n's artillery, under Colonel Walker,
posted near the end of the ridge, opened a sudden and furious fire,
which threw the Federal line into temporary confusion. The troops soon
rallied, however, and advanced again to the attack, which fell on
Jackson's front line under A.P. Hill. The struggle which now ensued
was fierce and bloody, but, a gap having been left between the
brigades of Archer and Lane, the enemy pierced the opening, turning
the left of one brigade and the right of the other, pressed on,
attacked Gregg's brigade of Hill's reserve, threw it into confusion,
and seemed about to carry the crest. Gregg's brigade was quickly
rallied, however, by its brave commander, who soon afterward fell,
mortally wounded; the further progress of the enemy was checked, and,
Jackson's second line rapidly advancing, the enemy were met and forced
back, step by step, until they were driven down the slope again. Here
they were attacked by the brigades of Hoke and Atkinson, and driven
beyond the railroad, the Confederates cheering and following them into
the plain. The repulse had been complete, and the slope and ground
in front of it were strewed with Federal dead. They had returned as
rapidly as they had charged, pursued by shot and shell, and General
Lee, witnessing the spectacle from his hill, murmured, in his grave
and measured voice: "It is well this is so terrible! we should grow
too fond of it!"

The assault on the Confederate right had thus ended in disaster, but
almost immediately another attack took place, whose results were more
bloody and terrible still. As General Meade fell back, pursued by the
men of Jackson, the sudden roar of artillery from the Confederate left
indicated that a heavy conflict had begun in that quarter. The Federal
troops were charging Marye's Hill, which was to prove the Cemetery
Hill of Fredericksburg. This frightful charge--for no other adjective
can describe it--was made by General French's division, supported by
General Hancock. The Federal troops rushed forward over the broken
ground in the suburbs of the city, and, "as soon as the masses became
dense enough,"[1] were received with a concentrated artillery fire
from the hill in front of them. This fire was so destructive that it
"made gaps that could be seen at the distance of a mile." The charging
division had advanced in column of brigades, and the front was nearly
destroyed. The troops continued to move forward, however, and had
nearly reach