The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEVIBER 27, 186%

A STORY OF 7HE WAR.

The Key West New Era publishes a remarkable
narrative furnished to it by two men of the 21st
Ohio regiment, wlo recently arrived at that place,
having effected their escape from the Confederate
States. They were two of a party of 20 whom Gen.
Mitchel sent from Huntsville on special service so
long ago as the beginning of last April. They were
disguised in citizens' clothes, and succeeded in mak-
ing their way to Chattanooga. There they took the
cars for Marietta, Georgia—one Andrews, a Ken-
tuckian, and an exceedingly daring fellow, acting
as guide and leader. After speaking of their arrival
the narrative proceeds :
i 4 The next morning, before daylight, we again took the
cars, and went back the same road to a place called Big
Shanty, a refreshment saloon on the line of the Georgia
and Atlantic State road, where were encamped about 10,000
Confederate troops. It was the general rendezvous for re-
cruits and the organisation of regiments. The train con-
tained a number of soldiers as well as citizens, together
with a quantity of provisions, and an iron safe contain-
ing a large amount of Confederate scrip to pay the
troops at Corinth; and here it. was that we knew the
duty we were expected to do—namely, destroy the track
and bridges on the line of the road, and thus prevent rein-
forcements and commissary stores from reaching Virginia,
Tennessee, and Georgia. Our whole party, consisting of
20, left the cars, and divided into squads of three and four,
taking stations on each side of the train—Andrews station-
ing himself at the coupling-pin of the third car. [lt must
here be stated that a number of our party were engineers,
and thoroughly understood the business we had on hand.]
One of our engineers was at his post, and found everything
all right. All hands now mounted the cars, although the
guard was within three feet of them, the word was given,
Andrews drew the coupling-pin, and cried ' All right.' The
train, now consisting of three cars and the engine, was
started off with as little noise as possible. We soon lost
sight of the lights at Big Shanty, and at the first curve the
train was stopped, and one of the party climbed the tele-
graph pole and cut the wires ; we then started, and the next
point, at a town, name unknown, we tore up the track, and
took a rail with us on the car, and thus we continued tear-
ing up the track and cutting the wires after passing a town.
Unfortunately, however, for us, the train was running in
a very slow schedule, and we were compelled to switch
off and let the down train pass us. At the first sta-
tion this occurred, the engineer of the road made his ap-
pearance, and was about to step on the engine, when
Andrews told him he could not come on board, as this was
an extra train to run through to Corinth, and the present
party were engaged to carry it there, and in support of the
assertion the iron safe was shown. This apparently satis-
fied the engineer, and we took in wood and water, and again
started. A second time we were compelled to switch off,
and, in order to get the switch keys, Andrews, who knew
the road well, went into the station, and took them from
the office. This caused considerable excitement, but we
quieted it in a measure by stating that our train contained
gunpowder for Beauregard at Corinth, and soon after we
again started. About 20 miles south of Dalton, Georgia, we
came to a bridge, and here we set fire to one of our cars,
piled on wood, and left it on the bridge, designing to set
it on fire also. At this time, the engineer at the Rome
Breech, suspecting that all was not right, started up the
track, and, we suppose, found the rails torn up, and imme-
dire ely returned to the junction, tot* on board a quantity
of rails, and followed after us. Where we had torn up the
rails he immediately laid one, and without stopping to
fasten it started over slowly and gave chase. Soon he came
to the bridge with the burning car, which had not yet
caught the bridge. In the meantime we had switched off
to let an express pass, which train was duly informed of
our character by discovering the track torn up, and
stopped, but was soon joined by the Rome engineer, who
had succeeded in turning the burning car off the bridge :
they then started for us, laving the track as they went
along, which they could do in a much shorter time than we
could tear it up. Thus it was theyovertook us at work, and
as soon as we found ourselves discovered speed was our hope,
and at it we went, but unfortunately for us our fuel was
nearly out, and it was then determined to leave the engine,
and take to the woods. Accordingly we stopped and re-
versed her, intending she should run back upon our pur-
suers ; but in this we failed, as she had not sufficient steam
to turn her over, and our object had failed from a combina-
tion of unfortunate circumstances. Ten minutes mere
would have set the bridge on fire, and the Rome engineer,
with the rails, could not have followed us, and the down ex-
press was entirely useless. It was our intention to have de-
stroyed all the bridges, run into Chattanooga, wait until the
evening train passed, and then gone on to Bridgeport, de-
stroyed the bridge over the Tennessee River, and then
away for Huntsville and join Gen. Mitchel. Our troubles
now commenced, and the greatest of all one Arn--"-- ---
the division of our party. 'IN as now every man for himself.
We started for the Tennessee River, but, being entirely un-
acquainted with the country, mistook our way, and, after
being hunted through the woods and twice fired at, made
our escape. Our travels from this time were a succession of
hardships and difficulties. We crossed the mountains, and
made the Tennessee River, where we found a small boat,
