GENERAL ORDERS,
HEADQUARTERS FIRST ARMY CORPS, Numbers 53.
Near Fredericksburg, Va., December 18, 1862

The general commanding the First Corps desires to express his gratitude for the good conduct of his troops in the late encounter with the enemy. They had so often attested their valor upon the battle-fields of Virginia and Maryland that he looked for nothing less than steadiness in them when the shock of battle should come; yet notwithstanding he knew them to be steadfast veterans, they still kindle in him a new admiration by the remarkable firmness with which defended Marye's Hill. A more frightful attack of the enemy has not been seen during the war; they approached within thirty paces of your lines, again and again returning with fresh men to the assault. But you did not yield a step; you stood by your posts and filled the field before you with slain. The general commanding congratulates the troops upon the humiliating retreat to which the invader has been forced. Every such disaster to his arms brings us nearer to the happy and peaceful enjoyments of our homes and our families; at the same time he hopes to interest officers and men of this command in the afflictions which have come upon the people of Fredericksburg. Their conduct from the time the two armies appeared before the town has [been] marked with the most self-sacrificing devotion to their country; and now that their homes have been sacked by the foe let not their patience and cheerfulness under these calamities remove from our mind the remembrance of their losses and their wants. The general therefore directs that the commanding officers of this corps will open subscription lists for the relief of the sufferers of Fredericksburg.

By command of Lieutenant-General Longstreet:

G. M. SORREL,

[21.] Assistant Adjutant-General.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
HEADQUARTERS FIRST ARMY CORPS, Numbers 101.
December 18, 1862.

I. Captain Richardson's battery of the Washington Artillery is relieved from further service with Pickett's division and will report at once to Colonel J. B. Walton, commanding battalion.

By command of Lieutenant-General Longstreet:

G. M. SORREL,
[21.] Assistant Adjutant-General.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. BATTLN. WASHINGTON ARTILLERY, Numbers 53.
Near Fredericksburg, December 18, 1862.

The three companies of this battalion now on outpost will report without delay to these headquarters and encamp. Captain Eshelman is charged with the execution of this order.

By order of J. B. Walton, colonel commanding:

W. M. OWEN,

[21.] Adjutant.

HEADQUARTERS FIRST ARMY CORPS,
December 19, 1862.

Major-General McLAWS,

Commanding Division:

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your note of this morning. The fools that you set to General Ransom shall be