It was a Strange Scene: The Truce at Fredericksburg

Having missed most of the action at Fredericksburg, one Alabama soldier recalled the extraordinary meeting of the two armies during the flag of truce two days after the battle.

“As soon as they saw the flag, one of them came a little forward and proposed a friendly meeting halfway,” he wrote a few days later. “We accepted, and a dozen or so of us went out and met them, shook hands, passed compliments, traded a little, and had a gay time. In a few minutes, the truce being refused, we all quickly took our places ready to change our friendly meeting into a bloody conflict. We agreed not to fire on each other that day unless the fight commenced.”

Later that afternoon, a second flag of truce was agreed upon and again the men met to exchange the bodies of their dead comrades. “A large body of Yankees then came forward with litters to pick up our dead which they brought halfway and laid them down; about the same number of our men commenced picking up the Yankee dead and carrying them to the center, both sides meeting and mixing at the same place. They would carry a dead enemy and take back a dead comrade. The officers on each side rode up and down to try and keep the men from talking. It was a strange scene mingled with melancholy and levity,” he noted.

This letter, written “from a son of Major Chappell to his sisters in Troy,” Alabama first saw publication in the January 14, 1863, edition of the Southern Advertiser which was published in Troy.


At the first opportunity after Fredericksburg, Federal and Confederate soldiers climbed out of their cover to meet on the field under a proposed flag of truce. Our Alabama correspondent said they "had a gay time" trading and getting to know one another; one Federal later wrote that had it been left to the enlisted men of both armies, the war would have been settled in a manner of minutes. 


Spotsylvania County, near Fredericksburg, Virginia

December 26, 1862

          I will give you a little history of my ups and downs in our fight. When we first arrived in the neighborhood, we went down the river to near Point Royal to watch the enemy there, an account of which I believe I gave you in my last. When the fight commenced up here, we started to the scene of action about dark and made a forced march to near the battlefield, it taking us until near daylight in the morning. We then slept an hour or two and marched to the field of battle.

          Our division was in the rear so we formed the last or outside line of battle; this was on Saturday [December 13, 1862], the day of the main fight. We had no small arms fighting as those in front were between us and the enemy, but the shells played on us during most of the day, killing and wounding a good many in the division but doing our regiment little harm.

Late in the evening, we advanced through the woods to the edge of the field where the enemy had been fighting. We halted and in a few minutes the Yankees opened a battery on us, shooting shells and grape, the shells crushing the trees while making a fearful crash; the grape sweeping like hail among us but as providence would have it, only a few got hurt. It lasted but a few minutes and we were out of sight, else we would have suffered very much. It was hard to make the men stand at first; it scared some of them very badly and it was one of the hottest places I ever stopped in.

We then went back and camped for the night, the fight having ceased. In the morning, we formed another line of battle next to the front and stayed there until 4 o’clock the next morning when we relieved the front line and at night formed ourselves in plain view of the enemy, they not being over 350 yards from us. Our position was behind the railroad. We thought the fight would be sure to open in a short time. I with some 20-25 others from the regiment were ordered forward to picket and skirmish if they came on us.

The fighting at Fredericksburg was amongst the bloodiest of the Civil War with Federal casualties topping 12,000 killed, wounded, and missing while the Confederates lost around 5,000. 

Our line was behind the bank of a fence, a very good place. We could see the enemy relieving and marching about and were sure they were advancing once, but they did not advance and the pickets did not seem disposed to fire on us. This was on Monday [December 15th] and at 9 o’clock we saw a flag of truce coming to our lines. We then saw the Yankee heads popping up just a little in front of us and found that they had pickets in a deep ditch within 146 yards of us as I afterwards stepped it. We were surprised to find them so near; they might have killed some of us very easily if they had tried.

As soon as they saw the flag, one of them came a little forward and proposed a friendly meeting halfway. We accepted, and a dozen or so of us went out and met them, shook hands, passed compliments, traded a little, and had a gay time. In a few minutes, the truce being refused, we all quickly took our places ready to change our friendly meeting into a bloody conflict. We agreed not to fire on each other that day unless the fight commenced.

Things went on quietly with both sides in their places until say 3 o’clock in the afternoon when another flag was sent over and General Lee accepted it this time. A large body of Yankees then came forward with litters to pick up our dead which they brought halfway and laid them down; about the same number of our men commenced picking up the Yankee dead and carrying them to the center, both sides meeting and mixing at the same place. They would carry a dead enemy and take back a dead comrade. The officers on each side rode up and down to try and keep the men from talking. It was a strange scene mingled with melancholy and levity. Our men got all or nearly all of our dead, but there were so many dead Yankees, we did not get them all. Our men had stripped them nearly all of shoes and outside clothing, which I felt ashamed of. Some of our men stripped them while they were fixing up the truce and they were not afraid of being fired on at that time. It looked very badly, but we have men that care for nothing.

The truce ended at dark and at daylight we found that they had all retreated to the other side of the river, not more than a mile and a half. They left their dead unburied after taking the trouble to get them. They also left a good deal of plunder. I suppose the cowards got up the truce to help carry it off. We gained a great victory. There was only one day of infantry fighting, but cannons were firing five or six days. Some of them are still on the other bank, but it is thought they are building winter quarters and if they are, I hope we shall, too. We have no tents yet but make ourselves very comfortable by building shelters of pine and cedar brush like a hog shelter. The weather is quite dry and generally pretty cold, but we have only had two snows yet.


Source:

Letter from unknown soldier in 15th Alabama Infantry, Southern Advertiser/Troy Messenger (Alabama), January 14, 1863, pg. 2


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