with which we made our way down the river to Stephen-
son, Alabama. Here we found the entire rebel force in a
complete state of confusion, occasioned, as we learnt, by a
visit from our cavalry, which had made a dash into the
town, captured a few prisoners, and left that morning. We
had succeeded in passing through the town safely, when we
suddenly came upon a force of rebel cavalry, commanded
by Colonel Stephenson, who took us prisoners, just 14 days
after leaving the balance of our party. We were immedi-
ately recognised as belonging to Andrews's party, and, after
being confined one night in Stephenson, we were taken on
the cars to Chattanooga, and confined in gaol, where we
found the whole party. It was endeavoured to make us
give the name of the engineer, as they had a terrible fate
wait for him, but not one of the party would divulge his
name. A court-martial was ordered to try Andrews,
and Pittenger, of the 2d Ohio, was taken out as a witness,
and by alternate offers of pardon and persecution they en
deavoured to make him testify against Andrews, but he
was true to his word and companions, and the Court could
gain nothing from him. Andrews and Pittenger were then
sent back to us in gaol, and we expected nothing less than
the whole party would be hung. At this time, about the
10th of May, Chattanooga was threatened by our forces
and, for safe keeping, we were run off to Madison, Georgia.
At Marietta the cars were stopped by a mob who threatened
to drag us from the cars and hang us to trees, but the officer
in charge of the train prevented them from carrying it into
execution by placing a strong guard around the car, and
the mob, atter a great effort, was dispersed. We arrived
in safety at Madison, where, after being kept in confine-
ment three days, we were informed we were to be again
taken to Chattanooga, as the Yankees did not intend to try
and take that place. Accordingly, we were again taken
back to that place, where the whole party-22 in number—
were chained with heavy irons, and confined in a dark dun-
geon, 13 feet square, and for six weeks were fed on half
fare, of the most miserab'e quality. We were stripped of
all in our pockets, and left without a cent. Again the court
martial was ordered, but this time at Knoxville, and 12 of
our party were taken there and confined in large iron cages.
The Court found seven of them guilty of being spies and
lurkers around the camps. Our forces at this time advanced
upon Cumberland Gap, and Knoxville was threatened, and
in order that we may he /safely kept, the whole party, in-
cluding the ten at Chattanooga, were sent to Atlanta,
Georgia. Previous to leaving Chattanooga, Andrews's
sentence was read to him, which was that he was to be
hung in six days. It was then determined to attempt an
escape by cutting through the gaol, which was accomp-
lished in one night, and just at daybreak Andrews
twisted his blanket into the form of a rope, and succeeded
in reaching the fence. Whollam next followed, hut was
discovered. Andrews, in attempting to climb the gaol-
yard fence, was also seen and fired upon by the guard,
but succeeded in getting over. Whollam also made a dash
and cleared the fence. Both then took to the river, and for
the time escaped. Three days afterwards Andrews was cap-
tured and brought back, and seven days elapsed before poor
Whollam was found. He had travelled 80 miles down the
river, and was twice within hail of the Union gunboats,but
was afraid to make himself known. As soon as those two
had been brought back, Andrews was chained, hands and
feet, and the irons rivetted on, the shackles being of im-
mense weight end sufficient to have held an ox. The
whole party were then run off to Atlanta, Georgia. On the
7th of June Andrews was taken from the gaol and hung, or
rather strangled to death, for the tree on which they hung
him was so low that when his head touched the limb his
toes touched the ground, and it was necessary to dig the
sand away in order that he could be choked ; his irons and
shackles were still on him. After remaining in gaol about
seven days, the Provost •Marshal came to our cell and took
out the seven that were tried at Knoxville. These were
taken from the cell into an adjoining prison, and then sen-
tence of death was read to them, and permission refused
them to return to their comrades before execution, which
took place in half an hour after leaving us. They were hung
with cotton ropes, and two of the party broke down, and
were allowed to live about an hour, and see them put their
comrades in coffins, after which they were again hung up
and their lifeless bodies passed our gaol window in about
half an hour. The balance of the party, expecting from day
to day to be taken out and hung, still lingered e n a most
miserable existence for the space of four months. In Oeto.
ber we were told that a Court-martial was about to be con-'
veiled to try us, and it was resolved to attempt an escape.
Accordingly, on the evening of the 15th of October,
just as our gaoler brought up our supper, we, together
with a Captain Fry, who was confined with us, known
as the notorious Captain Fry, spy, and bridge-burner,
rushed from our cell, took the keys, and released four other
prisoners, and in a body fell upon the guard and disarmed
them. We then succeeded in scaling the fence, and took
the shortest cut for the woods,distant about a mile. By this
time the guard and sentinels were after us, and, as they
began to fire upon us, our party scattered and ran, every
man for himself. We two, however, kept together, and
made good our escape. How many of the party were re-
taken or shot it is impossible to say. Captain Fry, after
being repeatedly shot at, staggered and fell; it is therefore
pretty certain that he was killed. We kept on, and after
wandering in the woods for 22 days, occasionally coining

