IRISH VALOUR AT FREDERICKSBURG.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 14, 24 July 1885, Page 7

IRISH VALOUR AT FREDERICKSBURG.

A cobtibspondent of the New York Sun givea the following interesting details concerning the historical fight at Fredericksburg :—: — It affords me pleasure to add my testimoay to that of your correspondent " 5.5.." in compliment of the courage of Meagaer's Irish Brigade at the battle of Fredericksburg. We chanced to be on opposing aides of the contest, but he will not, I trust, reject on that account the evidence of one who, though then an enemy, is now glad to call himself a brother soldier. My regiment, the Twelfth Virginia, Gen. Mahone's division, had reconnoitred the enemy nearly all day and night on December 12, under command of Major Field and myself as acting Adjutant. It came thus about, that on the succeeding day we were with the reserves on the left of oar line, and were permitted to do little more than observe the battle. Our elevated position enabled us to hear, and before the close of the battle to see all that transpired. On the evening of December 12 we were made aware by the enthusiasiastic cheering in the city below that something exciting was going on. It was the presentation to certain Union regiments of colours given by ladies of New York. On the eventful day of December 13, 'though the mists of the winter morn prevented us from discerning all movements in the Federal camps, yet from the words of command which occasionally reached us, the taps of the drams, and Ihe inspiring music of the military bands, we learned that the enemy had been marshalled and the attack was about to begin. At last the fog was lifted. I was on the left, in front of our picket line, and can yet recall the admiration which thrilled ma as I witnessed the steady and splendid advance of the attacking army. Meagher'a Irish troop?, with their sprigs of green, were plainly visible. Tbe battle opened with artillery firj, ani our left' was enfiladed by a heavy battery on a distant height. It was soon silenced, and as the smoke lifted I beheld with thrilling interest tiie resolute attack upon Marye's Heigh r, and its quick repulse. For hours the assault was often renewed and as often driven back. The defeated Unionists would advance in splen lid ordei* would break upon our line') of defence, as the waves of the ocean upon a rock-bound coast, aud then recede in tumultuous disorder only to re-form behin I the saeltar oE adjoining bouses, sheds, or fences, again to advance and again to be driven back. This power of rallying in the faca of defeat struck ua »s an admirable evidence of superior discipline. Lack of that was our weak point. The Southern soldier, confident in bis individual courage, was disposed to underrate the cohesive- power of discipline, and as a consequence it was always more difficult! to rally the Southern than the Northern soldiers. I speak from an experience covering the entire war. The valour of the Irish troops particularly impressed me, and was a theme of gjDeral admiration. I have no intention to disparge my fellow countrymen — Least of all the Massachusetts Twenty-first — but as a matter of historic justice I am impelled to assert, upon the evidence of what I myself witnessed, and upon the concurrent testimony of our burial parties, that the Irishmen of Gen. Meagher's command were onre persistent in attack and approached nearer to our battle lines than auy other of toe assaulting forces. Scores of them were slain alm>sc at thi.tjp of the heights, ami the slopes were covered thick with groups of their killed and wounded ; so thick that in several instances the 'dead were used as breastworks for the protection of the living. la one old well, or ie 5 hous« which had been u^el aa a temp >r try tuub, I couueed forty dead bodies. la bat'le trifling incidents »0.-neti<njs Id. id to m )mantous results. In the crisis of tin attictc, a Texas regiment, whicn was being pounded to pieces by artillery fire, be^au to exhibit tti.it uneasiness which usually precedes demoralisation, wheu a r lostei 1 belonging to one of their number flew upon a lo^ wall iv front-of them, an i, clapping its winsj3, utterdJ what saemed a shrill notes of defi in je. I'he effaot wa« cle-jtrical. The regiment ref rtn :d its line, and for the remain ler of tad battle stood shoulder to shoulder in unshaken opposition to tbe enemy. Happily the^e scenes of carnage are over. I passed through them all, fio.n first to last, unier the command of ltibert ft. Lee; and whilu i lecall with almiraaou the patient courage of the dear comrades of V\e war, I raise my hat iv respectful salute to thjae, Irish and Americans alike, whose opposing valour immortalized &o many battle-fields.