Page:Civil War The 42nd Infantry Division of Bedford County Virginia.djvu/21

 This was done December 11 to run the 1,600 Confederate sharpshooters out of town so the troops could build and cross the bridges.

Everything was ready and General Burnside ordered the troops to move out at daylight on December 13, but the fog was so thick it was 10:00 o'clock before the crossings could take place. General Lee had given orders not to try to stop the crossing, but to wait until they started across the 200 yards between the City and the Confederate strong position.

General Jackson's men were hit first, but held their position, although they did suffer some loss. This was General Franklin's troops in front of Jackson.

General Summers made the crossings at the upper bridges, came on through what was left of Fredericksburg and prepared to assault General Longstreet's men in six different waves. What they didn't know was that 200 yards back there was a stonewall 4 feet high with dirt on the outside and you couldn't tell it was there. There was 6,000 sharpshooters of General Cobb's Georgia and North Carolina brigades waiting, also 20 pieces of artillery were also zeroing in with grape-shot on this flat area. The first wave of infantry of French's Division was cut down to a man, next came a division of Hancock's, they suffered the same fate–thus there laid 3,200 casualties.

General D. N. Couch, second in command to General Burnside, was watching the slaughter from the cupola of the Court House. He went to Burnside's headquarters and told him the story and asked if there might not be a better way. Burnside said his plan of battle would work, and to send the other four waves of infantry forward, and sooner or later, the enemy would yield and the Heights would be taken and the battle won.

The other four waves met the same fate–"these were brave men"–and no one got any closer than 40 yards to the stonewall. Dead and wounded men were piled deep over this ground; some managed to crawl back to safety. The Federal casualties in front of the stonewall was over 6,300. The 6,000 Confederates and 20 guns had withstood the driving attack of six Federal divisions whose battle strength exceeded 40,000 men.

General Jackson had held his ground also, by hand to hand combat at times. General Lee's army had not left Marye's Heights as dusk settled over the area. They were expecting the battle to continue the next day, but the cost had been too high, 18,000 men lay dead; approximately 15,000 Union troops and 3,000 Confederate.