Crossed in the night.
Barksdale's brigade of Mississippians was assigned the duty of defending the crossing of the
Rappahannock in front of
Fredericksburg.
These brave and daring fighters well performed their duty, and shot down many of the
Federal pontoon-builders, and frustrated nine successive attempts to lay the bridges.
Burnside, becoming irritated and exasperated by the delay, turned loose his heavy guns, and soon the city of
Fredericksburg was in flames and one body of infantry crossed the
Rappahannock.
But
Barksdale's division of riflemen had snatched one day of anticipated victory from the overconfident
Burnside.
Under cover of the darkness of the night of the 11th of December, and assisted by the heavy winter fog of the next morning, about 45,000 infantrymen and 116 guns, under
Franklin, crossed the pontoon bridges below
Fredericksburg, and were spread a few miles along the line of the railroad towards
Richmond,
[
235]
while
Sumner led 31,000 into
Fredericksburg by the upper pontoon bridges.
As the fog lifted on the 12th of December and
Lee looked out from the high hill in the centre of his position chosen by him for his headquarters, and saw this great host stretched for miles to his front and to his right in ‘brave battle array,’ he knew that the
Federal commander had chosen the perilous plan of a direct attack.
Lee had already made preparations to meet such an assault, and he promptly directed
Jackson to concentrate his men on the right of the army and take command of the right wing.
Our own gallant and beloved fellow-citizen; that brave soldier and patriot whom we all know and admire; that saintly man of God whom we see among us every day,
the Rev. James P. Smith, D. D., of
Jackson's staff, late in the evening rode eighteen miles to
D. H. Hill's headquarters down the river.
That able commander, by marching eighteen miles over the same rugged road that night, placed his men in position on
Jackson's right by the dawn of the 13th; and, by doing this,
Lee was ready to receive the assault before
Burnside was ready to commence it.
