpless women for torture, and vents its miserable spite upon thorn because they have an able and powerful relative, requires no additional word of comment or remark.

But to return to Virginia, it seems probable that Jack Frost, who took no part last winter in the fray, will reassert his authority this winter, and interfere not only with the Potomac, the James, and York rivers, but also with such streams as the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee, from the first of which, in its present low stage, the Federal gunboats will, perhaps, be unable to make their egress before they are clutched by the icy i fingers of winter. This notion is encouraged by our climatic experiences here during these last few days. On Friday, the sth, it snowed hard ; on Saturday, the 6th, the snow blew off and the weather became clear and cold, and the nights of the 6th and 7th were unusually and piercingly cold, the mercury falling close to the zero of Fahrenheat, with a bitter wind cutting to the bone. The ink in the carpet bag under my head froze solidly last night, and became like a lump of coal. The suffering of the army was terrible ; but we are universally assured that, in spite of their superior comforts, the sufferings of the Yankees exceeded those of the Confederate soldiers. There is a rumour of six Yankee pickets being frozen to death on the night of the 6th. It is a repetition of the old experiences gained in Napoleon's Russian campaign in 1812, during which the soldiers from Italy and the sunny South bore the rigor of that merciless winter far better than the soldiers from the north of Europe. There is only one man who seems utterly unconscious that it is not July — the Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Robert E. Lee. We breakfasted this morning, according to General Lee's invariable custom, in the open air shortly after sunrise, and such a starved shivering company, with the exception of the Genera] himself, as gathered round his table, and partook of that wintry al fresco meal, it has never been my fortune to witness before. Many were the suggestions made and discussions indulged in by the General's Staff in reference to obtaining his approval of a requisition on the QuartermasterGeneral for a hospital tent, in which the head-quarters' staff might take their meals. Inasmuch as the General is greatly averse from increasing the transportation requisite for himself and his staff, I fear the latter will have no alternative but to continue to shiver. It rarely happens that such cold weather occurs in Virginia without giving warning of an unusually severe winter. The Confederates are in high spirits at the prospect, as in many ways it is likely to be of the greatest advantage to them, and a corresponding detriment to their opponents.

The apparent imminence of a battle has had its usual effect in heightening the spirits of the soldiers, and disposing the camp to such gaiety as life in a pine wood, and a total absence of women may be supposed to admit of. The usual frolics at General J. E. B. Stuart's head-quarters are of nightly recurrence, except on the occasions when the General is absent upon one of his long scouting rides, which keep him out all night, and afford a

respite to General Stuart's headquarters' band, winch consists of one excellent bandjo player and one bones, and is thus temporarily released from serenades and the discourse of other music. But all other entertainments of the enmp have for the moment been thrown into the shade by the performances enacted two nights ago by General Hood's Texans, and which by particular desire will be repeated to-ni^ht. General Hood, a tall, sinewy, eagerlooking soldier, is universally admitted to have led his Texan brigade into some of the hottest places which could be found throughout this war, and if the palm of valor could by acclamation be voted to any one brigade there is little doubt that Virginians, Louisanians, and every other State would combine in acknowledging the superior and paramount claims of Hood's fighting Texans. General Hood, who is much beloved by his men, knows that listlessness and want of interest and occupation in camp are fatal obstacles, when the day for action comes, to efficiency in the field. He has been at the pains therefore, to encourage the organisation among his men, of a band of iSthiopian minstrels, lo or 12 innumber, who, on Saturday night, discoursed very eloquent music and elicited rapturous applause, especially one soldier successfully dressed up as a danseuse, and conspicuous for a remarkably neat foot and ancle. The long preparation which such performances exact, the interests of the discussions which they subsequently awaken are great incidents in the monotony of camp life, and very healthy stimulants to men so disposed to listless apathy as the Southern soldier. It cannot be questioned that the banjo, the national musical instrument of the Southern Confederacy, is a great addition to the amusements of soldiers on a c^ipaign, and would be beneficial in spiriting away some of the proverbial spleen and dullness of the

