Fredericksburg, Part 3: Slaughter on Marye's Heights
also held by a regiment of Irishmen. "The Confederates recognized their countrymen by their green emblems, and someone exclaimed, 'What a pity. Here comes Meagher's fellows.' Then the Georgians took aim and mowed their fellow Irishmen down" (Goolrick, 1985, p. 77). As the Irish Brigade faltered, so too did that of Caldwell. Hancock's division lost over 40 percent of its total strength in the mêlée--2,049 men--more than any other division would lose in any battle during the War, North and South (Goolrick, 1985).
So far six Union brigades had attempted to seize the stonewall, and all six had failed miserably, sustaining heavy casualties along the way. This began to dissuade other Union commanders from carrying out their attacks as ordered. General Darius Couch of the II Corps observed that further attacks would be "only murder now." But he was bound by orders to continue. And so he sent in General Howard's division to reinforce the attack on the center. Howard's three brigades under Joshua Owen, Norman Hall, and Alfred Sully attacked and failed like their other II Corps comrades.
Still, the carnage continued. Brigadier General Samuel Sturgis's division of the IX Corps moved onto the field now covered with lifeless corpses and freezing wounded soldiers. His two brigades predictably faltered as all the others did. The Federal attack had failed miserably and it seemed pointless to continue. Upon the retreat of Sturgis's division, the Federals called a temporary halt to the fighting to reorganize.
Despite the heavy losses Burnside remained loyal to his plan of attack. He ordered Hooker, whose men were held in reserve on the other side of the Rappahannock, to cross the river and attack the same heights from the same field. Riding out onto the battlefield, Hooker realized quickly the futility of such an attack: "...it would be a useless waste of life to attack with the force at my disposal" (Goolrick, 1985).
While Hooker was gone, General Daniel Butterfield ordered his V Corps' First Division under Charles Griffin in to relieve Sturgis and renew the attack. One by one Griffin's brigades went in and sustained heavy casualties. At one point, someone in Hancock's division mistakenly thought he saw the Confederates were retreating. To seize the moment, General Andrew Humphreys division of the V Corps was sent in to go after them, again charging the wall. They, too, failed miserably.
Goolrick (1985) describes the scene that followed Humphrey's initial retreat:
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