SEDGWICK AT FREDERICKSBURG AND SALEM HEIGHTS.

FEELING THE ENEMY. FROM A WAR-TIME SKETCH.

SEDGWICK AT FREDERICKSBURG AND SALEM HEIGHTS.BY HUNTINGTON W. JACKSON, BREVET LIEUTENANT-COLONEL, U. S. V.
FROM our encampment on the Stafford Heights, the bright camp-fires of the enemy and the scenes of the terrible encounters under Burnside were daily presented to our sight from December, 1862, until the following April. During this period, with the exception of a futile movement on the right known as the "Mud March," the army remained quiet. The pickets stationed on eitehr bank of the Rappahannock were within hailing distance of each other, and dress and faces could be easily distinguished. By the comity that prevailed, there was no firing from either side. One could rise or walk down to the banks of the river with perfect security. Sometimes "Johnny Reb," as he was called, would rig up a little raft, and, loading it with tobacco, start it with sails and rudder set for the other shore. When the precious freight was unloaded, the craft, generously burdened with coffee and salt, would be headed by "Yank" in an opposite direction, where it would be received with loud expressions of thanks. In this and other ways the asperities of the war were mollified. As time rolled on and the weather improved, arrangements were made for an advance. The men were well clothed, rested, and eager to move again to test the fortunes of war.

Of the several plans of attack, Hooker determined to march around the enemy's flank to Chancellorsville, leaving a portion of the army at Fredericksburg to conceal the real movement. The army struck camp on the 27th of April, and on the 30th Hooker established his headquarters at Chancellorsville. The same evening, in general orders, he said, "It is with heartfelt satisfaction the commanding general announces to the army that the operations of the last three days have determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." Hooker