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

[108] preceding night was employed busily in throwing dense masses of Northern troops across the pontoons at Fredericksburgh and Deep Run, and one or two other bridges thrown across at other points. So numerous were these bridges alleged to be, that busy rumor, hardly less imaginative and suggestive among the confederates than among their opponents, estimated them variously at from fifteen to thirty. I believe that in reality they did not exceed three or four. But as the bright and warm sun broke cheerfully from the heavens, and dispelled the thick mist which for many hours brooded over the plain and intercepted the view of objects distant not more than three or four hundred yards, it became more and more obvious, even to the least experienced eye, what a magnificent position was occupied by the confederate army, and how wisely and sagaciously the ground had been chosen by Gen. Lee. It must have been a moment of proud gratification to Gen. Lee, and those captains who under him have gained ever increasing distinction, when they realized beyond all question that the enemy was about to force an attack under circumstances which would have insured defeat had the onslaught been made by the bravest disciplined troops of Europe, and which reduced the rout of the disheartened and loosely coupled troops of General Burnside to an absolute certainty. As the observer stood on the range of hills which impend over Fredericksburgh on the south, and glanced his eye down upon the town, and, right and left, along the low swelling ridges which extend from the river on his left, and, forming the arc of a semi-circle, strike the river again about six miles below on his right, he might have challenged the most deeply read student of military history to produce any precedent in which battle has ever been delivered under circumstances more unfavorable to the assailing party, or upon ground from which any great master of the art of war would more naturally have recoiled, had the initiative remained within his own option.

The Rappahannock, in its course from west to east, is skirted, just at the point where Fredericksburgh stands on its southern bank, by low crests of hills, which on the northern bank run parallel and close to the river, and on the southern bank trend backward from the stream, and leave a semi-circular plain six miles in length and two or three in depth, inclosed within their circumference before they again approach the river in the neighborhood of Massaponax Creek. Immediately above the town, and on the left of the confederate position, the bluffs are bold and bare of trees; but as the hills in their eastward course recede from the river, they become lower and are densely wooded, while low spurs, covered with copsewood, run down at right angles to the range of hills into the plain, behind and between which spurs, the centre and right of the confederate army was posted, stretching for a distance of six miles from the extreme left, and ending in the immediate neighborhood of Massaponax Creek, which joins the Rappahannock some five miles below Fredericksburgh. It will be apparent to the reader, that the left of the confederate army, a portion of it stationed not more than four hundred yards from Fredericksburgh, occupied a much stronger position than the centre and right. There was not sufficient room for the Federal troops destined for the attack of the nearest confederate batteries to deploy and form, except under a deadly confederate fire ; whereas the Federal troops who attacked the confederate centre and right had a large plain on which to deploy, and had much fewer disadvantages of ground to contend with, inasmuch as they advanced against lower hills and had the long spurs of copse to assist them as points of attack, calculated to protect and serve as points d'appui to the Federal troops if they could once have succeeded in carrying and holding them. But even in its weakest points the confederate line possessed great advantages of position ; and it is no wonder that every Southerner, from time commander-in-chief down to the youngest drummer-boy, understood and appreciated the strength of the ground, and contemplated the coming shock of battle with serene confidence and composure. In describing the round upon which the battle subsequently took place, I should not omit to add that the railroad track from Fredericksburgh to Richmond runs diagonally through the semi-circular plain described above, and crosses the confederate line of battle three and a half miles from Fredericksburgh, at a point called Hamilton's crossing. This point was strongly held by a part of the confederate right, and it is manifest that against this point and along the railroad-track it would have been wise if the weight of the Federal attack had been directed. It will be understood, in conclusion, that the heights on the northern or Stafford side of the Rappahannock, which for miles touch and impend over the stream, were surmounted by a long line of heavy Federal rifled cannon. Similarly, along the whole confederate line of battle, nearly three hundred pieces of artillery were in position or in reserve. There is no recorded battle of history in which any thing like so many pieces of artillery took part, (of course in this assertion I do not include sieges,) and the reader will at once realize how inadequate language is to describe the thunder of so vast a number of cannon, or the deadly pelting hail of such an aggregate of the projectiles which modern ingenuity has succeeded in devising.

It remains briefly to notice the disposition of troops along the confederate line. It may be mentioned summarily that the confederates are divided into two large corps d'armee, and that on this occasion General Longstreet's corps was on the left, and General “Stonewall” Jackson's on the right. But as the hottest work of the battle fell upon particular divisions and brigades, it should be further stated (although the position of each brigade cannot, for want of time be given) that the confederate divisions, starting from the left of the line and proceeding toward the right, were posted as follows: On the extreme left, the division of Gen. Anderson; next to it, the division of Gen. Ransom; next to it, that of Gen.