British soldier in camp.. Add j« this the natural aptitude for, music which makes every negro a musician and ready for dance and song, and there are elements of entertainnaefll which cannot be found in - connexitir with any European army in the field, and are no slight circumstances: inj-ifi? fluencing and elevating the i'pirhs:!^ the dejected, tatterdemalioni lustre, half-starved, scrrecrows whoiariji nobly conducting this brilliant' struggle for independence, which it is ob^iouscto the least far-sighted observer they vare on the eve of bringing to a successful issue. r "'-*' i For, in spite of the ineradicable rbhisi ter of the Northern journals, what is th« true situation of affairs ? For nearly three months those vast hosts' whicfc the North is never weary of parading^ have declined to attack their insignifi-r cant and exhausted foe, and are at'last threatening General Lee in a positior. which they cannot carry without siipetoj human valour and the loss of- 50,-OOD men In the West, where the failure of General Bragg has unquestionably deferred the incipient gravitation of Ken-, tucky towards the ' Confederacy, the appointment .of General Joseph Johnston to the supreme command, a" successful dash of General Morgan, and the visat%f President Davis to the West have, restored public confidence, while the <er>o>rmous natural obstacles, which must continue to baffle much greater efforts than the North can set in motion, puzzle tfe* will and dishearten the enterprise «of leading Unionists. Even if Vicksbuig is taken (and it must not be forgotten that Vicksburg was bombarded for six weeks in June and July by one flotilla of gunboats above the town and. by another flotilla below it, and that all that was compassed by this -costly and protracted fire was the death of fifteeSa Confederates), and if the navigation Jpf the Mississippi from St. Louis to Hieyr Orleans is reopened, how will the North and its commercial interests be benefit' ted thereby ? It is true that iron-clad gunboats will then go up and down the stream, but a single 6-pounder oh any one of the bluffs will be a fatal bar and check upon any trading vessel. oriil the North can change the whole heart and soul of men, women, and childrea in those States which are lost to Abraham Lincoln and his successors for«ver, trade between New Orleans and Si, Louis can no more be re-opened than jt can between Tyre and Sidon. For, even if trading vessels could be sent down the stream, with whom would they trade and what money would they accept? Barter of cotton in exchange for Northern commodities would be declined by nine-tenths of the Southern population, and frustrated by guerillas if ever it were attempted. It is marvellous that the North continues to blind itself to the fact that the compulsory restoration of the Union is as impossible of accomplishment as the sub]aeatior» °f the inhabitants or the planet ..Jupiter. The only other arrow in the Federal quiver, in addition to the defeat of General Lee's army and the re -opening of the Mississippi, is the destrnction orocenpation of Charleston, Mobile, and other seaboard cities. Not a' day but strengthens the defences of those cities, and, if public rumor speaks truth, the Federals will have difficulty in maintaining their blockade after next spring. No glimmer of light is any where discoverable on the Federal horizon, and the indifference which is here manifested on the subject of that European intervention once so eagerly courted by the South, but now believed to be more zealously craved in secret by the Nortb, is an earnest of the amended circumstances and. growing confidence of that nation and army which has sprung into life, and maintained its existence through 20 months of unparalleled hardship and difficulty.

Dec. 11.

A hurried visit to Richmond, which, has served further to disclose to me the great difficulties, far exceeding any thing that I had anticipated, of successfully transmitting letters from the Southern States to England, has prevented my continuing this narrative until to-day, and I resume it under the increased excitement which the loud boom of great guns in the neighborhood and the commencement of that engagement which has long been ardently desired by the Confederate generals have universally diffused around me. At a very early hour this morning information was brought to Generals Lee and Longstreet that the Federals were engaged duiing the bright moonlight of Wednesday night, the 10th, and in the early morning of the 11th, in throwing pontoon bridges across the river at Fredericksburg, and at a creek called Deep Run, which, flows from the south into the Rappahannock, a mile and a half below the town. No opposition was directed by the Confederates against the builders of the pontoon bridge at Deep liun, because the valley south of the river is in that spot bare and wide and flat, and entirely swept by the Federal cannon on the Staffordheights. The bridge at Deep Run was, therefore, thrown without impediment, across the stream, and was completed by noon on Thursday. The town of Fredericksburg was held by two companies of one of Barksdale's Mississippi regiments, serving as pickets, who opened a brisk fire upon the bridge builders, and drove the survivors in confusion back to the northern bank. Instantly more than ts hundred of the heavy Federal guns on the north of the river gave their response to the handful of Confederate sharpshooters on the southern bank, by opening furiously upon the doomed city of Fredericksburg and endeavoring to make the whole of it too hot to shelter a Bingle S uthern rifleman. A second time the Federals ventured out upon the pontoons and were a second time driven back by Barksdale's Mississippi brigade, which, had now came to the assistance of the two companies that had originally heljd the town. It was not until many of the buildings in Fredericksburg had been. battered down along the river bank, and until a hailstorm of shot and shell from the Federal guns on the heights, and of musket-balls from the Yankee sharp-

■v,!