within hearing of cavalry, and several times being near
caught, subsisting upon corn and such things as we could
forage, we reached the borders of the Chatabooche River,
and there found a boat, with which we came down the
stream, and, after alternate rowing and drifting, subsisting
on raw catfish and berries, we reached Columbus, Georgia,
but did not venture in the city, as we discovered a great
many soldiers there. Again we started off, determined to
reach the Gulf coast, being told by negroes that our block-
ading fleet were stationed there. After a journey of 11
days, during which we suffered from hunger and thirst,with
scarce sufficient rags left of our clothes to cover our bodies,
our feet bzuised and lacerated, we succeeded in reaching
Apalachicola Bay, on the coast of Florida, and there, for the
first time in eight months, beheld the _flag of the United
States floating from the steamer Somerset. We were taken
on board and treated with the utmost kindness, and in due
course transferred to the steamers Stars and Stripes, in
which, on the 10th of November, we arrived at Key West,
nearly eight months from the time when we left our regi-
ment.

CROSSING- 01 711 E _RAPPAHANNOCK

(From the .11ew York limes of Dec. 13.)
FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA,
THURSDAY NIGHT, DEC. 11.

The advance of the right grand division of the Army of
the Potomac rests here to-night, after a series of operations
which are certainly among the most extraordinary of the
war. To those who retired to rest uninformed of what
night was destined to bring forth the spectacle this morn-
ing must have seemed strange enough to be the improvisa-
tion of the magician's art. 150 pieces of cannon covered
the circular sweep of the heights of Fredericksburg ; 150,000
men in battle array had sprung from the earth, and lay
ready for the advance behind those heights. But to the ini-
tiated, who spent the night in vigils, and knew what work
crowded its busy hours, it was all intelligible enough. All
night artillery came, and came with its ceaseless heavy
rumble, and as each battery arrived from the rear it was
posted in the place selected for it by the Chief of Artillery.
All night the perpetual tramp of men moving to the front
filled the air. Pontoon trains unwound their long snake-
like forms, and were drawn, each boat by its team, down
to the river's brink.

