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May 13, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

We glean from the Richmond papers some additional details of the recent battles on the Rappahannock. The correspondent of the Dispatch writes:

THE FIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS.

The fight on the plank road – in the country known as the ‘Wilderness’ was, beyond doubt, one of the must stubbornly contested of any that has been fought since the commencement of this war; yet at no time during the struggle, from the time the first works were assailed till the last, in the vicinity of Chancellorsville, was carried, was the result in the least doubtful.

To form any correct conception of the difficulties encountered by our troops in their assaults upon the enemy works, a view of the bloody field, extending a distance of nearly five miles, is necessary. Imagine a narrow road, skirted on either side with a dense and apparently impenetrable growth of stunted oaks, whose branches reach the ground, and whose gnarled trunks nearly touch each other, and some idea may be had of the country in its natural condition. Here and there, at intervals of perhaps half a mile, was a cleared spot of from 50 to 100 acres. Upon these Hooker had thrown up his entrenchments, and behind them posted his artillery and infantry. In approaching them our forces had either to huddle in the narrow passway, or feel their way as best they could through the woods above described. In addition to this, a part of the ground over which they had to pass was of a soft, marshy character, covered with a less stubborn but quite as dense growth of shrubbery as the higher grounds. As they pierced the woodland, and approached the cleared fields upon which were situated the successive lines of the enemy’s works, a perfect storm of shell, grape, canister and musketry was hurled upon them, and many a brave spirit sank at the bidding of the deadly messengers.

On Saturday afternoon the work was begun, Jackson, with the divisions of A. P. Hill, Rhodes, and Trimble, having reached the enemy’s rear. Their first series of entrenchments was carried without such a resistance as indicated a very determined spirit on the part of the enemy; and, indeed, if reports of those who participated be correct, the stubborn fighting of the enemy did not commence until Sunday morning, when they seemed to have acquired some knowledge of their situation. Our gallant men, undaunted by the rugged face of the country, and undismayed by the shower of iron and lead that rained around them, pressed forward, driving the enemy before them in the direction of Chancellorsville, where the two divisions of Longstreet’s corps – McLaw’s and Anderson’s – which have borne so conspicuous a part in many of the hard fought battles of this war, were engaging them from the front, and driving them by way of the old turnpike road, in the direction of United States Ford. This fight, which continued through the afternoon of Saturday and forenoon of Sunday, wound up gloriously about noon of the latter day, though the army and country are called to mourn the loss of many a gallant Southerner.

THE LOSSES.

The surgeons in General LEE’S army make the following approximate estimate of our loss in the recent battles:

Wounded        7000

Killed              900

Missing           1200

                        ——–

Total               9100

This estimate is liberal, and it is believed that our actual loss will fall below rather than exceed that sum.

The enemy’s loss is more a subject of conjecture, but from the number of dead that encumber the ground for miles about Chancellorsville and behind Fredericksburg, and the prisoners now on their way to Richmond, it is believed that it must be between twenty and twenty-five thousand. At Hamilton Crossing there are more muskets piled on either side of the road than have ever been seen together since the war. They were left on the battle fields by the Yankees, and many thousand more there are which have not yet been collected.