Shooter? along the „bank|* v had riddled ibrery t»larik had Wck in j,he - ; town ; . thn£ :.|li^Federats succeeded about five o'clock Tn^hr afternoon of Thursday, in Uirowing^ their .pontoons iacro3S the river, n feat the; aocompiishrnent of which they celebrated by shouts that made the hills Vocal, and were taken up again nnd . again i by the -mighty host of men whose tents whiten every crest on the northern •ide of the river, and give color to the repeated allegations of Federal prisoners \ that 300,000 men are under arms and j obedi«nt to the command of General Burnstde. It will be remarked thnt the building of the bridges was only • opposed on one spot, und that at tint spot it was- only opposed by the musketry fire of a single Con federate briga-ie. The Con federate batteries on the Spott--Bylvam.J-lieighfcs looked grimly down on the bloody work proceeding below them, i but did not reply to the deafening cannonade of the Federal batteries, nor betray their exact position by opening fire. The sun dropped behind the hills, leaving 150 men of Barksdale's brigade dead and wounded in the town, the Wtown itself riddled fiom cellar to garret, down in many places, and burning in others. The resistance this day offered by General Lee to the passage of the riv< j r by the Fudersd* eeems to confirm the opinion that it was his design to damage the enemy ns they cro.«sel, but by no msaus vigorously to pipjse their passage. Dec. 12. Those who were unacquainted with tlif> delays which invariably attend the movements of very luge armies, especitllv when nn attack upon a strong arid ela'm- • rately r.hoaeti p 'Sttion of th^ enfinv is contemplated, confi lently looked for Mi»» momentous collision between the Confederate and Federal armies this morning at, daybreak; but, a< whs -.mticipifed by tn >re j experience I heads, t!ie day worn away without developing a Fe:l <ral onslaught ' upon the Southern lines. The preceding night was employed busily in throwing dense misses of Northern troops across the pontoons at Fredejick>burg and D^ep Run, and one or two other bridges thrown across at other p dnts. So numerous were these bridges allpgad to he that busy runmr, hardly less iin njin^ii ve an 1 sugges'ive among the Confederates thai among their opponents, estimated th^ni various'}" at from 15 to 8). I believe that ; in reality they did n"t ewerfd tli-ee or four. But as the bright and .warm sun [ broke cheerfully from ihe heavens fin I dis pelled the thick mi« which for many hours brooded over the p'aiu and intercepted file view of objects distant imt more than three or fi>ur him Ire.l yard*, it bee une more and more obvious, even to the lea-t experienced eye, what a munificent position was occupied by the Confedera'e army, and how wisely and sagaciously the ground hid b -en chosen by General L c It must have been a moment of pr:w 1 gia • ti fixation to General Lee. and tho<e cantains who under him have gained everincreasing disiincto/i, when ih.\y realized beyond all question th it the enemy was about to force an attack ua Icr circumstances whioli would have injured defeat had the ons) -eight been m «\<i by the bravest disciplined troop* of lvir»p<% and which reduced the mate of the disheartened and loosely coupled troops of Gtsner d Burnsida to an absolute certainty. As the pbservcr stood on the range oF hills which impenu on,.- rv-derw'.Vsbnry on r.hp and pi inced his eye down upm the town . and, right, and left, along the low swelling ridges which ex end fro-u tin river on his left, and. forming tin arc of' a semicircle, strike the river agiin abo it rix miles below oi his right, he nvght hay« chai- , lenged the most deeply read student of military history to produce any precedent in whirl) bittle has ever been ilelivKicd under circumstances more unfavorable to Ihe assailing pany, or upon ground fro:n which any great master of ihe an of w.ir ; would more naturally have recoiled, had ihe initiative, renviined within his own option. The Kap;.>:»han»ock. in iis course from west to east, is skirted, j.ist at the point where Fivd-ncksb irjj stands on its southern bank, by low crests of hill, wliLh on the northern bmlc run pirallel and close to the river, and on th-* southern trend backward fom the stream, and leave a semicircular plain six miles in length a>»d two or three in depth, enu ose-.l wilhin their circumference before they again anproqch the river in the neighborhood of Wassiponax Creek. Immediately ahore ihe lawn, and on the left oF the Confederate position, the bluffs are bold and hire of trees: but as the hills in their eastward c wise recede from th«; river they become lower an:l are densely woo led, while low spur-! coy red with copsewood run down at right angles to tha range ol hills into the plain, behind and between whrcli spurs the centre and right ol the Confederate army wis p >^ed, str^tdiin,' for n diitance of six miles from ihe extreme left, and ending in the immediate neighborhood of Mas<aponnx Cre ( 'k, which joins the liappahannoclc some five miles below Fre lerir.kslmrg. It will be nnna-rnt to tho reader thai the left of the Confederate army, a pir ion of it stationed not more than 4)0 yards from Freleiicksburg, occu- i pied a much stronger position than the centre and right. There was not sufficient room for the Federal troops destine I for the attack of the nearest Confederate batteries t" <l p'°v a" 1 ' form, except under a deadly Confederate fire ; whereas the Federal troops who attacked the C "iifelerate centre an I ruh.t had a larye plain oi which to-dep'oy, nnd had much fewer disadvantages of ground lo contend with, inasnun-ii as they advanced agiin-t lower llills and had the to-tp spurs of copse f<> assist them as points of attack, calculated to protect and serve as points d'appui to the Federal troops if th«y ould once have, succeeded in catrytn? and holding them. Rut even in its we; kest point • the Confederate line possessed rrreal advantages of position ; and it is no wvvler that cVrtrv S luthe.rner. from the Cow mander in-Cliief down to ihe youngest drummer-Moy, understood and appreciate I the s^snerth of the ground. au<l contemplated the coming sh »ck of bittle with serene confidence and composure. In ddscribinu the srround upm which ihe battle subsequently took place, I should not omit to add that the r li'roa-J tmck from Fre.dnricksburg to Richmond runs di'»j?on,illy through the semicircular plain describe I above!"and crosses the Conf -derale line of batttle «hree and a-half miles from Fredericksburg, at » point ceiled Hautilio-n's Crosflinff. This point was strongly held by apirtof the Cmfederate right, an I it i* manifest tint as;ainst ths point and alonjr the railroid track it wo dd have been wis-if-the webhtof th" Fedeeal attack had been directed. It -=vill' be understood, in conclusion, that the heights on the northern or Staff ml aide of the Rap pah an nock, which for miles toncli and impend over the stream, were surmounted by a long line of beavv Fe'leriljrifled cannon. Also. along the whole ConMerate line of battle, nearly 800 pieces of artillery were in position or In reserre. There is no recorded battle of Ikistory. ia which anything like so many

