The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-26 00:00:00

OE! 13_ER

looz

batteries; Captain De Russy, left—nine batteries.
In a few moments these 35 batteries, forming a
total of 179 guns, ranging from 10-pounder Par-
rott's to 41 inch siege guns, posted along the con-
vex side of the arc of the circle, formed by the bend
of the river and land opposite Fredericksburg,
opened on the doomed city. The effect was, of
course, terrific, and regarded merely as a pheno-
menon, was among the most awfully grand con-
ceivable. Perhaps what will give you the live-
liest idea of its effect is a succession, absolutely
without intermission, of the very loudest thunder
peals. It lasted thus for upwards of an hour, fifty
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 satisfaction and awe was upon every face.
But what was tantalising 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 con-
flagration. Tremendous though this firing had
been, and terrific though its effect obviously was on
the town, it had not accomplished the object in-
tended. It was found by our gunners almost im-
possible to obtain a sufficient depression of their
pieces to she.l the front part of the city, and the
rebel sharpshooters were still comparatively safe
behind the thick stone walls of the houses.
During the thick of the bombardment a fresh at-
tempt had been made to complete the bridge. It
failed, and evidently nothing could be done till a
party could be thrown over to clean out the rebels
and cover the bridge head. For this mission Gen.
Burnside called for volunteers, and Colonel Hall, of
Fort Sumter fame, immediately responded that he
had a brigade that would do the business. Accord-
ingly the Seventh Michigan and Nineteenth Massa-
chusetts, two small regiments, numbering in all
about 400 men, were selected for the purpose.
The plan was that they should take the pontoon
boats of the first bridge, of which there were ten
lying on the bank of the river, waiting to be added
to the half finished bridge, cross over in them, and,
landing, drive out the rebels.
Nothing could be more admirable or more gallant
than the execution of this 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 plank-
ing destined for the covering of the bridge, behind
rocks, &c. In this situation they acted some fifteen
or twenty 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 this was fairly developed
the Seventh Michigan rose from their crouching
places, rushed for the pontoon boats, and pushing
them into the water, rapidly filled them with
twenty-five or thirty each.
The first boat pushes off. Now, if ever, is the
rebels' opportunity. Crack ! Crack! Crack! from
fifty lurking places go rebel rifles at the gallant
fellows, who, stooping low in the boat, seek to avoid
the fire. The murderous work was well done.
Lustily, however, pull the oarsmen, 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
opportunity. 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, "rifle pit, 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 rapi-
dity the Michigan and Massachusetts boys sweep
up the hill, making a rush for the lurking places
occupied by the rebels, and gaining them, each
man capturing 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 interest the crossing
of the first boat load of our men was watched by
the numerous spectators on the shore, and with
what enthusiastic cheers their landing on the oppo-
site 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 forget that little band.
The party once across, and the rebels cleared 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 the bridge was completed, and the head of
the column of the right grand division, consisting
of Gen. 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 800 yards wide, with-

out 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 be
yond 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 ranges 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 ma-
jority of the inhabitants, had moved out of Freda-

ricksburg a fortnight or so previously, but that
growing reassured by our long delay, they, with a
good many others, had come back the evening be-
fore. The forme: inhabitants, they report as now
living in various parts of the environs, some in
negro huts, and others in tents made with bed-
clothes, &c.

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, decided that it
was probably merely only the wonted rebel ruse, and
ordered operations to be continued. We found out
that the demonstrations were made by two of the
women referred to, with the desire that WO should
send over a boat and convey them away from Frede-
ricksburg.

Among other prominent objects during the bom-
bardment was a large British flag, flying over the
house of the English consul. This personage, how-
ever, was not found in his house when he 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 mutila-
tions from shells, and I took as a tzophy 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
Mississippians, South Carolinians, and Floridians.
Those of them that we took prisoners were wret-
chedly clad, and mostly without blankets or over-
coats, but they generally looked stout and healthy,
and certainly in :far better condition than they
could have been in were there any truth in the re-
port 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 positions of the enemy, there seems to be
go d ground to claim that General Burnside has
succeeded in outgeneraling and outwitting them.
His decoys to make them believe we were about to
cross our main force at Port Conway seems 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 yester-
day to Port Conway 300 waggons and bringing
them back by a different road, for the stole purpose

n-. 4 ir

of making the rebels believe that we were about to
cross the river at that point. To the same end
workmen were busily employed in laying cause-
ways for supposed pontoon bridges there, while the
gunboats were held as bugaboos at the same place.
Completely deceived by these feints, the main rebel
force, including Jackson's eJmmand, seems to have
been two or three days ago transferred 20 to 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 five 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 chess•
board.

The New York Herald of the 12th has the follow-
ing remarks upon the capture of Fredericksburg :
The stirring news which we publish today from
the Rappahannock shows that the winter campaign
has fairly opened. The Union army has crossed
the river in the face of the foe. The devoted city
of Fredericksburg, bombarded by our guns, and
partially destroyed, is already occupied by our
troops. Franklin's corps has landed on the south
side of the river, and the greatest battle of the
war is now begun, if the rebtls will await the
shock. They are said to be in great force around
the city. Fifteen miles below they are also in
force, and are being shelled by the gunboats. A
crossing will probably be effected there, and
perhaps also above Fredericksburg. Meantime we
hope there will be a bright lookout for Jackson,
who may turn up where he is least expected. If

