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Chapter 17: preparations about Fredericksburg.
On the afternoon of the 19th, after leaving
Lawton's brigade at Boteler's Ford, I marched with the three other brigades on the road towards
Martinsburg, about six miles from
Shepherdstown, and bivouacked.
During the night the enemy had succeeded in crossing the
Potomac and capturing four of
General Pendleton's guns near
Shepherdstown, and on the morning of the 20th I was ordered to move back to Boteler's Ford.
On arriving near there, by order of
General Jackson, my three brigades were formed in line of battle in rear of
General A. P. Hill's division which had preceded me, and were moving against the force of the enemy which had crossed over to the south bank.
My three brigades were posted in pieces of woods on each side of the road leading towards the ford, and remained there within range of the enemy's guns on the opposite side until late in the afternoon.
In the meantime
Hill's division advanced, under a heavy fire of artillery from across the river, and drove the enemy's infantry on the southern bank pell-mell into the river, inflicting upon him a very severe punishment for his rashness in undertaking to pursue us and making him pay very dearly for the guns he had taken.
One officer in my command,
Captain Frazier of the 15th Alabama Regiment,--the only
regimental commander in
Trimble's brigade who had not been killed or wounded at
Sharpsburg,--was severely wounded by a shell, which was all the damage I sustained.
Late in the afternoon, I was ordered to move back, and that night we marched to the vicinity of the
Opequon not far above its mouth.
We remained at this position until the 24th, when we moved across the
Opequon to the
Williamsport pike, and on the next day to the vicinity of
Martinsburg.
On the 27th,
General Jackson's whole
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command was moved to
Bunker Hill on the road from
Martinsburg to
Winchester, and went into camp in that vicinity.
By this time our baggage wagons, which had been sent from
Manassas to the valley, when we moved into
Maryland, had reached us.
We were now able to obtain supplies of flour, by threshing wheat, of which there was a good supply in the valley, and having it ground.
While our camps were located at
Bunker Hill,
Jackson's command destroyed the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from
North Mountain to within five miles of
Harper's Ferry, which latter place had been re-occupied by the enemy.
More than twenty miles of the road was thus destroyed, and it was done effectively.
The Winchester & Potomac Railroad was also destroyed to within a short distance of the
Ferry.
Previous t6 this there was a slight engagement between the Stonewall brigade of
Jackson's division and a small force of the enemy on the railroad near
Kearneysville, but the enemy did not make a serious effort to molest us, either while we were engaged in destroying the railroad or subsequently.
The Army of Northern Virginia was now organized into two regular corps of four divisions each,
General Longstreet being assigned to the command of the first corps, and
General Jackson to the command of the second corps, both with the rank of
Lieutenant General.
D. H
Hill's division was attached to the second corps, and two divisions were formed out of
Longstreet's,
D. R. Jones' and
Hood's divisions, under the command of
Generals Pickett and
Hood respectively, they having been promoted.
The first corps consisted of the divisions of
McLaws,
Anderson,
Pickett and
Hood, and the second corps of the divisions of
Ewell,
D. H. Hill,
A. P. Hill, and
Jackson (
EWell's division being under my command and
Jackson's under
J. R. Jones).
For some time the second corps remained camped near
Bunker Hill, and the first corps was camped in the vicinity of
Winchester.
McClellan in the meantime had concentrated the
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main body of his army on the north bank of the
Potomac near
Harper's Ferry, and was engaged in preparing for a new campaign into
Virginia, while
Maryland and Bolivar Heights were very strongly fortified by him.
A short time after the middle of October,
General Stuart, with a portion of his cavalry, made a successful expedition through
Maryland and
Pennsylvania to the rear of and around
McClellan's army.
Towards the last of October
McClellan began to move across the
Potomac on the east side of the
Blue Ridge, with a view to another approach to
Richmond.
His army had been largely recruited, and superbly equipped.
The army of
General Lee had been considerably increased by the return of stragglers and convalescents, but it continued to be indifferently supplied with clothing and shoes, of which articles there was a great deficiency.
As soon as
McClellan's movement was ascertained,
Jackson's corps was moved towards the
Shenandoah, occupying positions between
Charlestown and
Berryville, and one division of
Longstreet's corps was sent across the
Blue Ridge to watch the enemy.