pieces of ariillery took part (of course in this assertion I -di» not t-uclude - Bienes-),> and the reailer will at once realize how inadequate lauitua^o is to describe the thunder of >jn vast a number of cannon, or the deadly peltiosr iiailoF such an aggregate of the ptojectilfS whinh modern ingenuity has- succeeded in devising It remains briefly to notice the disposition of the troops along the Confederate line. It may be mentioned summarily that the Confederates are divided into two large co v ps darmse, and that on this occasion Uenjral L >n^street's corps w.-is on the left, «nd General "Stonewall" J,vks<ui's on the right. But as the hottest work of the battle fell upon particular divisions and brigades, it should be further staled (although thep»ition of each brigade cumin', for want of timi», he given) that the Confederate divisions. stanih}» from the left of the line and proceeding towards the right, .were posted as follows • — On the extreme l ijft the division of General Andeisnn ; next to it the division of General Ransom ; next to it h-it of Genera! M'Claws ; nix to it that of General Piekeft ; and next to it the division of (letter il Hood. Proceeding now to General Jackson's corps, the ground between General Mood's light and the raihoad at Hamilton's Cros-ing was tnosiy hel i by the large division comtn nine I by that excellent ofiWr. General V P. Hill. Behind the line of G?n<M-al A P. llillthedivisionoFGenor.il D. H. Hill was held iv reserve. To the right of Get. A. P. Mill, the division once commanded '»y General ttwell. who lost his lej, if i nrstake not, at the second battle of Vlanissas, but now commanded by General Karly, held the woods right up to an I aciols the railro-ul at Hamilton* Crossing. In front of Geueril Eirly tha powerful artillery of Colonel Walker was thrown forward, to rite, as was expected, into th enemy's Hank. Acrnv*. or to the east of. the railroad, on the extreme Confdlerate right. General J. K. B. Stuart, with hia oival-y and hor-e artillery, covered the H ink of the Confederate lin •;. his rear almost resting upon Massaponax Creek. As regards the disposi ion of the Feleral troops, no hing iiui'c is known than ihu the three great bodies of troops were commanded, that on the Federal right by Gen. Smniier, that on the Federal centre by General Hooker, ani that on the Federal left by General Franklin. It is estimated that not less th.-m 40.000 troops were gmed in the atracK directed by General Siiiniu-r. and that 50,00!) were employed up»n the Federal centre and left. Fri.lav, the 12i.1i of December, was employed by the Federals in arranging and massing tliair troops for the nest day's it'ack. Acuive skirmishing was kepi up by the pickets on both sides for sevt-ra; hours, and in the afternoon, with a view to feeling the Co i federate position, the heavy Federal tfuns thundeied acr>ss the river, ami we:e only feebly replie I to by th-* b.itt»*ries on the ConfeiJtr ite left. Tlie soiemnity of the iin;n<.-(iiatelj- approachi 12 battle c.i->t its .-.hadow over the scene, an I that earnestness and tranquility of demeanor which, on the eve of momentous event-, overtake even t'te most g-irmlous and thoughtless, rdigued Uiimistukeably Uj»on every counte-nancd. At night, a^ the pickets of the two a mies were sta liontd within a few hundred yards of eacli other, th' Co-ileder ite-; could hear the earnest and im;>assio:ied sr.eeohesof Federal or.itors, rousing ihc* spirit of their troops, and n.akiiig vehement appeals to tie >anclity of the old flag. " i'h« old H.ig is pl-iyed out," shouieil the Confederates in reply. " Somehow," remaiked one of the Confederates to me, '■ there must be a want of grit among ihe Yankees, otherwise they w.iuldn'i want all this talking to." It i- in\pos-iible not to con-tra-.t the spirit of. the two armiai — the Confederates, so cam, so resolute, so satisfied with their Generals, so suffering, yet rejoicing to suffer a< long hardship is the p<ice of liberty ; the Federals, lashe 1 into the field by the thong of golden bounties, ami in the field lashed against the enemy by the invective and appeals of able spokesmen so distrustful of their Generals an I each other So pampered and yet so dissitiified The Auror i Borealis which overspread the heaven*, and dar ! ed blood -red tongues of flame swiftly from the meridian down to tlie horizon, w.is accepted by ilia Co.tfedjrates as the cross outlined on the sky was accepted by Coiibtun.ine — an earnest of assured victory.

