搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。
(单词翻译)
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
In the early weeks of eighteen sixty-three, the American Civil War took a new political direction. President Abraham Lincoln had announced the Emancipation1 Proclamation. That measure freed the slaves in the rebel2 states of the South, though Lincoln's words fell on deaf ears.
Yet no longer was the Civil War a struggle just to save the Union. It had become a struggle for human freedom.
There was a change on the military side of the war, too. President Lincoln named a new commander for the Union's Army of the Potomac. This was the force that would try again to capture3 the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia.
This week in our series, Harry4 Monroe and Kay Gallant5 describe events during the spring of eighteen sixty-three.
VOICE ONE:
General Joe Hooker
General Joe Hooker was the new commander of the Army of the Potomac. He replaced General Ambrose Burnside, when Burnside suffered a terrible defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia, at the end of eighteen sixty-two. Burnside had replaced General George McClellan, when McClellan kept refusing to obey President Lincoln's orders.
Hooker had one hundred thirty thousand men. They were well-trained and well-supplied.
The Confederate force opposing Hooker's was under the command of General Robert E. Lee. Lee had only about sixty thousand men. They did not have good equipment. And their supplies were low. But their fighting spirit was high. They had defeated the Union army before. They were sure they could do it again.
VOICE TWO:
Lee's army still held strong defensive6 positions along high ground south of Fredericksburg. This was almost halfway7 between the capitals of the opposing sides: Washington and Richmond.
General Hooker did not plan to make the same mistake which General Burnside made at Fredericksburg. Burnside had thrown his army against Lee's defensive positions six times. Each time, the Confederates pushed them back easily. In one day of fighting, more than twelve thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded.
General Hooker had rebuilt the Army of the Potomac. Now he was ready to carry out his plan against General Lee.
Hooker left half his men at Fredericksburg, in front of Lee's army. He would move the other half into position behind Lee's army. If Lee turned to meet him, the troops at Fredericksburg would attack. The Confederate army would be caught between two powerful forces. Lee would have to withdraw8, or lose his army.
VOICE ONE:
Hooker moved around past the end of Lee's line. Then he turned and started marching back behind it.
It was a hard march through thick woods, and across rough hills and valleys. The country was so wild that it was called the wilderness9.
On the last day of April, eighteen sixty-three, the Union force reached Chancellorsville. Chancellorsville was a crossroads near the edge of the wilderness. The next day, the soldiers would be in open country. There, General Hooker could make the best use of his men.
Hooker was extremely pleased. Everything was going as he had planned. He told his officers: "I have Lee in one hand and Richmond in the other."
The next day, Union soldiers began moving out of Chancellorsville and the wilderness. They did not get far. They ran into several thousand Confederate soldiers. Lee had sent them to slow the Union force.
VOICE TWO:
The Confederate force was weak. General Hooker's officers believed they could smash10 through it without difficulty. They did not get a chance to try.
Hooker sent new orders: break off the fight. Return to Chancellorsville. Put up defensive positions.
Hooker's officers were shocked. They protested11. Hooker stood firm. He said, "Lee must fight me on my own ground."
Robert E. Lee could not understand why the Union force had returned to Chancellorsville. But he was happy it did. Now he had time to prepare his men for battle.
VOICE ONE:
The last meeting of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson
Lee met that night with his top general, Stonewall Jackson. They discussed the best way to attack the Union force.
The center of the Union line was strong. The right side was not. Jackson was sure he could get around behind it. Lee asked Jackson how many men he would take. "All of them," Jackson answered. "Twenty-eight thousand."
This meant Lee would have only fourteen thousand men to face General Hooker. If the Union force attacked before Stonewall Jackson got into position, Lee could not possibly hold it back.
Lee was taking a huge chance. He thought about it for a moment. Then he told Jackson to get started.
VOICE TWO:
Jackson's men began to leave the next morning. Union soldiers watched as they marched away. General Hooker thought Lee was withdrawing12.
It took Jackson only half a day to get behind the Union force. He spent a few more hours putting his troops into position. Then he attacked. It was six o'clock in the evening.
