10 B -
MONDAY. DECEMBER 10. 1962
jf-f f.r..
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
CIVIL WAR
.V
1 i.r 'a
n i -w
1K
CHEAP VICTORY The Battle of Fred-,
cricksburg, fought on Dec. 13, 1862, has
been called a "slaughtorpen". It was that
but more. It was a cheap Confederate vic
tory In terms of casualties; the downfall of
General Burnslde; a display of sheer cour
age by Federal troops, and an indecisive
m
battle after which the Union forces retired
to recuperate. Here, from the Library of
Congress collection, Federal troops are
shown putting down a pontoon bridge
while under fire from Confederate sharp
shooters during the fight. (UPI)
Washington - lUPD - Space I
scientists at Huntsvillc, Ala.,
operate a morgue and a clin
ic and what amounts to a re
ducing salon.
They perform autopsies, re
pair internal organs and think
up new ways of eliminating
unwanted poundage.
Their goal is not healthier
and handsomer people but
more efficient and reliable
rockets.
Th hndics thev dissect are
rocket parts that have died
prematurely. T n e organs
they reluroisn are me nun
irH nf valves which are
among the Saturn rocket's
most vital organs.
The nounds thev remove
are part of the deadweight
which cuts down the amount
of Dayload a rocket can
shove into space.
Huntsville is the home ot
the Marshall space flight cen
ter of the National Aeronau
tics and Space administration.
It is the place wnere giani
moon rockets are conceived.
Work Described
The work of the men who
man the morgue, clinic and
reducing salon was described
recently by Don Lakey, an
information official of the
The Battle of Fredericksburg
By MERTON T. AKERS
UPI Correspondent
The battle of Fredericks
burg, fought on Dec. 13, 1802,
has been called a "slaughter-pen."
It was that but it also was
much more.
It was:
A cheap Confederate vic
tory in terms of casualties.
-The downfall of MaJ. Gen.
Ambrose E. Burnside, the
fourth Union commander In
the East to splinter his mili
tary reputation against the
Army of Northern Virginia.
A display of sheer cour
age by Union troops unsur
passed in any Civil War bat
tle. Another indecisive bat
tle after which the Army of
the Potomac retired to re
cuperate and the Confeder
ates remained on the defen
sive the same situation
which had occurred after the
Peninsula, Second Manassas
and Maryland campaigns.
After that bloody 13th
a Saturday the war picture
remained the same except that
1,879 American would never
fight again 1,284 Federals,
B05 Confedcrales. The bodies
of the Union dead were iro-
VfFHj "'" " """"
y':X PhMi 772-534 Jf " j
zen into the two and one-half
milns nf rpH flats below the
heights on the west bank of
the Rappahannock River at
the devastated city of Fred
ericksburg Va.
Not DMdli.it Batll.
Fredericksburg was not
the deadliest one-day battle
nf thn war Antietam
(Sharpsburg) holds that bloody
honor.
But when the North learn
ed the full story 9,600 Un
ion soldiers wounded and 1,
7(19 missing in addition to
ihnw vlllrri In action for a
ormirf Infill nf 12.853 its
morale took another plunge.
Richmond's elation bound
ed high with the victory. lis
casually total of 5,309 was
less than half the Union loss
es.
But the cold truth was that
the North could replace its
losses, as big as they were;
the Confederates could not.
The battle of Fredericks
burg was Burnside's idea.
When he succeeded MaJ. Gen.
George B. McClcllan early in
November of 'B2 he realized
he was expected to fight and
soon. He moved the Army of
the Potomac from its posi
tion just east of the Blue
Ridge Mountains eastward to
Fredericksburg.
The movement was well
screened, so well that Con
federate Gen. Robert E. Lee,
whose forces were divided,
lost several days trying to
fathom Burnside's maneuvers.
But the pontoon bridges
which Burnside had ordered
to cross the Rappahannock
were delayed. Why they were
delayed is disputed yet. Like
ly the reason was a mixup in
orders with MaJ. Gen. Henry
W. Halleck, commander of
SOBBING SIMS SAYS:
DISCOUNT
PRICES
on
HOBBY KITS!
BIG SAVINGS ON
Numbered Oil Paint Sett Mosaic Tile
Lionel Science Sets H-0 Train Sets
1962 AMTCar Kits
Tasco Microscopes and Telescopes
Many Others
yHisM:M,',i,',nTnn di
In
The
Christmas
Stocking
ONLY
98
On 16-01. hammer for him and ona
9-ot. hammer for har. Blu animated
head with faca polithed. Daluxa fin
ished 2 color lacquered handlat. Ideal
gift. With This Ad
(I;0:i):(li(l:0i0:0:l:0;0-0i0:0:0;9:0i0i(l
SIMS
Cycle & Hobby Shop
23 N. Fir
772-2472
' iLMmiRia
the Union armies, bearing a
share. The error gave Lee
time to move into defensive
positions.