December 13

Th^ morning of the 13th «>f i)jcetnlier — a lnemoiviblp clny to the hlstoiian of ihe Decline and Fall of the American Republic — broke sti'l and warm, while, as on ths preceding day, a thick haze enveloped the town of Frederic ksburg and the circutnjiCviH valley, and delayed the opening uf firu by the antagonistic bblieries until the sun ha 1 been up some three or four hours. It wa< strange to iM>nti»->t Siituntay, the 1 4 hof September, with Sal unlay, \\\<i 6 h, and to cmnpire the intense cold of the earlier Saturdiy, with the spriug-iike warmth and cihn ness of the 1-iitir. The day which Lam describing was one of those outbursts of thit Julian summer which lingers long and fondly in bemtiful Vir.iuia ; the morning baza vvitnh shroti'led heath and pl-itn, and fores^ was Mie orditiaty prelude to the warmth a-nl g'ow of the sun at, noonday. As tlie. i'v^ tiffed al> ut ten in the morning, and the sun burs ' ihnrugh the clouds, tiie long lines of the Federal army, which bad passed the whole pieceding d i.v in deplo.ing and preparing for the attack, were distinctly visible in the plain, nn I give awf.il indications ol the amount of the Fedeivil host wh eh ha I crossed the river. Tin 'Joufe lente anil.-, wholly undaunted by the eK'rav.igant stories about ihe strength of their fod. waited calmly, dravrn up for the nio-!t part wilhin the fringe of the woods, couti deni in tiieir position, mvl iv ihe Vdlo which his never failed them. And hire it nriy be a< well finally io <lisj>el those illusions un ler which it is the custom of the Northern press to \eil the disgrice of delent, when the fact itse.f admits of no denial. The whole number of Con fed - raie»in the field this <l iy did not e.<:ecd, from 83 000 to 90.O).) men. Of th-r,e, some 20,0U0 men, taking the veiy lughiist estimate, took part iv the fight. By the urgent entreaty of several of the leading • Jonfelerate Generals, it has long been sought r.uher io keep down than to swell the numbers of the Southern army. It i* well Known to the sagacious G> nerals of the Confederacy th it sucii an army as obeyed General Lee's command this day, if vveli handled and imbued with a fine spirit, is more than a match for any number that can be led against them. Tne statements of the Federal Secretary of War iotlieeffecttlMt he Ims 800.000 men at this moment in his pay. carry conifon ivither than dismay lo the heuns of th.^ Confederates. So cumbrous and unweildy a much ne a.s the Fe leral army cannot but. break down by its own weight, and by the vast amount of transport which its pampered soldiery requires ; and in add^itinn to many other testimonies to its ii» mobility, the. statement of the I'rince de Joinville, that one railroad is not sufficient to supply such an army as General Ai'Clellan lad against Richmond, will carry conviciion to the Kuropean pu lie. It ia impossible tor me to describe the positions of each of tlie numerous Confederate

