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REPORT FROM THE rO.\FKOKA( Y:
Army of Northern Virginia Triumphs Again!
Yankees Slaughtered at Fredericksburg
BY ROBERT STONEDALE
FREDERICKSBURG, V I R
GINIA, December 13, 1862. At
10 a. m. today the mists cleared
over the Rappahannock River at
Fredericksburg, Virginia, and
lifted the curtain on what was
destined to become one of the
bloodiest scenes in military his
tory. On the heights overlooking j
the city, the Army of Northern
Virginia, proud in its battle hon- j
ors; secure in the knowledge of ,
its proven superiority over the
Yankees, waited calmly. On the
plain below, the largest Federal
army yet to attempt the road to
Richmond, prepared its onslaught.
Generals Lee, Jackson and Long
street surveyed the masses of the
enemy from a post near Army
Headquarters.
“Are you not scared by that
file of Yankees you have before
you down there?’’ General Long
street inquired jokingly of Gen
eral Jackson as the enormous
columns of blue-clad infantry and
lines of heavy guns lay revealed.
The usually humorless Jackson
swung into the saddle as he gave
a calm reply: “Wait till they come
a little nearer and they shall
either scare me or I’ll scare
them!”
At Jackson’s position on the
nearly level ground south of the
city, the test of the Second Corps
followed. Asa huge mass of Fed
erals began the advance, 24 year
old Major John Pelham sought
permission to advance two guns
in front of the Confederate posi
tion and enfilade the Yankees—
a wild proposal for the employ
ment of small field pieces.
In the natural amphitheatre
provided by the valley, thousands
of Confederates watched in ad
miration as the brilliant young
officer and his artillerists gal
loped to an exposed position,
opened with solid shot and spread
havoc in the Federal ranks. The
enemy ground to halt and a dozen
—and a New Year full of good health
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i Union guns quickly opened in
[ reply. In the furious exchange,
! Pelham’s guns disabled two Union
! cannons before one of them was
destroyed by a direct hit. Pel
ham’s youngsters changed posi
(tion seven times, doubled up on
the remaining gun and labored
in a frenzy to increase their rate
of fire. For 15 minutes both
armies gaped in amazement at
the .‘peetacle as one blazing field
piece halted the advance of an
entire civision. Three massages
were sent to Pelham ordering
him to retire. He finally withdrew
under the fire of 30 Federal can
non with his eassions empty. The
exploit won admiration every
where, but especially from Gen
eral R. E. Lee, who watched the
spectacle from the heights.
“It is glorious,” the command
ing general said to his staff, “to
see such courage in one ‘-o
young.”
“l would like to have a Pelham
on each flank” General Jackson
commented.
The battlefield dissolved in
billowing smoke as the hundreds
of enemy cannon spoke. Fire and
explosions rocked the town but
the heaviest fire fell where A. P.
Hill’s Division waited on Jack
son’s front. The first part of the
battle was the second Corps’.
The Federal guns flayed Jack
son’s two-mile line as the awe
inspiring columns of infantry be
gan to move forward. They were
within 800 yards before the artil
lery of the Second Corps opened
with terrible effect. The roar of
the guns raging over Jackson’s
front was echoed by Federals and
Confederate cannon debating
Longstreet’s position on Mayre’s
Heights to the north. The entire
valley filled with the red flash
of exploding shells as 250,000
men grappled for possession of
the direct route to Richmond.
The Federal infantry in front
of Jackson began to waver as
shells tore into their ranks and
bloodied the ground. The Confed
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARCUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
erate guns doubled their rate of
fire at short range. The enemy
drew back as their artillery thun
dered on, then they advanced
within rifle range in three enor
mous lines.
The shriek of shells was ac
companied by ripping blasts of
rifle fire. Thousands of Federals
fought their way into a deep gap
in Jackson’s line, but could not
break through. In a smashing
counterattack, Brigadier General
Jubal Early commanding Ewell’s
Division drove the Federals out
of the gap. But Early had trouble
restraining two of his brigades
who insisted on following the
Federal retreat. They suffered
needlessly heavy losses before
their officers were able to get
them to cease firing and return to
their lines. The Federal casualties
were immense as Jackson’s stead
ily roaring guns took a heavy toll
in their retreating ranks. Thous
ands of men in Hill’s division
were casualties of the short-lived
penetration, but the Second
Corps’ battle was over. The strug
gle had already begun in Long-
street’s front.
The first assault on the First
Corps’ frowning position was
broken by massed Confederate
artillery. Before the enemy
broke, the ground between Fred
ricksburg and Mayre’s Heights
was jammed with blue-clad
bodies. Below Longstreet’s guns,
Cobb’s Brigade of Georgians
waited in a fortified sunken road
with eager rifles. When the
enemy came on again, sheets of
rifle fire sliced across the field.