The right end of the Union force was not prepared for an attack. The soldiers could not believe their eyes when they saw Confederate troops running out of the woods behind them. Many Union soldiers were killed or wounded. Thousands fled.
The sun went down. The fighting continued under a bright moon. The Confederate troops kept moving forward. The Union troops kept falling back. One northern soldier wrote later: "Darkness was upon us. Jackson was upon us. And fear was upon us."
VOICE ONE:
Jackson seemed to be everywhere. He rode his horse among his men, urging them forward. He would not let the Union force escape.
The Battle of Chancellorsville
As Jackson and some of his officers rode into a cleared area of the woods, shots rang out. The bullets14 came from Confederate guns. The Confederate soldiers thought they were firing on Union officers.
Jackson fell from his horse. Two bullets had smashed15 his left arm. Another bullet13 had hit his right hand. He was hurried to the back of the line. A doctor quickly cut off his left arm and stopped the heavy bleeding.
Jackson seemed to get better. Then he developed pneumonia16. He was unconscious most of the time. He seemed to dream of battle, and shouted commands to his officers. Then he grew quiet. He opened his eyes and said, "Let us pass over the river and rest in the shade of the trees."
The great Confederate General, Stonewall Jackson, was dead.
VOICE TWO:
While Jackson lay dying17, the battle of Chancellorsville continued.
Robert E. Lee's Confederate army was much smaller than Joe Hooker's Union army. But for five days, Lee kept part of his army moving between Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg. Wherever the Union army attacked, Lee quickly added more men to his lines. The Union army could not break through.
The fighting was taking place on the south side of the Rappahannock River. The Union army's supply lines were on the north side.
Spring rains were beginning to make the Rappahannock rise. General Hooker did not want to get trapped without food and ammunition18. So he ordered his men back across the river.
VOICE ONE:
The South had won the battle of Chancellorsville. Robert E. Lee was sure of that. Once again, he had forced back the Army of the Potomac. But the Union army was not hurt seriously. New soldiers would soon take the place of those lost in battle.
Lee, however, would find it more difficult to replace his soldiers. The South was running out of manpower. Every Confederate army needed men -- more and more men. Yet fewer and fewer southern boys were willing to become soldiers.
Anti-war movements were, in fact, active in both the North and South. There were a number of protests19 against the military draft20. Some turned violent.
In the North, a political party was created to oppose the Civil War. Leaders of this peace party were called Copperheads. They got the name because they wore a copper21 penny showing the head of an Indian.
That will be our story in our next program on the Civil War.
(MUSIC)
Our program was written by Frank23 Beardsley. The narrators were Harry Monroe and Kay Gallant. Our series can be found online with transcripts24, podcasts and historical images at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow our weekly programs on Twitter at VOA Learning25 English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.
___
This is program #106 of THE MAKING OF A NATION
1 emancipation | |
n.(从束缚、支配下)解放 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 rebel | |
n.叛徒,起义者;vi.造反,反抗,反感;adj.造反的,反抗的,反叛者的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 capture | |
vt.捕获,俘获;占领,夺得;n.抓住,捕获 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 halfway | |
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 withdraw | |
vt.收回,撤消,撤退;vi.缩回,退出,撤退 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 smash | |
v.粉碎,打碎;n.轰动的演出,巨大的成功 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 protested | |
v.声明( protest的过去式和过去分词 );坚决地表示;申辩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 withdrawing | |
v.取[收]回( withdraw的现在分词 );(使)撤退[出];提;收回 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 bullet | |
n.枪弹,子弹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 bullets | |
n.弹药;军火 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 smashed | |
adj.喝醉酒的v.打碎,捣烂( smash的过去式和过去分词 );捣毁;重击;撞毁(车辆) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 pneumonia | |
n.肺炎 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 dying | |
adj.垂死的,临终的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 ammunition | |
n.军火,弹药 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 protests | |
n.[体]抗议;抗议,反对( protest的名词复数 )v.声明( protest的第三人称单数 );坚决地表示;申辩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 draft | |
vt.起草,作...的草稿;n.草稿,草图,草案 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 announcer | |
n.宣布者;电(视)台播音员,报幕员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 frank | |
adj.坦白的,直率的,真诚的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 transcripts | |
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 learning | |
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。