It bad been determined, in council of war, held on Wed-
nesday, that instead of extending our lines of operations
along the river from Falmouth to Port Conway the entire
army should be crossed at or near Fredericksburg.
Five pontoon bridges were to be thrown across the river,
the first at the Lacy-house, which lies directly opposite the
end of the main street of Fredericksburg, half a mile be-
low Falmouth; the second and third within a few hundred
yards from the first. The ieniai ing two were to be thrown
over a mile and a half or two miles further down the stream,
and on these the grand division of Gen. Franklin— the left
—would cross; while Sumner's and Hooper's grand divi-
sions, right and centre, would use the three upper ones.
It was about 3 o'clock this morning when the boats were
unshipped from the trams of the river's brink. Swiftly
and silently the Engineer Corps proceeded to their work. A
dense fog filled the valleys and water margin, though which
the bridge builders appeared as spectral forms. The re-
cital of the limes' special correspondent with the left will
inform you of the details of the construction of the two
lower—Franklin's—bridges. Work there was performed
with perfect success, the Engineers being allowed to com-
plete the first without any interruption whatever, while the
construction of the other was but slightly interrupted by
the fire cf the rebel sharpshooters.
We were not so fortunate with the upper bridges. The
artificers had but got fairly to work when, at 5 o'clock, the
firing of two guns from one of the enemy's batteries an-
nounced that we were discovered. They were signal guns,
Rapid volleys of musketry, discharged at our bridge builders
immediately followed, This was promptly responded to on
our side by the opening of several batteries. The fog, how-
ever, still hung densely over the river. it was still quite
dark, and the practice of the artillerist was necessarily very
much at random. The Engineer Corps suffered severely
from the fire of the sharpshooters concealed in the town.
The little band was being murderously thinned, and pre-
sently the work on the bridges slackened, and then ceased.
111 eanwhile the firing from our batteries, posfed about a
mile from the river, was kept uivigorously. The effect was
singular enough, and it was difficult to believe that the
whole affair was not a phantasmagoria. It was still quite
dark, the horizon around being lit up only by the flash of
projectiles, which reappeared in explosive flames on the
other side of the river.
Daylight came, but with it came not clearness of vision
for onlookers. The mist and smoke not only did not lighten,
but grew more opaque and heavy, hugging the ground
closely. Our gunners, however, still continue to launch
their missiles to a venture. The rebel batteries hardly re-
turned our fire, and this chariness of their ammunition they
',reserved all day—not a
the whole forenoon.

Towards S o'clock a large party of General officers, among
them General Burnside, the Corps commanders, and many
others of high rank, had congregated in front of and on the
balcony of (len. Sumner's head-quarters, Phillips'-house,
situate about a mile directly back of the Lacy-house. The
performance could be heard, but not seen- -the stage was
obstinately hidden from view, and all were impatient that
the curtain should rise, Aids and couriers came and went
with messages to and from the batteries and bridges.
At half-past 9 o'clock official notification was received
that the two bridges on the extreme left were completed,
and Gen. Franklin sent to Gen. Burnside to know if he
should cross his force at once. The reply was that he should
wait until the upper bridges were completed.
Meanwhile, with the latter but little progress was made.
During the next couple of hours half a dozen attempts
werewas
repulsedmade to
with completese severe
etrh bridges,
ee
loss.On the occasion of one
essay, Capt. Brainerd, of the 50th New York Volunteer
Engineers, went out on the bridge with 11 men. Five im-
mediately fell by the balls of the rebel sharpshooters, Capt.
Perkins led another party, and was shot through the neck,
and the 66th and 57th New York Regiment, which were
supporting the 50th and 15th New York Volunteer Eugi-
neers—Gen. Woodbury's Brigade—suffered severely. It
was a hopeless task, and we made little or no progress.
The rebel sharpshooters, posted in the cellars of the houses
of the front street, not 50 yards from the river, behind stone
walls and in rifle.pits, were able to pick off with damnable
accuracy any party of engineers venturing on the half.
completed bridges.

