much opposition or loss. A few miles below the town we formed upon a vast level amphitheatre shaped by well-wooded bluffs and the river. The manoeuvering of the troops was a magnificent sight, more like the preparatory evolutions of a review than an army offering battle. There were skirmishers advancing on the "double quick," stopping occasionally to fire; divisions of infantry marching in echelon; light batteries galloping forward between the infantry formations; cavalry brigades moving to left and right; all impelled from a common centre to their position in line. We had experienced frost, but a bright sun shone on that eventful day, and forty thousand bayonets and sabres gleamed and glistened over the level plain; and all within view of Jackson's men on the commanding heights. It was a sight worthy of "Stonewall's Brigade." My regiment was in the front line on the first day of battle. Moving by the flank under both artillery and musketry fire, the men ducked" as the shell and "Minie" whizzed and whispered over their heads. ing! Stand up like men!" said Captain O Presently a shell went whiz-a-whiz over his head, and he ducked. "Stop that ducking!!" cried a dozen voices; and a chorus of laughter followed. It is difficult to keep from "ducking" when shot and shell are passing over you; nor does your doing so indicate any want of courage. Vanity occasionally asserts itself, even on the battlefield. I have seen it Stop that duck associated with bravery. But valour in its simplicity is sublime. While a convalescent at Columbia College Hospital, and during a rush of patients, I volunteered to apply a poultice to an officer's face; it bore the scar of an Indian arrow. He was a general of cavalry, of solid frame and frank ruddy face-General Bayard. On the day of which I write I saw some men bearing a wounded officer from the left of our line, and inquired who it was-Bayard! He died the next morning. Capable, prompt, and brave; beloved by his command-and on the eve of marriage. Like many thousands more that fell on the slopes and plains of the Rappahannock this day, his death was a trial to many a Northern heart. The Irish Brigade and other valiant men sought to storm St. Mary's Heights on our right, but again and again they failed. And on the night of the 15th of December our baffled army recrossed, unmolested, to the north bank of the river, having sustained a loss of 14,000 killed and wounded. Yes, there was cause enough for sorrow, but none for shame! Burnside, though defeated, was by no means disheartened, for within two weeks of the reverse at Fredericksburg our army was again in motion towards Richmond, headed for Bank's Ford, on the Rappahannock. We were overtaken by a severe storm of rain, snow, and sleet; the roads became impassable; and for several days the army and its trains were stuck in the mud. Again we returned to our old camp. The enemy, the elements, and perhaps the jealousy of subordinates, had destroyed Burnside. He was superseded by Hooker. Two months were devoted by the new commander to reorganising the army. Several crack regiments were chosen to form a Light Division, to be in readiness for any service requiring special promptness and celerity. The Fifth Wisconsin was assigned to this Light Division, and we felt somewhat proud of the compliment. When Hooker inaugurated his Chancellorsville campaign, this corps served under Sedgewick's independent command at Fredericksburg; and you may imagine our disgust when this crack division, organised for special service, was required to carry pontoons to bridge the river. Finally, however, it was called upon to storm St. Mary's Heights, against which Burnside had hurled his forces with terrible slaughter, and to no purpose. Colonel Allen and the Fifth Wisconsin led the charge up the steep hill, in the teeth of artillery and musketry, which raked the ascent, until the heights were ours. This is among the most brilliant feats of arms in the annals of our war. When the works were fairly won a Confederate fired at one of our men, but his cap snapped; whereupon the Federal (considered about half-witted), coolly loaded his musket, and deliberately shot his man. Those on the spot remonstrated against what they considered murder. His ready reply was: "He would have shot me if his darned old cap had been good for anything." Our victory availed nothing, for Hooker had already lost the day at Chancellorsville. During the fierce fighting on the right, General Thomas Jonathan Jackson-better known as "Stonewall" Jacksonfell mortally wounded. He was a brave and brilliant leader-loved by his men, and admired by his foe; and, despite the cause for which he fought, the unconscious heroism of Lee's "Right Arm" will be admired wherever the story of our conflict shall be read. Again we returned to our old camp to mourn the loss of nearly half the regiment. And the men complained of the cruel, because impotent, sacrifice of their gallant comrades. The enemy's cavalry were successfully raiding round about. During one of these exploits, General Stoughton, with his guards and five horses, were captured. The affair was mentioned to Mr. Lincoln. "Yes," said he, "the loss of the horses is too bad; but I can make another general in five minutes." Northern elections were going against the Administration; and the President's Emancipation Proclamation was sneered at, and pronounced a huge joke. The Southern star was shining its brightest; and a second invasion of the Free States was inaugurated. CHAPTER XI. LEE ON FREE SOIL.-GETTYSBURG. "Vulgar minds MULLET. Refuse, or crouch beneath their loads; the brave "Round-shot ploughed the upland glades, Sown with bullets, reaped with blades; Tossed their splinters in the air; The very trees were stripped and bare; The barns, that once held yellow grain, BRET HARTE. AS there ever an army so cruelly handicapped as the Army of the Potomac? W Is there, in military annals, any record of men preserving their discipline, patriotism, courage, in spite of such adverse circumstances as beset these men of the North? First, there was want of harmony between the President and McClellan; next, a lack of |