COBB'S
GEORGIA BRIGADE
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BATTLE
OF FREDERICKSBURG, DECEMBER 13, 1862
At noon on December 13,1862, French's brigades
moved out from the shelter of the town of Fredericksburg. As soon as they
did, they came under fire from the Confederate artillery from Lee's Hill.
Most of their early losses were caused by this artillery.
As soon as the advancing lines came within musket range a sheet of flame
greeted them from behind the four foot stone wall occupied by Cobb's Georgia
Brigade. The withering fire cut the attackers down by the hundreds. But
the grim advance continued, ignoring casualties until the leading wave
was within sixty yards of the wall. At that point flesh and blood could
take no more. The second and third brigades of French's division followed
the first, but they too were stopped in succession at sixty yards. French's
division was out of the fight leaving a third of it's men on the ground.
The turn of Hancock's division came next. The safety of the stone wall
caused the Confederates to crown into the sunken road until they were firing
in four ranks as fast as men could change places. The resultant cycle of
fire was more than four times the normal rate. As a result, Hancock's reception
was worse than French's.
Casualties in the divisions of French and Hancock alone amounted to 3,200
killed, wounded and missing. Before the day was over 6,300
Federal troops would fall at the base of Mayer's Heights.
Unbelievable as it may sound, only 6,000 muskets and no more than 20 guns
had borne the defense of Maryer's Heights against the driving weight of
seven Federal divisions whose aggregate battle strength exceeded 40,000
men a ratio of almost 7 to 1.
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