When the enemy began to move eastwardly from the mountain, the whole of
Longstreet's corps moved across the ridge for the purpose of intercepting his march.
D. H. Hill's division of
Jackson's corps was subsequently moved across the ridge to watch the enemy's movements.
A. P. Hill's division had been put in position near
Berryville, covering the
Shenandoah, at Snicker's or Castleman's Ferry, where it had an engagement with a body of the enemy that had crossed the ridge as
McClellan was moving on.
Ewell's division (under my command) was at first posted on
A. P. Hill's left, near a church, while
Jackson's division was on the
Berryville and Charlestown pike in my rear, but as the enemy's covered our front I moved above, first to
Millwood, and then to
Stone Bridge, near
White Post, and
Jackson's division moved to the vicinity of the
Occoquon between the positions of the other divisions and
Winchester.
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After the enemy had left the vicinity of the
Blue Ridge,
D. H. Hill's division recrossed the ridge and moved up on the east side of the
Shenandoah to the vicinity of
Front Royal.
While my camp was at
Stone Bridge, my division destroyed the Manassas Gap Railroad from
Front Royal to
Piedmont on the east side of the
Blue Ridge, a distance of twenty miles, and
D. H. Hill's division destroyed it from
Front Royal to
Strasburg.
In the meantime
McClellan's army had been concentrated in the vicinity of
Warrenton, and
McClellan had been succeeded in the command by
Burnside.
Longstreet had previously taken position at or near Culpeper Court-House.
About the 15th of November
Burnside began the movement of his army towards the lower
Rappahannock opposite
Fredericksburg.
When this movement was discovered
Longstreet's corps was moved towards
Fredericksburg to dispute the enemy's crossing, and orders were sent to
General Jackson to move his corps across the
Blue Ridge.
This movement of the latter corps began about the 20th of November, and we moved up the valley to
New Market and then across
Massanutten Mountain, the
Shenandoah and the
Blue Ridge to the vicinity of Madison Court-House.
The weather had now become quite cool, and our daily marches were long and rapid, and very trying to the men. On this march I saw a number of our men without shoes, and with bleeding feet wrapped with rags.
We remained in the vicinity of Madison Court-House for two or three days, and it was here that
General Jackson wore, for the first time, a new regulation coat with the wreath, and a hat, and his appearance in them caused no little remark and amusement among the men. His dress hitherto had been a rusty grey coat, intended for a colonel, and a little dingy cloth cap which lay flat on his head, or rather forehead.
From Madison Court-House we moved past
Orange
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Court-House and along the plank road to the vicinity of
Fredericksburg, arriving there on the 1st of December.
Longstreet's corps was found guarding the
Rappahannock against
Burnside's army which had concentrated on the opposite bank.
My division was moved to the vicinity of
Guiney's depot on the R., F. & P. Railroad, as was
Jackson's. After remaining here two or three days, I was ordered to move towards
Port Royal to support
D. H. Hill, whose division had been ordered to the vicinity of that place, to watch some gun-boats there and prevent a crossing.
Port Royal is some eighteen or twenty miles below
Fredericksburg on the
Rappahannock.
I first took position some six or eight miles from
Port Royal on the road from
Guiney's depot, but subsequently moved to the vicinity of
Buckner's Neck on the
Rappahannock a few miles above
Port Royal, for the purpose of watching the river and acting in concert with
General Hill.
The latter, by the use of one
Whitworth gun and some other artillery, had driven the enemy's gunboats from
Port Royal, and in revenge they fired into the houses in the little village of
Port Royal and some others below as they passed down the river.
While I was watching the river at
Buckner's Neck, which is in a bend of the river, and commanded by high ground on the opposite side, so as to afford a good position for forcing a passage, the enemy hauled some timbers to a place called the
Hop Yard on the northern bank, as if for the purpose of constructing a bridge at that place, but this proved a feint.
Jackson's division had been left near
Guiney's depot, and
A. P. Hill's had been camped in rear of
Hamilton's Crossing for the purpose of supporting
Longstreet's right, which rested at the latter place.
The different divisions of
Jackson's corps were thus posted, immediately preceding the
battle of Fredericksburg.
