WHY BURNSIDE DID NOT RENEW THE ATTACK.
127
dislodging the enemy from the opposite bank. Forbis service the 7th Michigan, 19th and 20th Mas-sachusetts of General Howard ’s division, and the°9th New York of my brigade answered the call,ike first three regiments crossed under fire wherebe first bridge was afterward laid, and the fourthknder sharper fire where the second was completed.
y 9 o’clock that night the division of General^toward and my brigade had obtained possessionot the town, the former taking the right of the linethe latter the left. The whole of the 12th of. e C e mber into the night was occupied in cross-es the army, and on the morning of the 13th theattle began and continued at intervals until dark-kess set in. During a considerable portion of thata yi while the attacks upon the enemy’s center,n °wn as “Marye’s Heights,” were being made,e heral George W. Getty, my division commander,ail d myself were on the roof of the Slaughter house,high residence at the lower end of the city,kied after its owner. From this prominent posi-°k our repeated repulses and the terrible de-piction of the Union troops had been witnessed.
about half-past 3 o’clock the order came forfifteral Getty’s Third Division of the Ninth Corpstaake an attack upon that part of the enemy’sto the left of where the principal attacks hadj 6 ® n made. The order was obeyed, but not untilbad tried to induce General Getty to protest^gainst its obedience and the further useless wasteWh- ' attack of our division closed a battleU ym was one of the most disastrous defeats to the^ l °k forces during the war. The sadness whichthroughout the whole army on thatsur Can ne ^ber be described nor imagined. The^ geons were the happiest of all, for they were sodef ^ kbey had no time to think of our terrible
a ® o’clock that evening I found myself near
Hiding situated upon the main street of theG r n ’ w bere several of the generals of the Rightaa< ^ pivision had assembled for the purpose ofbussing the attack to be made the next morn-lool . When I entered the room these officers weretio a * a ma P u P on a table, showing the posi-Win eneTn y. There were present Generals
a nd ° 0X ’ ® um Pbreys, Getty, Butterfield, Meade,di g bhree or four others. They were seriouslyeasing the proposed renewal of the attack thelist as though it had been decided upon. I
°f kntil I was thoroughly irritated because
kat' 6 lgnoranoe displayed in regard to onr sit-- an ^ then uttered a solemn, earnest, andPktm protest against even the consideration ofdraw' 61 a tt a °k. With a pencil I made a roughejjj ln ® °f the first line then occupied hy the en-t 0 a “d a -* so showed a second position a littlebiak 6 rear > t° which they could fall back anddri v 6 a strcm g stand in the event of their beingto °kt of their first line. It did not take long***** these officers that a second attackCt P ; oba hly end more disastrously than thego bhey united in a request that I should
attopi 0nce t° try to persuade Burnside that thec ought not to be renewed.
It was a cheerless ride in the wet and cold, andthrough the deep mud of an army-traveled roadthat dark night, for I was already weary frommuch care, watching, and loss of sleep, and besidesI was fully aware of the unpleasant fact that anofficer of very inferior rank was bent upon anungrateful errand to a general commanding one ofthe largest armies of modern times. But a solemnsense of duty, and a humane desire to save furtheruseless slaughter, convinced me that any sacrificeof self ought to he made in the interest of themen who were fighting our battles.
I arrived at the Phillips house about 11 o’clockto learn that I had probably passed General Burn-side on the road, who had gone to perfect the de-tails for a second attack. Those present at thePhillips house were Generals Sumner, Hooker,Franklin, Hardie, and Colonel Taylor. I made abrief statement and explanation of the object ofmy mission, which deeply interested all present.They united in a desire that I should wait untilthe arrival of General Burnside, which occurredabout 1 o’clock. As he came through the door hesaid: “Well, it’s all arranged; we attack at earlydawn, the Ninth Corps in the center, which I shalllead in person”; and then seeing me he said:“ Hawkins, your brigade shall lead with the 9thNew York on the right of the line, and we’ll makeup for the had work of to-day.”
When he had ceased there was perfect silence,and he was evidently astonished that no one ap-proved. With hesitation and great delicacy Gen-eral Sumner then stated the object of my visit,and suggested that General Burnside should ex-amine the rough drawing then upon the table,and listen to some reasons why the attack con-templated ought not to be made. After I hadexplained the enemy’s positions, called attentionto several pertinent circumstances, and madesomething of an argument, General Burnside askedGeneral Sumner what he thought, and he repliedthat the troops had undergone such great fatigueand privation, and met with such a disaster, that itwould not be prudent to make another attack sosoon. General Hooker, who was lying full lengthupon a bed in one corner of the room, upon beingappealed to by General Burnside, sat up and saidin the most frank and decided manner that theattack ought not to be renewed that morning.Then a general consultation took place, in whichall who were present joined, the result of which wasa verbal order, transmitted through me, counter-manding the arrangements for a second attack.
Of those present at the first interview, on theFredericksburg side, Generals Getty, Willcox, But-terfield, and probably several others whom I donot now remember, are living. The only survivorsof the Phillips house interview are General Frank-lin and myself. In one of his letters to me, datedHartford, Conn. , December 17th, 1866, he says:
“. . • 1 distinctly recollect your talk to Burnside,to which you refer, and had he been so talked to beforeho crossed the river, many lives would have been saved,as well as much credit to himself and reputation to thegallant, Army of tile Potomac.”