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Irish
Brigade." Fate had placed the assault for the Fifth and the Irish Brigade directly facing the infamous "stone wall" on the Marye's Height's where Confederate infantry was massed four ranks deep. Along the six hundred yard path of advance the men suffered dreadful casualties to the effect that by the time the regiment reached the "brick house" a prominent landmark on the battlefield one hundred yards from the "stone wall", all the officers had been killed or wounded; Cross himself having been wounded by shrapnel in the chest and face. Knocked to the ground he was again struck, "I tried to get to my feet but could not stand... I concluded to lie still, and lay there for more than an hour in expectation of instant death or a mortal wound." For the rest of the men who continued on, the accounts of survivors echo similar records. Corp. John McCrillis, "The line has now reached the "brick house". Every man belonging to the color guard of the Fifth is dead or wounded. Col. Cross is severely wounded, no man dares leave the ranks to assist him. Major Sturtevant, Captains Perry, Murray and Moore and Lieutenants Ballou, Netteton, and Little are killed. Beyond the "brick house" extends a close board fence parallel to the "stone wall". We have now reached the fence, the point beyond which no previous line had been able to go. |
The dead and dying lay in a wide row along this fence. With the butts of our muskets we knocked the boards off in several places. Sgt. Gove of Co. K with the company colors dashed off toward the Rebel line Gove halted. I was the first man on his left, next to my left was Foss of Co. E. Gove and Fosswere the only two men |
colors and not mind any thing about him. I rolled him over as carefully as I could, and gathered the tattered folds about the staff. At this time there was no one to my right or left except the dead or wounded. Fixing my eye on an opening in the fence I made a break for the rear, out to the "brick house" where there were hundreds of men huddled...I decided to go to the rear. Arriving at the place where we came into line at the canal I found a few of our own regiment and one officer." On the morning of Dec. 14, 1862, seventy men answered the roll.
In his history of the Second Army Corps Gen. Francis Walker writes "The dead of Fredericksburg were buried on the following Saturday by a detachment under the command of Col. John R. Brook who was accompanied by Captain Morgan, Inspector General of the Second Corps. Both these men have testified, in the most precise manner, that the bodies found nearest the "stone wall" were those of the Sixty-ninth New York, Fifth New Hampshire, and Fifty- third Pennsylvania." Following Fredericksburg the regiment went into winter quarters at Falmouth. It and the entire Second Corps were spared the misery of Burnside's "mud march". Here at Falmouth they slowly renewed their numbers through returned convalescents and recruits. Click to continue |
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| standing. All the other men that were not shot down, fell down on their own accord. I asked them to lay down. Gove made no reply while Foss said that he would stand up until he was hit. Hardly had Foss said this before he was shot throughout the hip. At the same instant I heard Gove call my name. I looked as he was going down. I started to go to him when I was struck by a piece of shell in my left arm above the elbow, cutting a piece out of my overcoat, blouse and shirt, rendering my arm useless. I managed to get to Gove. He told me that he was shot through, and that I must save the |
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