and I felt that I must be at my post. I reached Washington on
the 9th, and it took the next two days to secure a pass and
transportation to the front. The latter was somewhat difficult to
obtain, owing to the fact that a movement of the army was in progress.
What the character of the movement was no one seemed to know, not even
the provost-marshal, who issued all passes.

I took a boat leaving at six o'clock A.M. on the 12th for Aquia Creek
and thence went by rail in a cattle-car to its terminus in the open
field opposite Fredericksburg. (The rebels were mean enough to refuse us
depot privileges at the regular station in Fredericksburg.) I arrived
there about one o'clock P.M. A brisk cannonade was in progress between
the Union batteries posted on the heights back of Falmouth and the
Confederate guns on Marye's Heights, back of Fredericksburg. The problem
now was to find my regiment. A stranger standing near said, in answer to
my inquiry, that the Union army had been encamped about a mile and a
half back yonder, pointing to the hills in our rear, but that he was
quite sure they had all gone across the river last night; that a big
fight had taken place about laying the pontoon bridge over the river
(the Rappahannock), and the Union forces had beaten the rebels back,
laid the bridge and had crossed over and occupied the city.
Fredericksburg was a city of probably five or six thousand people, lying
on the west bank of the Rappahannock, which runs at this point nearly
southeast. The river is probably one hundred and fifty to two hundred
yards wide here, quite deep, with a rather swift current and high banks,
so that one does not see the water until quite close to it. The
railroad formerly ran from Aquia Creek to Richmond via Fredericksburg,
the connection to Washington being by boat from Aquia Creek. The war
stopped its operation, but so much of it as was in the Union lines had
been seized by the government, and was being operated by the
quartermaster's department for war purposes. The stations of the latter
were wherever the troops were, and these were now operating against
Fredericksburg, hence I was dumped down in an open field opposite that
city as stated above. I was fortunate enough to find a man who was going
to Hancock's old camp, and I concluded to go with him, believing that
once there I could find our division camp belonging to the same corps.

I chartered a burly "contraban" to carry my luggage, and we started. T