On Dec. 11 the Union army
began to lay the bridges
across the river, about 400
feet wide at that point.
On the Union left down
river from Fredericksburg
three bridges were flung
across overnight without op
position despite a half an
inch of ice on the river.
Different Story
But in front of Fredericks
burg the story was different.
There Confederate sharp
shooters of Barksdale's Mis
sissippi brigade picked off
the Union pontooniers as fast
as they appeared. An artil
lery barrage failed to dis
lodge the' marksmen. Only
when 200 volunteers from
the Seventh Michigan and the
89th Now York paddled
across the river in pontoons
were the Mississippians clean
ed out. Then the bridges were
completed but by that time
it was 4:30 p.m., too late for
action that day.
The next morning the
12th a friendly fog lay
over the river and concealed
the crossing of Burnside's
army. Part of it pushed into
Fredericksburg proper and
occupied the town.
By afternoon when the fog
lifted, most of the Union army
was in position; drawn up in
battle order on the flats.
If Burnside had been in a
position to attack early that
day, the story of Fredericks
burg might have been differ
ent for Lee still did not have
all his forces In the line that
curved bHck of Fredericks
burg on the ridges. Two of
his divisions D. H. Hill's
and Jubal Early's still were
on their way from downriver.
But Burnside did not at
tack that day.
In fact he changed his or
ders. Instead of attacking the
Confederate right on Dec. 13
where Lt. Gen. Thomas J
(Stonewall) Jackson command
ed, with two full corps, he
used only a part of his forces
With bands playing and
banners snapping in the wind,
Mj. Gen. George G. Meade's
division of 5.000 men, sup
ported by two other divisions,
attacked Jackson's segment of
the line under cover of
i fog after an hour and a half
barrage from the Federal ar
j tillcry, posted across the riv
er on Stafford Heights.
! Meade s attack found a
j hole in Jackson's line
Thrat Laytri Daop
i The blnecoats rushed
through and it appeared the
Confederate line was being
! rolled back. But at this point
the line was three layers deep
In Rebel troops. Meade, with
little help from the support
ing division, held on for 20
minutes but pulled back in
the face of counter attacks.
The big show was at
Marye's Heights in the cen
ter of the line directly in the
rear ot Fredericksburg.
Here Longstreet command
ed the Confederates. He post
ed a brigade of Georgians un
der Brig Gen. T. R. R. Cobb
behind a stone wall which
rimmed a sunken road. The
wall was about four feet high,
i ideal breastworks for stand
ing off assaults.
Cobb had about 2.400 men,
all seasoned soldiers. Cobb
was a lawyer rather than a
military man but his fight
ing record was good. He v;is
a brother of Howell Cobb.
Secretary of TreaMiry under
President Buchanan, and was
one of those instrumental in
taking Georgia out of the
Union.
He died behid that stone
wall from a leg wound. But
before he died his men gave
a good account of themselves.
Beginning at 11 a m. and
lasting until winter twilight,
Scientists Hold Post-Mortems To Aid Space Work
Christmas Lighting
Contest Planned
Central Point - The Christ
mas lighting contest, spon
sored by the Central Point
Junior Chamber of Commerce
and Pacific Power and Light
company, will be a different
project this year in regards to
the competition.
Every home is eligible with
no entry blanks required.
Every home in the radius of
three miles is automatically
entered, Jaycce officials noted.
Judging will be done on all
electrical displays on basis of
originality and ingenuity.
Homes will be judged Dec.
21 and 22. Residents wishing
to compete are to leave the
lights on their display from
5:30 to 10 p.m.
A grand prize and several
second prizes will be awarded.
Marshall center. i
Rockets are complex and j
their parts are subjected to
many stresses. Sometimes un
der ground test conditions a
piece of metal will fail. In
the morgue, engineer-detec
tives who operate like path
ologists subject a faulty part
to close study.
They photograph it, x-ray
it, dissect it. They determine
what made it fail.
Then they figure out how
to keep the specific failure
from happening again.
The fact that the Saturn
C-l booster has made three
perfect flight tests suggests
that the morgue crew, head-,
ed by "Doc" Rollin Wagner,
has done a pretty good job
of diagnosis and prevention.!
The so - called clinic actual
ly looks like one in some re
spect. It is "a super-clean
area where even the dust
tracked in by foot could se
riously contaminate rocket
components."
The air is filtered and care
fully conditioned. Germs arc
forbidden to enter because
"enough of them could clog
a valve pore and cancel a
multi-million dollar space
probe."
