Diary of Musician David Lane, December 28, 1862

Camp near Fredericksburg, Dec. 28th, 1862.

The battle of Fredericksburg has been fought and—lost. We are now engaged in the laudable occupation of making ourselves comfortable; building log huts to protect ourselves from the cold storms of winter. Our brigade the—First—was not engaged at Fredericksburg. We were commanded by Colonel Poe, a graduate of West Point, a man thoroughly versed in the art of war. He saw the utter hopelessness of the struggle, and, when the order came to advance, he flatly refused to sacrifice[e] his men in the unequal contest. Of course, he was put under arrest, and will be court-martialed, but he saved his men.

The eighteen thousand slaughtered husbands and sons who fell at Fredricksburg does not comprise our greatest loss. This whole army, for the time being, is thoroughly demoralized. It has lost all confidence in its leaders—a condition more fatal than defeat.

The leaders of the different corps do not work in unison. Our commander lacks the mental force to weld and bind these discordant, disintegrating elements into one solid, compact, adhesive mass, subject to his will and guided by his judgment; and herein lies the cause of our defeat.

Everything has the appearance of a protracted stay. We cannot advance; the enemy is too strongly fortified; if he were not, we would give him time to do so. And yet it is dangerous to stay. It is all Government can do, with the river open and all available transports, to furnish this great army with supplies. Should the river freeze, or the Rebels gain a position on its banks, we would be starved out in short order.

SOURCE: David Lane, A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 23-4

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, June 1, 1862

CAMP OPPOSITE FREDERICKSBURG, June 1, 1862.

Your letter of the 29th came to-day, and I should judge from its tenor that the stampede in Philadelphia this day (Sunday) week must have been pretty great. It does seem to me strange that sensible people can be so carried away by their fears as to lose all their reasoning powers. How could the enemy, even supposing their forces amounted to the exaggerated numbers stated — namely, thirty thousand — injure Washington, when Banks had ten thousand, there were twenty thousand in and around Washington, and we had here within a few hours' call forty thousand, to say nothing of the numbers that could be sent in a few hours from the Northern cities? As it is, the boldness and temerity of the enemy will probably result in their discomfiture, for McDowell is in their rear with thirty thousand men, and Banks, largely reinforced, is in their front, and it will be hard work to get themselves out of our clutches, if our people are as quick in their movements as they should be. Last night Mr. Assistant Secretary Scott made his appearance, to inquire into the canard (telegraphed to Washington by the operators), that the enemy were advancing and we retreating. He stayed several hours with McCall, and among other things told him, "it was thought in Washington (that is, Mr. Stanton thought) that if McClellan would fight he would win. That his delay was exhausting and weakening his army, while the enemy were all the time being reinforced."

Do you see how handsomely Kearney speaks of Poe at Williamsburgh?

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 270-1