batteries which stretched along their six .mile line of battle. It will suffice' if I indicate the batteries which "were most hotly engaged,, and bore, the brunt of the action. By far the most imporrant position was occupied by the Washington Artillery, commanded by Colonel Walton, of New Orleans, and posted on the heights in the immediate neighbor-., hood of Frerlerieksburp, not more than 4G(V yards m>m the town. These heights, which are precisely of that altitude which is most tavorab'e for the play of artillery, are surmounted by a brick, house, now riddled hy round shot, beionsingto Mr Marye, and are commonly called Marye's Heights. At their base a road wind?, protected on one side by the hills, and on the otiier by a solid stone wall, about four feet in height, over which a brigade of Confederates, themselves perfectly sheltered, poured the dead.icst and most, effective of fire*. A little farther back, to the south-east of Marye's heights, stands another and higher hill, from which the most commanding view of the entire fiel.l is obtainiblo, and which, as it is the usual station of the Co.nmando in Chief, is now known us General L'je's dill. From this hill, duiug a lirge po tiou of Saturday, a 30-p mnder Parrot gun, cast at th.j Trelegar works in lticlimoud, po'ired a destructive fire into the Federals. Suddenly, about three in ihe afternoon, on its 37t > disjhiirgs this gun burst with a dreadful explosion, bat happily di.l no injury to any of the bystanders. At the moment of its explosion. Captain Phillip-, of the Grenadier Guards (favorably remarked this day for his behaviour under fire), Mij ir Venables, of General Lee's staff, an I Major Ila-kell were c >nv-..'rsinj» within a few fvet of the gun. Tiieir e-cape without ii.juiy was little less than miraculous. As the Confederate line trends away to the right, the b 'tteries of General lL)od't» division wore active. y engage! against the advancing columns of i'enusylvani ms ; but n "Xt to ih? batteries on Marye's heights and General Lee's hill, 1 shoul.l say tuat the artillery commanded by Colonel Walker tojk the in >st effective part in ilu sijcioti, as it. poured h fl.inkiiig fire into the enemy's left. One other biittei}' deserves favorable mention, which it obtained in the short and modest report of the batile which emanated front the pen of Gjii.'ral Lee. On the extreme ri^ht of the Confederates, i-i fi out of the p.mti m oi-cipied by General Stuart's cavalry, a few bn tteries of •Stuart's Horse Artillery were thrown forward, to fi.iiik the Federals, between Walker's Artillery and the river. Qi nerat Stuart v>rdereJ Major John Pelham, hU Chief of Artillery, to advance one gun considerably towarils the enemy, and to open upon him. Major Pelham obi-yed, and opened the fire of a ri-poundjr Napoleon gun with great precision and deadly t-ffviut into the Federal fl-mk. The galling discharges of this gnu quickly drew upon it the fire of three Federal field batteries., while, from across tlu river, two oih r heavy batteries joined in the stnfe and made iNLijo.- Pelha-n and his lvi their target. For huurs no r . less tli vn thirty Federal cannon strove to s'len.-e Maj )r l'elhain's popgan, and srove in vain. The unyielding and uniL'ino.tstrative coinage of Alaj >r I'dlhatn, his composure un lei tlu deadlies'fire, hive lutij; m tde him co!i<j)icuo'is, but nevjr wee h.s no ile quiliti s ihe su j-.-c. of mure «lo«ing eulogy than upon this occasion. Genjial L(e exclaimed, "Ie is in-;pirk-i.ig to see .-v glorious ctiur.ig-e in one *o young" ( Via or Pelham is not more than 2 ') ; General Jackson remaiked, " With a Pelha n upon either flank I could vanquish t*e world."