The valves reconditioned in
the clinic range in length from
less than two inches to 17
inches. One six-incher has 203
parts but weighs less than a
pound and a half. The Saturn
has more than 400 such valves.
Weight Trimm.d
The reducing specialists
spend their time trimming
weight from the rocket to
make more weight available
for payloads, robot or human.
For every five pounds taken
off the advanced Saturn, it
is estimated, it will be pos
sible to add one pound to
the payload.
"Trying to push Saturn
away from the fuel table is
not necessarily the answer,"
according to Lakey. The ex
perts are always searchin;,
for example, for low-weight
metal structures which will
still be strong enough to sup
port the rocket.
As space missions become
more ambitious, rockets tend
to grow apace. One rocket
envisaged for future lunar
and planetary flights would
stand almost as high on its
pad as a 40-story building.
"Unless constant studies are
made on weight control," La
key says, "a rocket could
reach ridiculous dimensions."
"OIL TO BURN"
Mobilhear
S & H Green Stamps
MEDFORD FUEL CO.
772-2111
Burnside threw seven divi
sions of infantry at Marye's
Heights, brigade by brigade.
As one brigade was shattered
by Confederate musket and
cannon fire from behind the
stone wall about a half
mile long another charged
through, over and around the
dead and wounded only to
meet the same fate.
The Union infantry made
14 attacks, each rolled back
with the few survivors duck
ing Into a small depression
or behind the few houses in
the area. There they rolled
the bodies of their comrades
into ricks and fought from
behind the barricade of hu
man flesh which slowly
froze as night came on.
Bodies Propped Up
Some of the Federals hung
on the fringes of ftlarye s
Heights all night in the bit
ter cold. As the wounded died
their bodies were piled on
the barricades or propped fro
zen stiff as dumb sentries.
Such was the "slaughter
penn" or "valley of death"
called the battle of Fredcrcks
burg. The defeat crushed Burn
side. That night he proposed
to put himself at the head of
his old Ninth Corps and
charge the heights again, per
haps hoping he would die at
ils head in one last fling at
victory. His corps command
ers talked him out of it.
All day the 14th and all
day the 15th the armies lay
in their tracks. On the nidit
of the 15th-lt)th Burnside
withdrew his army across the
Rappahannock without Lec
knowing about it until the
sun rose and burned away
the fog.
POWERFUL PtUNGER CLEARS
CLOGGED TOILETS
in o jiffy f
NIVn AOAIN that sick fetin
whin your toll! irtrflowi
TOILAFLEX-
Toilet uvfcHftvi Plunger
I'nlikf ordinary plunder. Tht!iA
lW not permit fompmmJ Bit ot
mrtty water to iplaih b'k or etvip.
With ThiUrirt trie full prrnurt plows
through th clogging man and
iwuhet it down. Can t mm
PfSlONtO TO flit t nt ftNtur
IICUMO HM till III 4 VTI
CINIfll ITMir. CINt !MD .IOUN0
IAfIIIO tail aiVIS All t IQ1? fit
Off TtfUflli' w
AT KAlOWAII WO!J IVHYWMIM
S. x7 Debentures I
111: rt INTEREST
a,i9wWy & ives U ( 1 1 SemiAnnual,y
UrS 1963 Calendars U i$
"Available to Oregon Residents Only"
JL With 12 beautiful 8Vj"slJ'i" prinlt In color, tuitablt foi framing.
I r SIMPLY STOP IN AT OUR OFFICE FOR YOUR FREE CALENDAR j 5OO0CCaxSXX)Q0
6 j . Ill 5j CRATER THRIFT CORPORATION C
LlJ JDOIl utCltllOS lllSlirOr (KW S( crater hnancV CORPORATION Q
JK ! ffj 135 PINE CL 664-1273 $
Unit No. 3, The Mall, 1005 East Main - 773-6658 6
km-,,-
Like a LETTER from HOME-Every Day!
Subscribe this Christmas to the
MEDFORD
THE MAIL TRIBUNE IS THE CHRISTMAS GIFT
THEY WILL APPRECIATE. Regional and local newt
in the Mail Tribune . . . what mora wonderful
gift to a ion in service, a son or daughter away
at school or soma out of town friend or relativa
than a subscription to the Mail Tribune. Merely
and us the information called for on the special
order form below, and ws will do the rest.
Low Cost Rates
One Year by Mail. $18.00
6 Months by Mail . $10.00
3 Months by Mail . $5.00
Tribune
THE MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE
33 No. Fir St.
Medford, Oregon
Enclosed is $
Sunday to:
Name
Address
City
Remitter
Address
City
. State
for your
STUDENT
SIRVICIMAM
RELATIVES
m
Send the Mail Tribune Daily and
The subscriber will receive
an attractive Gift Card
if you wish.