General Cobb fell, the victim of
a sharpshooter; General John
Cooke was brought down by a
shell; but the enemy fell back
again.
The Twenty-seventh and Forty
sixth North Carolina were sent
into the sunken road as the
Confederates waited for the next
Federal attack. General Kershaw
was ordered into the position with
a part of his division.
The fire from Longstreet’s
position was now impenetrable.
“If every man on the other side
of the Potomac approaches me on
this line, I will kill them all be
fore they reach me,’’ General
Longs£reet reported to General
Lee at 2:45 p. m. But the suicidal
attacks were resumed.
Every fifteen minutes anew
horde of Federals struck out
across the blazing ground, tried
to fire into the road over which
the shells were screaming, and
then melted into the red-stained
earth.
Their courage was almost un
believable. The Yankees fighting
at Fredericksburg today were not
those who ran at Gaines Mill and
First and Second Manassas. Torn
to bits, ruthlessly sacrificed, their
flags approached the impregnable
Confederate position again and
again, only to be brought down
among heaps of bodies.
No troops anywhere have ever
shown more valor or courage nor
has any general ever demonstra
ted less military ability than their
commander. Again and again he
ordered them to the horrible
slaughter. As the afternoon wore
on, charge after charge was re
pulsed until the ground before
Longstreet’s position was covered
with a twitching blue carpet. The
Southern guns along the heights
bucked and roared with increas
ing fury, changing positions un
der the enemy fire as artillerists
brought fresh pieces to the front.
Rifle barrels grew too hot to
touch in the sunken road while
the Federals continued their mad
attempt the break Longstreet’s
line.
Courageous Union artillerists
dashed within 300 yards of the
foremost Confederate positions
and paid with their lives for their
daring. Screams from the masses
of the fallen could be heard over
the steady roar of the rifles and
the thunder of the guns. Shortly
before dark this evening, the last
of the insane Federal attacks was
repulsed. The Union Army has
pulled back to Fredericksburg
leaving the flower of their coun
try on the field in a senseless
and tragic sacrifice.
A steady babble of cries for
help is arising from the thous
ands of wounded spread before
Longstreet’s position. After the
fighting ceased, several soldiers,
including Sergeant Richard Kirk
land of E Company, Second South
Carolina, brought aid to the Fed
eral wounded, even though no
truce has been announced. But
no Federal sharpshooters opened
on Kirkland as he climbed over
the wall in front of the sunken
road. For more than an hour,
Kirkland carried water to the
enemy wounded.
About 13,000 casualties were
suffered by the enemy against
Confederate losses of about 5,-
000. The smell of death, the pite
ous cries for water, the blazing
houses in Fredericksburg, marked
the close of the day. The Army
of Northern Virginia had trium
phed again and Southern Inde
pendence is still preserved. Con
federate soldiers are roaming
among the piles of dead taking
rifles and badly needed clothing.
Four Yankee armies and four
Yankee generals have now at-
' -' ,- v v v - W-'-sragß
Hi-Fi Oil Company
The State Supply Cos.
As on that holy night when Christ was born, the joyous message
of His birth re-echoes throughout the busy world, filling
every heart with peace and good will. May this true Christmas spirit
enrich your life and the lives of your loved ones.
POLK TIRE CO.
PERSONAL
Friends of Mrs. F. A. Holston
are delighted to learn she is
showing marked improvement at
Sylvan Grove Hospital following
an attack of pneumonia.
Mr. Asa Burford, who has
been confined to Veterans Hospi
tal in Atlanta for some three
weeks, is now visiting his brother
and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs.
C. J. Burford, in Decatur. He
tempted the road to Richmond.
Four times the enemy has been
defeated by a Confederate army
inferior in numbers, guns and
supplies. Soon the Northern peo
ple must be convinced that the
South will not bow to the tyranny
of the Federal government while
a man can be found to fight in
her defense.
plans to return to his home in St.
Petersburg, Fla., in January.
Miss Carol Lambert, student at
the University of Georgia, is
spending the Christmas holidays
with homefolks.
the wonder and joy of the Jfe
night Jie was horn Mjjo
* be with us all
Christmas^^^^^^pi''’-
Econ-O-Wash of Jackson
Glidewell’s Restaurant
HUGH M. GLIDEWELL
THURSDAY, DEC. 20, 1962
Kippie Maddox, on leave from
the United States Navy before re
porting for assignment at Vallejo,
California, spent Wednesday and
Thursday in Jackson with his
grandmother, Mrs. W. N. Harris.