The Express.
London, England, 1862-12-25 00:00:00

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MI
_25, 1862. .
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ithi., from the distant hills cogs more a irei over to us, r•
then& the lisavent Fere Teat asunder. At Genteel Sum-
nees headquerters, half a tole distant, it I rooms.
'difficult to COGVIM in a low tope, while at
the batteries orders most be sigetalin 1. By and by
the firing oessei, and one is almost awe-sit:clean with the
larolownd snipes. The mist sti" cl:ugs to the river,
-the as similes no red and fury, and the sir is suffocating
with the odour al gunpowder. Presently the bank of fag
WSW to lift a little, the glistening roofs gleam 'shady
dm* the veil, then the sunbeams seratter the clouds that
tatteertne, sod Fredericksburg, utterly desolate, steads out
helm. A huge column of dense black smoke towers Qs a
sionement above the livid flames, that leap and hies end
mookle, licking up the snow upon the roofs with lambent
tongues, and stretching like a giant. The gons nose the:-
rear, and we see the solid shot plunge through the lawkaary
en though it were pasteboard ; other buildings are fired, and
lam loodown a soon of homes are in ashes, wh:le not one
semen to have escaped the pitiless storm of iron. Akw
noffiner have been fired than was anticipated ; but the
storage does by solid shot is terrible, and will mut., years
to repair. Among the sufferers is Mr. Garland, a loyal re.
!ogee, who witnessed the bombard'neut from the head-
carters of General Sumner, of whose staff his son is a
nesesber. The residence of Mr. Slaughter, father of the
neyer, Dr. Wallace's, Mrs. Hayes', and Ilmberiske's
auction and oommiseion store, are among the buildings
horned. An English ensign hung conspicuously from one
of the house& which, fortunately for the Rouges, was lens
Arnessd to our fire. Females could be seen darting through
the elteete, Degrees catryiog furniture from burning
lees" sad now and then a rebel glirliog from one biding
Were to another. Oar artillery would drive the enemy
from their cover upon the bank of the river ; but, when
compelled to cease, in order not to endanger the lives of
the regiments, the rebels would immedMtely stet! back and
pick off or- men with the rile.
In the meantime our own troops Pled the hlls upon
this side as far as the eye could reach, all intensely
watching the operations. Arti"sry, cavalry, and infantry,
in solid columns, covered every plateau, and every camp
in the vicinity was well nigh abandoned in the desire to
whom the bombardment. A number of females appeared
at the windows in the city from time to time, waving white
gni and shouting to us that they wished to come over.
As we were in the same predicament, the disappointment
was mutual, and the affrighted females were left to the
undisturbed enjoyment of our sympathy. Whenever each
signals were displayed, however, the buildings were spared
by our artillerists, so that the inmates were bat :Ids less
safe than they would have been upon tb:s ride.
As night approached it was found that the enemy bad
no idea of yielding to no a free passage across the river
With their facilities for shielding themselves, our artillery
could not permanently dislodge them, and Compariee C
and G, of the Seventh Michigan regiment, gallantly volun-
teered to cross in boats and drive them out of town. Re-
ceiving sweet to their proposition, they sprang into a
couple of pontoon boats, rowed briskly across, dashed up
into the city at double quick, broke open the houses, and
captured 36 prisoners, including • staff officer. This gallant
act secured to us the opposite side until the bridge could
be completed, and our troops are now in possession of
the city.
Immediately after taking possession of the place, the
enemy opened upon it with artillery from the hills beyond,
but without effect, and at this hour (9 o'cicck p.m.) evert-
thing is perfectly quiet. Not a shot was fired by the rebels
from their batteries daring the entire day, with the exoeps
Lion of the few shots just at night. Some of our men suf-
fered from our cis a guts, however, a few shells basing ex-
ploded this aids of the river.
Our logs in killed sod wounded is not large. Toe rebels,
owing to their sheltered positions, have probably arffeerd
less than we, though at times oar shells seemed to brat
among them with considerable effect.
General Burnside remained at Goner"! Sumner's head-
quarters during the bombardment, in plain i:ew of the
whole some.

(mimes TILLEGRAII6)
FRANCE.
PARIS. Dzo. 26.

The Moniteur, in its bulletin of to-day, says :
" The Papal Nuncio has remitted to M.
Drouyn de Lhuys the sum of 10,000 francs,
sent by the Pope for the poor workmen of
the department of the Lower Seine, at
the same time stating that his Holiness re-
gretted that the state of his finances
prevented him from sending a more considerable
offering. His Holiness, however, wished' to testify
his sympathy for the French people, and his grati-
tude for the tokens of devotion which he receives
from France."