Utterly
unsuspicious that a trap had been laid for him, he had resolved to
take advantage of this apparently vicious distribution, and, crossing
rapidly at Fredericksburg, to defeat the Confederate left before the
right could lend support. Port Royal is but eighteen miles from
Fredericksburg, and in prompt action, therefore, lay his only hope of
success. Burnside, however, after the successful establishment, of
his six bridges, evinced the same want of resolution which had won
him so unenviable a reputation at Sharpsburg. The long hours of
darkness slipped peacefully away; no unusual sound broke the silence
of the night, and all was still along the Rappahannock.
Dec. 12.
It was not till the next morning, December 12, that the army began to
cross, and the movement, made difficult by a dense fog, was by no
means energetic. Four of the six army corps were transferred during
the day to the southern bank; but beyond a cavalry reconnaissance,
which was checked by Stuart, there was no fighting, and to every man
in the Federal ranks it was perfectly plain that the delay was fatal.
Lee, meanwhile, with ample time at his disposal and full confidence
in the wisdom of his dispositions, calmly awaited the development of
his adversary's plans.
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