Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 6.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[80]

Thanking the Government for that entire support and confidence which I have always received from them,

I remain, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

In my report to you of the nineteenth instant, the number of our wounded was stated at about nine thousand, and the number receiving hospital treatment at one thousand six hundred and thirty. Both of these amounts are wrong. On the authority of Dr. Letterman, our medical director, the whole number of wounded is between six and seven thousand. About one half of these are receiving treatment in the hospitals.

I have just read your Commanding General's preliminary report of the battle of Fredericksburgh. Although you were not successful, the attempt was not an error, nor the failure other than accident. The courage with which you on an open field maintained the contest against an intrenched foe, and the consummate skill and success with which you crossed and re-crossed the river in the face of the enemy, show that you possess all the qualities of a great army, which will yet give victory to the cause of the country and of popular government.

Condoling with the mourners of the dead, and sympathizing with the wounded, I congratulate you that the number of both is comparatively small.

I tender to you, officers and soldiers, the thanks of the nation.

I have the honor to report, through you, to the Brigadier-General commanding the division, the part taken by my brigade in the action of Saturday, the thirteenth inst.

On the Thursday morning previous, December eleven, at seven o'clock precisely, the brigade left the camp from which this report is dated, and proceeded in the direction of the pontoon bridge over the Rappahannock, which it was arranged the division had to cross.

The brigade never was in finer spirits and condition. The arms and accoutrements were in perfect order. The required amount of ammunition was on hand. Both officers and men were comfortably clad, and it would be difficult to say whether those who were to lead or those who were to follow were the better prepared, or the more eager to discharge their duty.

Arriving within a few hundred paces of the headquarters of Major-Gen. Sumner, commanding the right grand division of the army, we were halted by Brig.-Gen. Hancock in a well-sheltered valley, where we stacked arms and bivouacked until half-past 4 P. M. The whole day the fire of our batteries and those of the enemy, incessant as it was, taught every man to prepare himself equably and sternly for the desperate conflict that was close at hand.

A few minutes after four o'clock P. M., word was conveyed to me that a gallant body of volunteers had crossed the river in boats and taken possession of the city of Fredericksburgh. The State of Michigan fairly reserves to herself the largest measure of pride justified by this achievement.

Immediately on the receipt of this news, an order reached me from Brig.-Gen. Hancock to move forward the brigade and take up a position closer to the river. In this new position we remained all night.

At seven o'clock the following morning we were under arms, and in less than two hours the head of the brigade presented itself on the opposite bank of the river. The order of march observed by the division in crossing was follows: Col. Zooks, commanding French's old brigade, led the way. The Irish brigade came next. Brig.-Gen. Caldwell brought up the rear.

Passing along the edge of the river to the lower bridge, the brigade halted, countermarched, stacked arms, and in this position, ankle-deep in mud, and with little or nothing to contribute to their comfort, in complete subordination and good heart, awaited further orders. An order promulgated by Major-General Couch, commanding the corps, prohibited fires after nightfall. This order was uncomplainingly and manfully obeyed by the brigade. Officers and men laid down and slept that night in the mud and frost, and, without a murmur, with heroic hearts, composed themselves as best they could for the eventualities of the coming day.

It is with hesitation I introduce into an official paper, where facts alone should be set forth, any expression of personal feeling ; but I should be doing an injustice to the brigade if, in furnishing this report, I did not confess that the fortitude and noble equanimity with which the hardships of that night were borne were such as to affect me deeply.

I shall also digress from the strict line of an official statement to affirm, as I am truly proud to do, that during the occupation of Fredericksburgh — previous to as well as after the advance of our forces on the enemy's works — the Irish brigade scrupulously abstained from every act of depredation.

A little before eight o'clock A. M., Saturday, the thirteenth inst., we received orders to fall in and prepare instantly to take the field. The brigade being in line, I addressed, separately, to each regiment a few word:, reminding it of its