FREDERICKSBURG, Battle of. At the beginning of December 1862 the Army of the Potomac, under command of General Burnside, held the north bank of the Rappahannock River at Falmouth, Va., while the Confederate Army, under General Lee, held the south bank at and below Fredericksburg. The Army of the Poto mac °present and equipped for duty° numbered 120,281 men, with 312 guns. General Lee's army, strongly entrenched on a broken range of hills back of Fredericksburg, numbered (10 Decem ber) °present for duty" 78,513 men, with 270 guns.
The Army of the Potomac was organized into three grand divisions: The right, under General Sumner, consisted of the Second corps, General Couch, the Ninth corps, General Will cox, and Pleasonton's cavalry division; the cen tre, under General Hooker, of the Third corps, General Stoneman, Fifth corps, General Butter field and General Averell's cavalry division; the left, under General Franklin, of the First corps, General Reynolds, Sixth corps, General Smith, and General Bayard's cavalry brigade. General Lee's army was divided into two wings, General Longstreet commanding the left and General Jackson the right.
Burnside concluded to cross the river at and below Fredericksburg by pontoon-bridges. Un der great difficulties, with annoyance from the enemy, the bridges were completed 11 December, troops rushed over, and by night of the 12th Sumner and Franklin had crossed and taken position. Franklin, who was to open the battle by an attack upon the Confederate right, rein forced by Birney's and Sickles' divisions of the Third corps, and Burns' of the Ninth, had about 60,000 men. At 7:30 A.M. on the 13th, Burnside gave him orders to seize the heights at Hamil ton's crossing. One of Franklin's smallest divi sions, Meade's, led the attack, moving out at 9 o'clock; hut owing to flank attacks and lack of immediate support, it was 1:15 P.M. before Meade drove the Confederates from the Rich mond Railroad and, crossing it, charged up a ridge and into the woods, piercing the centre of A. P. Hill's first line ; hut when he had crossed the road that ran in rear of the crest he was attacked, front and flank, by Hill's second line and the reserves, and was driven back with a loss of over 40 per cent in killed, wounded and captured. Gibbon, who had been thrown for ward to support Meade's right, shared the same fate, being forced back, with a loss of 1,267 men. The Confederates then advanced beyond the railroad hut were checked. Franklin made no further attempt to carry the ridge, but directed his attention to protecting his left, which he thought was seriously threatened. At 2:30 P.m., when Sumner was heavily engaged in front of Marye's Heights, Franklin received Burnside's order to attack with his whole force, but the order was not carried out. Franklin put but a
small part of his command into the fight.
Sumner was held in position until after 11 A.M. in the expectation that Franklin would make such an impression upon Lee's right as would enable him to carry the line near the Telegraph and Plank roads. Feeling the import ance of haste, Burnside now directed Sumner to begin his movement. In rear of the town, and between it and the heights that Sumner was to carry, was a broken plain, traversed about mid way by a canal or ditch, running from right to left. Two roads cut the plain nearly at right angles with the canal ; the Plank road on the right, the Telegraph road on the left, leading to Richmond. The advance was to he made on and between these two roads, over ground corn pletely covered by artillery on the heights. McLaws' division held the heights to be as saulted, Cobb's and Kershaw's brigades being placed in the sunken Telegraph road, that ran at the base of the hill. On the side of the road next to the town was a stone wall, shoulder high, behind which Cobb's and Kershaw's men were well protected. The Second corps led in the attack. French's division moved out of the town by parallel streets, and at noon, under a severe artillery and musketry fire, bad driven in the Confederate skirmishers and gained a rise of ground, within about 120 yards of the stone wall, from which and the top of the hill it re ceived a most deadly fire. Hancock's division followed in support. At 1 P.M. Couch ordered French and Hancock to carry Marye's Heights. French sent in his three brigades in succession. but they were bloodily repulsed by the deadly frre from behind the stone wall. Hancock now ordered in Zook's brigade. It sprang forward, was joined by some shattered regiments of French's division, and when within 25 paces of the stone wall was repulsed with great loss. The Irish brigade and Caldwell's followed in succession, but failed to carry the position and, after losing one-half, fell back, and both French and Hancock continued, with parts of their com mands, to hold the rise of ground near the stone wall. While Hancock's men were falling by hundreds, Howard was ordered to move his division to the right of the Telegraph road and turn the Confederate left, but as French and Hancock needed help, Howard was recalled and ordered in on the Telegraph road, and two divisions of the Ninth corps went in on Couch's left. All fought gallantly, but made no impres sion upon the Confederate line. French's loss was 1,160; Hancock's 2,032; Howard's 914; Sturgis' division of the Ninth corps lost 1,007 and Getty's division 296.