WITH JACKSON AT HAMILTON’S CROSSING.
141
ey again sought the shelter of the railroad.l eher’s brigade, of Jackson’s corps, was on the0 j ' eme right of A. P. Hill ’s front line, composedthe following regiments, posted in the order^atned: 19th Georgia, 14th Tennessee, 7th Ten-s see, 1st Tennessee, and extended from the in-t-al or space left unoccupied by Gregg’s brigadethe railroad curve near Hamilton’s Crossing.Q j, e occupied ground slightly higher than the level^ plain over which the Federals had to pass.
our immediate rear and left was an irregularti °^h of timber of varied size, which obstructedo view in the direction of the Gregg interval.
As the battle opened in the morning, the enemy8 plainly in our view, and we could distinctly seeeir approach to the railroad in our front and toh h^ 6 ^’ w ^ ere iu every attempt to advance theyted. Now and then they would make an effortadvance from the railroad to our lines. Weth ° '^ ere on the right had no trouble to repulseev Se 111 °ur front, and, in fact, we successfully metu,. r y assault made on the right, and that, too, wither l 6 ° r a0 ^ 0SS- We regarded the efforts of the Fed-„ s > so far as the right was concerned, as futile inthe 1 e . X *' 1 ’ eme- In fact, their assaults on this part oftai illle a PP eal 'ed like the marching of men to cer-t, a ^leat and slaughter. Our infantry fire, aidedte r .-i* 6611 P' eces °f artillery placed at our right, dida 6 exe eutionas the poor fellows emerged from
'ght railroad cut in front of a part of our line. |
On the morning of the 13th General Jack-son rode down his lines dressed in a new suit,presented to him, as we understood, by GeneralStuart. Some of our men facetiously remarkedthat they preferred seeing him with his rustyold cap on, as they feared he wouldn’t get downto work. He inspected all of his positions,riding alone. After halting near the extremeright, the artillery fire was begun, and here Ihad an excellent opportunity to see him underfire. I watched him closely, and was unable todetect the slightest change in his demeanor. Ina few minutes he rode off in the direction of Lee’sheadquarters.
A very general impression prevails, and it is ina great measure confirmed by writers on Freder-icksburg, that Jackson’s lines were strongly for-tified. This is not correct: we had no time toconstruct anything like fortifications. I). H. Hill’sdivision had been at Port Royal, eighteen milesbelow Fredericksburg, to prevent the Federals fromcrossing at that point; he left Port Royal after theenemy had abandoned the project of crossing there,and did not reach the position assigned him untilabout daylight of the morning of the battle.
The next morning the scenes of carnage wereheart-sickening. To intensify the horrible pic-ture, the dead and the mortally wounded were inmany instances burned in the sedge-grass, whichwas set on fire by bursting shells.
iug report of General John F. Reynolds , command-tile e ,, ^rBt Corps, contains the following account of“ Abo n ? 1SC ' nent ot Hoops at Hamilton’s Crossing:
8:30 M - Meade’s division advanced across the"'ith Ii * ravine, formed in column of two brigades,hiai.pi,. le ,ll 'tillery between them, the Third Brigaded° Wn b y the flank on the left and rear. It movedsh at t‘ l e river some 500 or 000 yards, when it turnedTile e t0 *' le '’’"bt <md crossed the Bowling Green road.ai^Xfy’s artillery opened lire from the crest and theSttyKj °jf tl* e Bowling Green road. I directed Generalof w , 0 to Put his column directly for the nearest pointattack ’ :L1U T having gained the crest, to extend histthere a ^ ou ® h to the extreme point of the heights,c°w ’Host of the enemy’s artillery was posted. As thebin (W crossed the Bowling Green road the artillery ofei ‘0Hii ( i 18 i' 011 was ordered Into position on the rise of the’Hid p, between this road and the railroad; Cooper’s^■hi8dei aSHm ' S batteries, to the front, soon joined by^hile si S ’ to 0 PP 08 o those of the enemy on the crest,Hi at 0 , Jhpson’s had to be thrown to the left, to oppose^olhiim • 0 bovdinv Green road, which was taking thetliro^, ' n hank. Hall’s battery was at the same time"hicii w tlle fr011 t> 011 the left of Gibbon’s division,ai ’tili ei , a8 advancing in line, on Meade ’s right. Thejjutii tlint^onibat here raged furiously for some time,
• tterip, "I Iho enemy was silenced, when all of ourinfantry '' ele directed to shell the wood, where his''hiited r WaS sll PPosed to be posted. This was cou-?.^ v anei, n ° m . e half-hour, when the column of Meade ,yOti, S m flue order and with gallant deterniina-iphdeq«?. “'rented into the point of wood which ex-“Je ;y c I s sale of the railroad, with Instructions, when« ir frm + ^ lle crp ' R t and road which ran along it inm ® R cons’ tj 0 ni °vo the First Brigade along the road,Jn Tln rfl ft brigade to advance and hold the road, whiletv? s t m lllo ved across the open Held, to support theta * s tirop b arr yiug the extreme point of the ridge. AtpbQneetif, 1 8ent orders to General Gibbon to advance, inp front 13 ^hh General Meade , and carry the wood ine beinj,, g The advance was made under the Are of theatterles on his right and front, to which Gib-
bon’s batteries replied, while those of Smith joined inon the right.
‘ ‘ Meade ’s division successfully carried the wood infront, crossed the railroad, charged up the slope of thehill, and gained the road and edge of the wood, drivingthe enemy from his strong positions in the ditches andrailroad cut, capturingthe flags of 2 regiments and send-ing about 200 prisoners to the rear. At the same timeGibbon’s division had crossed the railroad and enteredthe wood, driving back the first line of the enemy andcapturing a number of prisoners; but, from the densecharacter of the wood, the connection between his di-vision and Meade ’s was broken. The iufnntry combatwas here kept up with great, spirit for a short time,when Meade ’s column was vigorously assailed by theenemy’s masked force, and, after a severe contest,forced back. Two regiments of Berry’s brigade, Bir-ney’s division, arrived about this time, and were im-mediately thrown into the wood on Gibbon’s left, to thesupport of the line; but they, too, were soon overpow-ered, and the whole line retired from the wood, Meade ’sin some confusion, and, after an ineffectual effort byGeneral Meade and myself to rally them under theenemy’s fire, that of the artillery having resumed almostits original intensity, I directed General Meade to re-formhis division across the Bowling Green road, and orderedthe remainder of Berry's brigade, which had come up,to the support of the batteries.
“ The enemy, showing himself in strong force in thewood, seemed disposed to follow our retiring troops,but the arrival of tbe other brigades of Birney’s divisionon the ground at this critical moment, to occupy ourline of battle, materially aided in saving Hall’s battery,which was now seriously threatened by the enemy, and,together with our artillery fire, soon drove him to hissheltered positions and cover, from which his infantrydid not again appear.
“ General Gibbon’s division was assailed in turn inthe same manner, and compelled to retire from thewood soon after Meade ’s.” General C. Feger Jacksoncommanding the Third Brigade of Meade ’s division, waskilled within the enemy’s lines.— Editors.