THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN.

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getting back into position onr line was more compact, with favorable posi-tions for artillery, and the reserves were well in hand. Meade had beendrawn in from the left and Reynolds had arrived with the First Corps. Theengineers had been directed 011 the previous night to lay out a new line, itsti’ont a half mile in rear of Chancellorsville, with the flanks thrown back,—the right to the Rapidan, a little above its junction with the Rappahannock,the left resting on the latter river. The Eleventh Corps, or at least thatPortion which formed line of battle, was withdrawn from the front and sentto the rear to reorganize and get its scattered parts together, leaving the fol-lowing troops in front: one division of the Second Corps on the left fromLott’s Run to Chancellorsville, the Twelfth Corps holding the center andri ght flank, aided by the Third Corps and one division of the Second Corps(French ’s), on the same flank; the whole number in fi’ont, according to myestimate, being 37,000 men. The First and Fifth corps in reserve num-bered 30,000, and, placing the number of reliable men in the Eleventh Corpsm 5000, it will be seen that the reserves nearly equaled those in line of battlel 11 front.

After the day’s mishaps Hooker judged that the enemy could not havespared so large a force to move around his front without depleting thedefenses of Fredericksburg . Accordingly, at 9 p. m., an imperative order wassent to the commander of the left wing to cross the river at Fredericksburg ,hiarch upon Chancellorsville, and be in the vicinity of the commanding gen-® r al at daylight. But Sedgwick was already across the river and three milesbelow Fredericksburg . It was 11 p. m., May 2d, when he got the order, andtivelve or fourteen miles had to be marched over by daylight. The night wasMoonlight, but any officer who has had experience in making night marches^ith infantry will understand the vexatious delays occurring even when ther °ad is clear; but when, in addition, there is an enemy in front, with a linefortified heights to assault, the problem which Sedgwick had to solve will. e pronounced impossible of solution. However, that officer set his columnUl Motion by flank, leaving one division that lay opposite the enemy, who were111 force to his left. The marching column, being continually harassed by skir-mishers, did not arrive at Fredericksburg until daylight. The first assaultbpon the heights behind the town failed. Attempts to carry them by flankmovements met with no success. Finally a second storming party was organ-m e d, and the series of works were taken literally at the point of the bayonet,hough at heavy loss. It was then 11 a. m. The column immediately started forhancellorsville, being more or less obstructed by the enemy until its arrivalh e ar Salem Heights, 5 or G miles out, where seven brigades under Early, sixWhich had been driven from the defenses of Fredericksburg , made a stand‘ .conjunction with supports sent from Lee’s army before Chancellorsville.his was about the middle of the afternoon, when Sedgwick in force attacked. enemy. Though at first successful, he was subsequently compelled tow'tlidi'aw those in advance and look to his own safety by throwing his ownanks so as to cover Banks ’s Ford, the friendly proximity of which eventuallySa ^ed this wing from utter annihilation.