At half pist S a.m. General L?e, accompanied by his full staff, roil a slowly along the front of the Confederate iines from I. ft to right, and took up hii station for a tim- hcyond Matuiiton's Crossing, and iv rear of the batteries on the extreme Confedtra.e right. It would bj presumptuous in me to s-iy one word in commendation of the serenity, or, if I may so express it, the unconscious digniry of General Lt?/.s courage, when he is n -.der fire. No one who sees and knows his demeanour in ordinary life would expect anything else from one so calm, so undemonstrative and unassuming. But the description applied after the battle of Alma to Lord Riglan by Marshal Si. Arnaud, and in which noticing Lord Raglan's unconsciousness under fire, he speaks of his " antique heroism,'' seems to me so applicable to General Lee that I cannot forbear recalling it here. A', a subsequent period of the day General Les nssiMied his station on the hill which takes its name from him, airl thence, in comiany with General Longstreet, calmly watched the repulse of the repeated Fed ial efforrs against the heights on which he stood. Occasionally General Jackson role up to the s]> >t and mingled in c nversatiou \vi h the other two leading gener.ils. Once General Longstreet exclaimed to him, '■ Are you not scared hy that tile of Yankees you have before you down there ?"' to which General JiU-kson replied. " Wait till tli y co ne a little near and they shall either scare me or I'll scare them."

The b.ittlo opene 1 when the *un Ind let in enough light tlirojgh the mist to di.sclo-e the near proximity ot the Federal Hues and field b.uteris. The fir>t shot was fir^d shorty bef >re 10 a m. from the batter es i.i the Federal centre, and w-is directed ag:iin-a G rienil lloods's divisio:i. The Fennsylviinian reserves advanced b lliliy under a heavy fire against the Confederates who occupied <if th.copsjwood spurs, and were for a time permitted to hoi I it, but presently the Co ilederate batteries opened on them, and a determined charge of the Texaas drove the Yankees out of the wood in a confusion from which nothing could subsequently rally tlr-m. Simultaneously a heavy tire is-nuvl from the b i tteries <;f General A. P. Hill's and General E-irly's divisions, which was vigorously repiieil to by the Federal tit- Id batteries. The only alvant.ige momentarily giined hy the Fed rals in tliis quarter, and which is nof.iu.rl i i (ie i. Lee's r p>r , was on the occasion of t'le co ai>se of a reg'tnen; o ; ' North dr., Una co-.iscripts, wh > broke and r<n, bat wli!>se ])!.-ico was rapidly Vik 'n by more intrcpi 1 successors. The cannonading row became general al «ng the entre line. Su:'li a scene, at one terrific a.i.l sublime, mortal eve nev>-r reste I on hjforo, v lle.ss th? bo.nba-rdment of Sjb.ist-.pol by the combined hatteii.-s of France and England revealed a more fearful mi oife-tari m of the h-ite and fury of mm. TII3 thnnd -riiiir, bellowing r.iar of hundreds of pices of aitillerv, th? bright jets of iss-.i-ing fiim •, the hissing, wh.stling, shriek'ng pnijer.tie.s, the wreaths of s n:>ke as shell after she'l burst into tlu still air, die s.ivage cras'i of r mn i shot am > ig ihc tree of the shattered forest, formed a sc tie likely to sink Cor ever into the memory of all w!io wit icssei it. b it utterly defying veibal dilinpation. A direct and enfilading fire swept each batte-}' upon either side as it was un-ma-ked, volley replieo co volley, crash succeeded crash, until the eve lost all power of distinguishing the lines of co.nb itants, and the wh >le pi ii"i ssemida lake ofm ilten l<iv:i, co.irse.l over by inciruate lienJs drunk with fury an I revenge.

