On his left flank Jackson’s whole corps was massed,
at Hamilton’s Crossing; at his right was the
stone wall and Mayree’s Hill. To meet Hood
and Pickett he would have had to advance between a
quarter and half mile through a plain, where his army
could be enfiladed by the guns of Longstreet and Jackson,
and in front by the batteries of Hood and Pickett.
It seems from reports since come to light that the
authorities at Washington apprehended more danger in
Burnsides crossing the river than in the battle that
was to follow. Lincoln in giving him orders as
to his movements instructed his Secretary of War,
Stanton, to write Burnsides to be very careful in the
crossing, to guard his flanks well, and not allow
Lee to fall upon one part that had crossed and crush
it before the other part could come to the rescue;
nor allow that wing of the army yet remaining on the
Northern side to be attacked and destroyed while the
other had crossed to the Southern side. It is
said Stanton wrote the order couched in the best of
English, and phrased in elegant terms the instructions
above, telling him to guard his flanks,
etc.,
then read the order to Lincoln for his approval.
Taking up the pen, the President endorsed it, and
wrote underneath, in his own hand: “In crossing
the river don’t allow yourself to be caught
in the fix of a cow, hurried by dogs, in jumping a
fence, get hung in the middle, so that she can’t
either use her horns in front, nor her heels behind.”
Many incidents of courage and pathos could be written
of this, as well as many other battles, but one that
I think the crowning act of courage and sympathy for
an enemy in distress is due was that of a Georgian
behind the wall. In one of the first charges made
during the day a Federal had fallen, and to protect
himself as much as possible from the bullets of his
enemies, he had by sheer force of will pulled his
body along until he had neared the wall. Then
he failed through pure exhaustion. From loss
of blood and the exposure of the sun’s rays,
he called loudly for water. “Oh, somebody
bring me a drink of water!—water! water!!”
was the piteous appeals heard by those behind the
stone wall. To go to his rescue was to court certain
death, as the housetops to the left were lined with
sharpshooters, ready to fire upon anyone showing his
head above the wall. But one brave soldier from
Georgia dared all, and during the lull in the firing
leaped the walls, rushed to the wounded soldier, and
raising his head in his arms, gave him a drink of
water, then made his way back and over the wall amid
a hail of bullets knocking the dirt up all around him.