Battle of Fredericksburg

Erasmus Corwin Gilbreath wrote in his Civil War Journal of the Battle of Fredericksburg:

“Far away to our right, the south side hills closing in to the river above, the quaint old town with the red bricks of its houses and the steeples of its churches, the winding river with its bridges, the forsaken houses on the plain, with beyond this, the brown wooded hills where was hidden our enemy, and through the center of this picture, just past the silver ribbon of the river, the blue line showing the hosts of the Army of the Potomac with its flags and banners. Cloud puffs from the guns of friend or foe enlivened the scene, and of the grand and glorious in war the picture before us was unsurpassed.”