T wic 3 the Federals, gallantly led anl cncou raged by their officers, d islied aguinsc the force* of General A. 1\ Hill, and Gene-al Ivirlev. and twice they recoiled, broken ;<nd dNcom'i'ed, aid incai><ib<e of being again rallied 10 the fr.iy. The eager Confederates drove them with hoi rid carnage a niile across the plain, and only desisted from the pursuit when they came un:L>r the fire of ihe Federal bjtterie* across the river. Upm the extreme Confederate right General Stuirt's h>rse artillery pressed hotly upon the fugtive.s and kept up a fire subsequently understood to have b-en veiy effective, until after dark. Upon the Confederate right, where the antagonists fought upon more level terms, the equ-ility of loss on both sides was greater than on the Confederate left ; but evea here the Fe le-al lo^s m officeis and men far outnumb^r^d that of their opponents. General Bayard, the best cavalry officer in the Federal service, fell dead almost on the eve of the day which was to have witnessed his nup.ials; General Jackson, of Pennsylvania, shared his f-ite. Many other general officers were carried to the Federal rear, grievously wounded ; whereas ot the Confederates only one officer of rank — General Gregg—fell upon the light ; and only one — General Cobb — upon the iwft.

Meanwhile, the battle which had dashed furiously agafrfct the lines of Generals Hood, A. P/Hill^nnd' Early, \ras little more than child's play, compared with the onslaught directed by the Federals in the immediate neighborhood of Fredericksburg. The impression that the Confederate batteries would not fire heavily upon the Federals advancing 1 in this quarter, for fear of injuring the town of Frederieksburg. is b°lieved to have prevailed among the Northern Generals How bitterly they deceived themselves, subsequent events served to show. To the Irish division, commanded by General Meagher. was piintipally committed the desperate ta-k of bursting out of the town of Frederieksbnrg, and forming, under the withering fire of the Confederate batteries, ti attack M.irye's Heights, lowering immediately in their fronts. Never at Fontenoy, at Albuera, or at Waterloo, was more undoubted courage d'up'ayed by t.h? sons of Erin than durina: those six frantic dashes which tlu>y dire ted against the almost impregnable portion of their foe. Thete are stories that General Meagher h irangued his troops i i imna-sioned language on the morning of the 13th, and plied them extensively with the whisky found in the cellars of Frede-ricksbur-r. After witnessing the gallantry and devotioi exhibited by his tro >ps and viewing the hillsides for acres strewn with their corpses thick as autumnal loaves, the spectators can remembtr nothing but their desperate courage, and r gr-jt that it was not exhibited in a holier caus*. That any mortal men could have carried the position before which they wore wantonly sacrificed, defended as it was, it seems to me idle for a moment to believe. But tho bodies which lie in dense musses within 40 yards of the muzzles of Colonel Walton's guns are the best evidence what manner of men they wcie who pressed on t > ck-ath with the dauntlessness of a race which has gained glory on a thousand b -ittlefieWls. and never more richly deserved it than at the foot of Marye's Heights on the 13th day of December, 1862.

An opportunity of sending this lotcr, wi.h an encouraging prosject of its reucbinjr England, c impels me to d for a further account of thu xaUnnt djfonee on the Confederate left of the town of Ffedjrieksburg an-1 of the battle-field, until a subsequent letter. Bitit is important to add that, even at this early d itp, there are a undant evidences that the Contederntes, themselves sustaining a los< of about 1800 killed and wounded, have inflicted upon their enemy a defeat fr.nn which it will take him months it iid months to recove\ Such was the demoralisation this evening of the Federal troops as they rin through the streets and cowered in the eel ars of Frederick-burp, that liuiidrods of soldiers exclaimed, " You may shoot us down, may hang us, or do what you like, but back there," pointing at Marye's Heights, "we will never go again. '' I forbear to state the esti nates of the Federal loss, w'.iicli place it at ah appalling figure, and yet are believed not to be far from the truth. It is not likely 'hut the full details of tin's battle will bo generally kn >wn in the North for -weeks an I weeks ; but if, after the failure of this last and feeblest of all the Federal attempts to leach Hteh tiond, with tli 3 N >rtliern army unnerved, di-moralUfd, a -d starting asunder like a broken bow, the Iri?h and U-'imrins are again tempted to eoib irk in so hopeless :i venture, then is the conclusion irresistible that, in addition to all the shackles of desp >tism which they are alleged to have left behind tlum in Europe, they have left also fiat most valuable attribu:e of huinaiiky, which is called common