Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 10.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[105] division was placed in the second line, behind General A. P. Hill, and my division in the third line, behind General Early. We remained in that position until noon, when the division was ordered on the extreme right to meet a flank movement of the Yankees, under General Doubleday. We were, however, soon ordered back, as Double-day did not advance, and our front line, under General A. P. Hill, had been broken. General Early pushed forward and recovered the lost ground, and my division took Early's position. My division artillery and the reserve artillery, under Colonel Brown, (temporarily under my command,) were sent forward in the afternoon to relieve the batteries which had been engaged in the morning. The relieving batteries have been highly commended for gallant and effective service. Captains Carter, Hardaway, Bondurant, Fry, and Page were conspicuous here, as everywhere, for gallantry and alacrity in the discharge of duty. Towards sundown, on the thirteenth, a general advance of our lines was ordered, preceded by artillery. Artillery officers were called for to volunteer for this hazardous duty. Captain Bondurant and Lieutenants Pendleton and Carter, of my division, volunteered and brought out their batteries. The answering reply of the Yankee artillery to ours was so rapid and constant that the advance was halted before our columns emerged from the woods to view.

On the fourteenth instant, Generals Early and Taliaferro occupied the front line, my division the second line, and General A. P. Hill the third. The Yankees, having been terribly thrashed the day before, were quiescent on the fourteenth. They had established themselves in a hedge-row, and had it lined with artillery. Hardaway got a position, with his Whitworth gun, from which he could enfilade the line. He drove out all their batteries, and made them leave at a gallop. I think that his gun killed the Yankee General Bayard, as no other of our guns could carry so far as to the point where he was struck. At Upperville, on November second, this gun put to flight two Yankee batteries, and cavalry and artillery, at the distance of three miles and a half. Grimes's brigade occupied the extreme right of our front line on the night of the thirteenth, and held the same position for the next two days. This brigade also furnished a hundred sharpshooters to support Stuart, and these were constantly skirmishing with the Yankees during the fourteenth and fifteenth. Colonel Estes, with his regiment, Forty-fourth Georgia, Doles's brigade, was also sent to support Stuart on the night of the thirteenth, and remained with him until the fifteenth. These advance troops, together with the skirmishers thrown out from each brigade when on the advance line, were the only portions of my division actively engaged with the Yankees. My division relieved Generals Early and Taliaferro before day on the fifteenth, and remained all day in the advance. Major Jones's battalion, of my division artillery, was placed on our left flank. The Yankees were unusually placid on the fifteenth. The only firing worthy of notice was from some dozen or twenty pieces on the other side of the river, attempting to dislodge Hardaway from his enfilading position. He, however, lay quietly on his straw-rick, looking at them with his glass, and only firing when he could make his shot tell. As the day of the fifteenth wore away without a fight, the division, with the exception of the advance detachments, not having drawn trigger, applied to Lieutenant-General Jackson to remain one day longer on the front line. This request was granted. At daylight, our pickets were thrown forward, and the enemy found to be gone. Burnside had changed his base. We captured two hundred and ninety-two of the Yankee pickets and stragglers, and gathered up between three and four thousand excellent rifles and muskets. I regret to add that, although none of my troops drew trigger, with the exceptions above made, we had one hundred and seventy-three casualties in the division, nearly all from the artillery fire of the Yankees.

My thanks are due to all my staff for faithful and efficient services. Major J. W. Ratchford and Major Archer Anderson, Adjutant-General's staff; Major Jones, commanding battalion of artillery; Captain Carter, Chief of Artillery; Captain M. L. Randolph, Signal Officer; Lieutenant R. H. Morrison, Aid-de-camp; Lieutenant E. F. Brevard, Volunteer Aid; Lieutenants Harris and Estelle, Ordnance Officers; Mr. Arthur Chichester, Engineer Officer; Sergeant Harmeling, commanding the couriers,--all rendered valuable and important service.

I cannot speak too highly of the steadiness of my men under fire, their confidence of victory and eagerness to lend their efforts to achieve it, their patient endurance of a fatiguing march the night before the battle, and their general subordination and good conduct. Under tried veterans as brigade commanders — Rodes, Colquitt, Pierson; Doles, and Grimes — I feel confident that they will do well whenever called upon to meet the infernal Yankees. In no battle of the war has the signal interposition of God in our favor been more wonderfully displayed than at Fredericksburg, and it is to be earnestly hoped that our gratitude will correspond in some degree with His favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Captain: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by the light division in the battle of Fredericksburg:

It having been definitely ascertained that the enemy had crossed the Rappahannock in large force, on the evening of the eleventh December, I was directed by General R. E. Lee, subsequently