Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/431

 ■ Recollections of Fredericksburg. 425

lowed after us, but retired as soon as our artillery fired on them and they discovered our line. We remained in line oi battle and bivouacked for the night. Sedgwick moved his main army directly on the plank road to get in the rear of General Lee, who, having re- .ceived early notice of the loss of Marye's Hill, detached McLaws's division to meet him. General Wilcox, who had been guarding Bank's ford, and General Hays, who had been sent to guard Taylor's Hill, moved back and threw their lines across the plank road at Salem Church. Sedgwick endeavored to push through their lines about sundown, but was repulsed. It now being dark, no further advance was attempted, and both armies bivouacked for the night. At sunrise next morning, General Early, in obedience to orders re- ceived during the night from General Lee, moved his division and Barksdale's brigade down the Telegraph road toward Fredericks- burg, and found no difficulty in taking possession of Marye's Hill. He ordered Barksdale to reoccupy the trenches at the foot of Marye's Hill and hold back any force that might attempt to advance from the city, while he moved his own division up the plank road to at- tack Sedgwick in the rear.

Let us now pause and look at the extraordinary position the various portions of the two contending armies found themselves in on the morning of the 4th of May, after six days' marching, fighting and counter-marching. A heavy force of Federals — about fifteen thousand — occupied Fredericksburg and Stafford Heights ; Barks- dale and Early, with their backs to each other on the plank road, with five thousand men, between Fredericksburg and Sedgwick ; Sedgwick between Early and Lee, with twenty thousand men; Lee, with Anderson, McLaws and Wilcox, between Sedgwick and Hook- er's main army, with twenty thousand men; Hooker's main army — ninety thousand strong — between Lee and Stuart; Stuart, now com- manding Stonewall Jackson's corps, with twenty-five thousand men; all stretched along a straight road within a space of twelve miles. Who could foretell the result of this mighty, but unfinished contest ? Who could estimate its vast complications? Stonewall Jackson was wounded, and lay languishing upon his litter; Longstreet and D. H. Hill were absent. Robert E. Lee alone, of all the master spirits of the struggling hosts, could comprehend thf situation, and by his mastery over that situation successfully worked out the result, and illustrated his vast superiority over all the great captains that opposed him. With the genius that never deserted him in his greatest trials,