General French, December 18, 1862

Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report of the movements and operations of my command from December 10 to 15, inclu. sive:

On the evening of the 10th, an order was received to prepare to march at 6.30 a. m. on the lith. In accordance with instructions from Brigadier-General French, commanding the division, the brigade commenced moving from camp, following Colonel Palmer’s brigade—the Tenth Regiment New York Volunteers in front; the Fourth Regiment New York Volunteers second, and the First Regiment Delaware Volunteers in the rear, according to the rank of commanding officers.

The march continued until 10 o’clock, when the column was halted on the Aquia Creek road, where the command remained until 4 p. m. The line of march was then resumed, and, in obedience to an order from General French, my brigade followed immediately after General Kimball’s. Having arrived on the heights near the Lacy house, an order was received to move my brigade to the rear and bivouac under cover of a hill, about three-quarters of a mile to the right and rear of the position then occupied, where it arrived at dark, having moved to its position under a fire from the enemy’s batteries.

At daylight on the morning of the 12th, the command moved in the direction of the pontoon bridges, in the rear of General Kimball’s brigade ; passed down a ravine on the right of the Lacy house ; crossed the bridge at 7.03 a. m., and took position in the main street of Fredericksburg, where it was ordered to remain in readiness to fal] in under arms at a moment’s warning. This evening the Fourth Regiment New York Volunteers was detailed for picket duty. Orders were received from General French, through Capt. Joseph W. Plume, acting assistant adjutant-general, to prepare to march immediately. The command was instantly under arms, and moved up to the next street after General Kimball’s brigade, the men appearing in good spirits and marching in excellent order. During a short halt at this point, the One hundred and thirty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Albright, joined the brigade, and took its position on the left of the Tenth New York Volunteers. Col. John E. Bendix, Tenth New York Volunteers, was at this time wounded by the explosion of a shell, and the command devolved on Capt. Salmon Winchester. The First Regiment Delaware Volunteers was here ordered to report to Brigadier-General Kimball as skirmishers. The Fourth Regiment New York Volunteers reported at this place and joined the command.

Having been instructed by the general commanding to act in support of General Kimball, moving forward in line of battle, at 150 paces in the rear of his brigade, at 12 m. the command filed to the right through a street running at right angles with the one on which the troops were formed, and moved forward to the attack under a galling fire from the enemy’s works. Passing by the railroad depot in double-quick time, the brigade again filed to the right at the foot of the height, on the crest of which were the works of the enemy ; all of which ground was swept by a very severe, steady, and continued fire of shot and shell. Having formed in order of battle, the command moved rapidly forward with great vigor in support of General Kimball’s brigade, to a point near the line of our skirmishers, where, after delivering a steady and welldirected fire, and being thrown into some temporary confusion, several of the more prominent officers having been wounded, the command was pees to withdraw, which it did in very good order beneath a severe

The brigade was reformed in the second street from the river, under command of Lieut. Col. William Jameson (Col. John W. Andrews having been disabled in the action and obliged to surrender the command), and was subsequently moved to the street next to the river,

by order of