The case was perfectly clear. Nothing can be done till
they me dislodged from their lurking places. There is but
one way of doing this effectually—shell the town. At 10
o'clock Gen. Burnside gives the order, "Concentrate the
fire of all your guns on the city, and batter it down I" You
may believe they were not loth to obey. The artillery of
the right-8 batteries—was commanded by Col. Hays;
Colonel Tomkins, right centre, 11 batteries; Col. Tyler,
left centre, 7 batteries ; Captain De Russy, left, 9 batte-
ries. in a few moments these th rty-five batteries, form-
ing a total of 179 guns, ranging from 10-pounder
Parrott's to 41-inch siege guns, posted along the convex
side of the arc of the circle, formed by the bend of the river
opened on the doomed
and
fic, and regarded merely
city.an d
Theeofipepeots
Ai
vt
81: roefdceorui crks
es 1.),
tuerrgri,
as a phenomenon was among the most awfully grand con-
ceivable. Perhaps what will give you the liveliest idea of
its effect is a succession, absolutely without intermission,
of the very loudest thunder peals. It lasted thus for up-
wards of an hour, 50 rounds being fired from each gun, and
I know not how many hundred tons of iron were thrown
into the town.

The congregated Generals were transfixed. Mingled satis-
faction and awe was upon every face. But what was tanta-
lising was that, though a great deal could be heard, nothing
could be seen, the city being still enveloped in fog and mist.
Only a denser pillar of smoke defining itself on the back
ground of the fog indicated where the town had been fired
by our shells. Another and another column showed itself,
and we presently saw that at least a dozen houses must be
on fire.

Towards noon the curtain rolled up, and we saw that it
was indeed so. Fredericksburg was in conflagration. Tre-
mendoukthough this firing has been, and terrific though
its effect obviously was on the town, it had not accomplished
the object intended. It was found by our gunners almost
impossible to obtain a sufficient depression of their pieces to
shell the front part of the city, and the rebel sharpshooters
were still compazatively safe behind the thick stone walls of
the houses.

During the thick of the bombardment a fresh attempt
had been made to cmaplete the bridge. It failed, and evi-
dently nothing could be done till a party could be thrown
over to clean out the rebels and cover the bridge head. For
this mission General Burnside called for volunteers, and
Colonal Hall, of Fort Sumter fame, immediately responded
that he had a brigade that would do the business. Accord-
ingly the 7th Michigan and 19th Massachusetts, two small
regirmuts, numbering in all about 400 men, were selected
for that purpose.

The plan was that they should take the pontoon boats of
the first bridge, of which there wei e 10 lying on the bank
of the river, waiting to be added to the half-finished bridge,
cross over in them, and, lauding, drive out the rebels.
Nothing could bs more admirable or more gallant than
the execution of thin daring feat. Rushing down the steep
banks of the river, the party found temporary shelter behind
the pontoon boats lying scattered on the bank, and behind
the piles of planking destined for the covering of the bridge,
behind rocks, &c. In this situation they acted some 15 or
20 minutes as sharpshooters, they and the rebels observing
each other. In the meantime new and vigorous artillery
firing was commenced on our part, and just as soon as tt. is
was fairly developed the 7th Michigan rose from their
crouching paces, rushed for the pontoon boats, and, push-
ing them into the water, rapidly filled them with 25 or 30
each.

The first boat pushes off. Now, if ever, is the rebels'
opportunity. Crack I crack I crack I from 50 lurking places
go rebel rifles at the gallant fellows, who stooping low in the
boat, seek to avoid 'he file. The murderous work is well
done. Lustily, however, pull the oarsman, and presently,
having passed the middle of the stream, the boat and its
gallant freight come under cover of the opposite bluffs.

Another and another boat follows. NOW is their oppor-
tunity. Nothing could be more amusing, in its way, than
the result. Instantly they see a new turn of affairs. The
rebels pop up by the hundred, like so many rats, from every

cellar, riflepit, and stone wall, and scamper off up the streets
of the town. With all their fleetness, however, many of
them were much too slow. With incredible rapidity the
Michigan and Massachusetts boys sweep up the hill, mak-
ing a rush for the lurking places occupied by the rebels; and
gaining them, each man captured his two or three prisOners.
The pontoon boats on their return trip took over more than
100 of these fellows.

