. Stories of the civil war . occurred in1881. 74 STORIES OF THE CIVIL WAR XIII A BOYS EXPERIENCE AT THE BATTLE OFFREDERICKSBURG [From the YotttJis Companiony^ I WAS but seventeen years of age when I enlisted ina Maine regiment. We were not brought face to facewith the enemy until December, 1862, when the greatbattle of Fredericksburg was fought. The morning ofDecember 11 found us opposite Fredericksburg, whichis situated on the south side of the Rappahannock spent the entire day in watching our batteriesthrowing shells over into the burning city. With theaid of a glass we could see th
. Stories of the civil war . occurred in1881. 74 STORIES OF THE CIVIL WAR XIII A BOYS EXPERIENCE AT THE BATTLE OFFREDERICKSBURG [From the YotttJis Companiony^ I WAS but seventeen years of age when I enlisted ina Maine regiment. We were not brought face to facewith the enemy until December, 1862, when the greatbattle of Fredericksburg was fought. The morning ofDecember 11 found us opposite Fredericksburg, whichis situated on the south side of the Rappahannock spent the entire day in watching our batteriesthrowing shells over into the burning city. With theaid of a glass we could see the enemys works, stretch-ing far down the river. That night their camp-fireswere plainly visible, and at times faint cheers werewafted to us on the evening breeze. The engineer corps was endeavoring to lay pontoonbridges for our army to cross upon. The Confederatesharp-shooters hotly contested the laying of the bridges,and many a poor fellow lost his life that day. But atlast they were ready for us, and on the morning of the. A BOY S EXPERIENCE AT FREDERICKSBURG 75 12th, in a dense fog, we crossed over, about two milesbelow the city. Our supply of food was rather limited,and, warned by past experiences, I dined and supped onparched corn and hot coffee. I slept soundly upon thefrozen ground that night, and long before daybreak thenext morning the whole army was astir, and we hadcooked and eaten a hasty breakfast. The Rappahannock River, upon whose banks we lay,runs in a south-easterly direction. Back a distance ofabout a mile rise the heights of Fredericksburg, at thefoot of which runs the railroad to Richmond; andbehind the railroad embankment and upon the heightswere intrenched the Confederates. About half-waybetween the heights and the river, and running nearlyparallel with the latter, is the Bowling Green right of our line of battle extended above the city,but we were on the left. At sunrise our brigade began to move toward theturnpike. We had scarcely marched a
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