The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia

by S. J. Quinn

But the unkindness of the military authorities and their harsh treatment of our citizens, by the order of General Pope, did not cease with the arrest and incarceration of the nineteen gentlemen above mentioned. Among other things, the Federal Provost Marshal of Fredericksburg was charged with too much leniency to the citizens and was removed; Col. Scriver was falsely charged with furnishing the destitute with food, and was ordered to stop it at once, if he had done so, and not to repeat it, and the stores and places of business were closed, it was said, to prevent the citizens from obtaining supplies. General Pope’s plan seems to have been, as he declared, to subsist his army as much as possible on the country and to starve the old men and women into submission to his demands. In this, however, he was not sustained by the Washington authorities, and especially by President Lincoln.

This condition of things in Fredericksburg continued only for a short time. The campaign, inaugurated by General Pope, which resulted in the Second Battle of Manassas and so disastrously to the Federal army, was speedily followed by the advance of the Confederate army into Maryland, the capture of Harper’s Ferry, with General Nelson A. Miles’s whole force of eleven thousand prisoners and immense military supplies, by General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, aided by General Wm. Barksdale, on the Maryland Heights, and General John B. Floyd, on the Loudoun Heights, and the fierce and bloody, but undecided, struggle between General Lee and General McClellan at Sharpsburg.

In consequence of the results of these events the Federal authorities found it necessary to recall from the line of the Rappahannock, which they were unable to hold, the forces then occupying the same, and therefore on the 21st day of August, 1862, Fredericksburg was evacuated by the Federal forces, and thus for a brief time the town was relieved from the presence and rule of the enemy until the following November, when Gen. Burnside moved against the town.

EVACUATION SCENES.

The scenes incident to the evacuation of Fredericksburg are well remembered to the present day by those who were present and witnessed them. They are indelibly impressed upon their minds and can never be forgotten, and are often related with great interest. In describing this stirring event and the reoccupation of the town in the Fall of 1862, we use the eyes of citizens, who were present and witnessed the scenes described and the words of another, who wrote of them years afterwards.[28] Crowds at the corners of the streets indicated that some unusual excitement prevailed, and clouds of smoke rose from the encampments on the Stafford side of the river. Everything indicated an immediate departure. The guards were drawn up in line; the horses and wagons packed at headquarters; cavalry officers rode up and down, giving orders; company after company of pickets were led into town from different roads and joined the regiment at the City Hall; ambulances, with the sick, moved slowly through the streets; the provost marshal and his adjutant rode by, and, in a few minutes, the command was given to march, and the infantry and cavalry marched down to the bridges, each one moving by different streets. This march was quietly made. There was no music, no drum, no voice, but the command of the officers’ forward, march!

The ladies, standing in groups along the streets, found it difficult to repress their exultation. Glad to be relieved of the presence of the enemy, and to be freed from the restraints of their power; glad to be once more within Southern lines, and to be brought into communication with their own dear people; but the great gladness was that the evacuation of Fredericksburg showed that the enemy had been defeated on the upper line and could no longer hold the line of the Rappahannock river. And this gave them strong hope that Virginia might yet be free from the armies of the invader.

Several severe explosions followed the blowing up of the two bridges, and, as the bright flames seized upon and leaped along the sides and floors of the bridges, the whole horizon was illuminated. The burning continued all night. A guard was at once organized by the citizens, for the protection of the town against any stragglers or unruly persons who might chance to be prowling about.

With the departure of the Federal troops came now the desire on the part of the citizens of town and country to meet and greet each other, and also a longing to welcome the appearance of the Confederates, a sight which had so long been denied them. In this, to their great delight, they were soon to realize their wish, for on the 2nd day of September about two hundred people came into town from the surrounding country, and general congratulations ensued. On the evening of that day a small force of Confederate cavalry rode into town and were received with shouts of joy. The ladies lined the streets, waving their handkerchiefs and loudly uttering their welcome.

On the morning of the 4th of September the soldiers in camp at Hazel Run were treated to breakfast by the ladies, and greatly enjoyed the hot rolls, beefsteak and hot coffee, after their long abstinence from such delicacies, and probably from rations of any sort. After a brief season of comparative quiet, disturbed only by the general interest felt in the operations of our armies, the condition of the country generally, and the liability to the reoccupation of the town at any time, Fredericksburg was again the subject and recipient of war’s horrors in their most appalling form.