You can imagine with what intense interest the crossing
of the first boat-load of our men was watched by the nume.
rous spectators on the shore, and with what enthusiastic
shouts their landing on the opposite side was greeted. It
was an authentic piece of human heroism, which moves men
as nothing else can. The problem was solved. This flash
of bravery had done what scores of batteries and tons of
metal had failed to accomplish. The country will not for-
get that little band. The loss in the perilous enterprise
was, so far as I could ascertain, as follows :
Killed—A. Wickson, company A, and Corporal Joseph
L. Rice, company C.
Wounded—J. N. Basna, company G, mortally; Riley
Faulkner, severely ; Lieutenant Secore, company C ; C. H.
liewson, company C, hand; Sergeant Thomas Galdwell,
company F, severely wounded in the shoulder; and Joseph
Crene, company F, arm.
The party once across, and the rebels cleaned out, it took
the engineers but a brief period to complete the bridge.
They laid hold with a will, plunging waist-deep into the
water, and working as men work who are under inspiration.
In less than half an hour he bridge was completed, and
the head of the column of the Right Grand Division, con-
sisting of General Howard's command, was moving upon it
over the Rappahannock. A feeble attempt from the rebel
batteries was made to shell the troops in crossing, but it
failed completely.
Your correspondent found an opportunity to cross the
river along with the party who first went over, in a boat,
having been curious to take a closer view of the city which
we have for near a month been observing over the river,
not 300 yards wide, without the power of visitation. As
the rebels were in very considerable force on the heights
back of the city, one could not extend his perambulations
beyond the street fronting on the river. Every one of the
houses which I here entered, a dozen or more, is torn to
pieces by shot and shell, and the fire still hotly rages in a
dozen parts of the city. A few citizens—a score or two,
perhaps—male and female,presently made their appearance,
emerging out of the cellars, whither they had taken refuge
during the bombardment. Three women, white, whom we
found in a cellar, told us that they, with a majority of the
inhabitants, had moved out of Fredericksburg a fortnight or
so previously, but that, growing reassured by our long
delay, they, with a good many others, had come back the
evening before. The former inhabitants they report as now
living in various parts of the environs, some in negro huts,
and other in tents made with bedclothes, &o.
During the afternoon of the bombardment we observed a
couple of white handkerchiefs waved out of the 'windows of
a house in the city. This was taken by some for a flag of
truce, and the chief of Artillery was on the point of causing
the shelling to cease. General Burnside, however, having
decided that it was probably only the wonted rebel ruse,
ordered operations to be continued. We found out that
the demonstrations were made by two women referred to,
with the desire that we should send over a boat and convey
them away from Fredericksburg.
Among other prominent objects during the bombardment
was a large British flag flying over the house of the English
Consul. This personage, however, was not found in hie
house when we entered the city, and the flag was taken
possession of and brought away.
A number of rebel dead were found in various parts of
the city, some exhibiting frightful mutilations from shells,
and I took as a trophy a rifle, still loaded, out of the grasp
of a hand belonging to a headless trunk.
The infantry in the city appear to have been Mississip-
pians, South Carolinians, and Floridans. Those of them
we took prisoners were wretchedly clad, and mostly with-
out blankets or overcoats, but they generally looked stout
and healthy, and certainly in far better condition,than they
could have been were there any truth in the report of some
deserters the other day to the effect that for three weeks
they had nothing to eat but the persimmons they were able
to pick up.
Although we are not yet fully informed of the present
position of the enemy, there seems to be good ground to
claim that General Burnside has succeeded in outgeneraling
and outwitting them. His decoys to make them believe
that we were about to cross our main force at Port Con-
way seem to have succeeded admirably. I suppose there
is no harm now in my mentioning that among the ruses
he employed was sending down, the day before yesterday,
to Port Conway 300 waggons, and bringing them back by
a different road, for the sole purpose of making the rebels
believe we were about to cross the river at that point. To
the same end, workmen were busily employed in laying
causeways for supposed pontoon bridges there, while the
gunboats wore held as bugaboos at the same place. Com-
pletely decet,..s. tbia •••••Vtni e•••••••••••• :-
eluding Jackson's command, seems to have been two or
three days ago, transferred 20 or 25 miles down the river.
It must be remembered, however, that without the utmost
celerity on our part they can readily retrieve this blunder
by a forced march or two. Signal guns, at 5 o'clock this
morning, gave them the cue to what was going on, and
doubtless they have not been idle during the intervening
hours. To-morrow will disclose what unseen moves have
been made on the chessboard. W. S.