the entire Union army succeeds in crossing the river
without great loss, and if the enemy will fight there
with all his force, it will perhaps prove the decisive
battle of the war, casting into the shade the battles
of Shiloh, Bull Run, and perhaps Antietam. If it
should be won by Burnside, the fate of Richmond
would be sealed. On the other hand, if it should
be won by Lee, Washington would be in imminent
danger. But we have every confidence in the skill
of the Union general, taught, as he has been, in the
school of ll'Clellan. But we hope that his plans
will not be interfered with in the critical moment,
as were those of his predecessor in the former cam-
paign, If he wins a decisive battle on the banks of
the Rappahannock, it will be his good fortune to
have given the blow which virtually terminates the
war. If the rebels do not fight in force on the
Rappahannock, nor on the other streams further
south which obstruct the march of the Union army
to Richmond, they will have to fight on the James,
or surrender their capital without a struggle. "On
to Richmond!" is now a cry with some meaning
in it. If they will not fight on the James they
must fight on the Roanoke, and if they will not
wait to give battle anywhere they will be driven
into the Gulf. Their retreat to Mexico by way of
Texas is now cut off. There was a time when that
escape was open to them ; but the opportunity has
now passed away, and nothing remains for them
but submission to the authority of the Union, or,
like Pharaoh and his host, to find a watery grave.
How much better to have proposed an armistice and
a convention to settle the terms of reunion than to
be brought to so miserable an end!

7HE DOINGS OF THE ALABAiIL4.

Respecting the proceedings of the Alabama, we
have the following information, published in the
New York Express :
" The T. B. Wales left Calcutta with a cargo of
saltpetre, linseed, gunny cloth, &c., on the 16th of
June, and Sand Heads on the 18th. She touched
at St. Helena, where she took on board the Hon.
G. H. Fairfield, of Salem, late consul of the United
States at the Mauritius, his wife, two children, and
two servants, and sailed thence on the Ist of Octo-
ber. Captain Edgar Lincoln, of the T. B. Wales,
had his wife with him. On the Bth of November,
when in long. 58 W., lat. 28 30 N., a steamer was
descried at eight o'clock a.m., which was chasing a
schooner, but on sighting the ship she hauled up
and made for the latter, then about ten miles to the
leeward. The steamer apparently put on all steam,
and as the wind favoured her every stitch of canvass
she could bear was set. A large American flag
was flying from her gaff, while from the masthead
signals were displayed designating her the 'Ame-
rican sloop of war Tuscarora.' Capt. Lincoln, glad
to hear from home, hauled his courses, and when
under the guns of the steamer the latter hauled
down the stars and stripes and sent up the Con-
federate flag, at the same time firing a shotted
gun across the bow of the Wales. A boat from
the pirate at once shoved off, and the first
lieutenant of the latter stepped on board and
ordered Capt. Lincoln on board the vessel with his
papers. lie was courteously received by Captain
Semmes, who, unfortunately, first laid hold of the
bill of lading for the saltpetre, which at once settled
the fate of the Wales. He directed Capt. Lincoln
to be rowed back to his ship and to bring over the
personal effects of himself and lady, also his instru-
ments and everything of value. This order was
complied with, and Capt. Lincoln, with a boat load
of pirates, went back to his ship, where he informed
his crew of the sad affair. Every man was allowed
but one bag of clothing, while all their money fell
a prey to the pirate. Capt. Lincoln and Mr. Fair-
field, with their families, were taken back to the
Alabama, and the crew, including the first mate,
Mr. Joshua Atkins, of Provincetown, Massachusetts,
placed in irons. Arrived on board the Alabama,
Semmes gave the captain and his pasbengers the
liberty of the ship, but signified to them that he
would place them in double irons if they attempted
to speak to any of the prisoners who were confined
at night on the boiler deck, close to the boilers,
while in the daytime they were on the forecastle.
On the first day the second mate of the Wales,
Joseph Neal, anEnglishman,with eight of the crew,
voluntarily took the oath of allegiance to the Con-
federacy, and were at once placed on the books of
the ship. The prisoners, 123 in number, found on
board the crew of the Levi Starbuck, numbering 28,
who were treated like them. The captain of the
.Starbuck and his officers were also in irons among
the crews. The prisoners received no unkind words
from their captors, and were fed the same as the
piratical crew. Captain Selnmes and his first lieu-
nant were very haughty, and never Broke a word
to any of the prisoners. The discipline on the
Alabama is very loose, and the only men good for
anything are the first and fourth lieutenants, both
of whom alternate on deck. A nephew of Jeff. Davis
is lieutenant of marines. He told them that the
Alabama would never stop until every Northern
vessel had been destroyed by her. The crew of the
Alabama numbered 120 men, all told. Semmes, it
is said, makes considerable money out of these cap-
tures. He generally made the searches in person,
appropriating the quadrants, mails, money, and all
other valuables that are easily moveable, to himself.
After all has been removed from the vessel that is
of any value the cabins are stove in, and the fire
started in the cabins, generally at night, and when
the flames are under full headway, so that there is

no possibility of a failure, the pirate vessel moves
off. The scene of the vessels as they are thus in
flames is described as awfully grand, the heavens
being lighted up for miles."
The Evening Traveller publishes the following
letter from a commissioned officer on board the San

Jacinto, explaining the circumstances attending the
escape of the pirate Alabama from Martinique, and
giving the reason why the commander of the San
Jacinto did not take the responsibility of attacking
her while in the harbour and under the flag of the

French Government :
" United States Steamship San Jacinto, Island
of St. Nov. 26.
"I suppose that long
this the
papers will have denounced the officers and crew of
i-ho
beforenas you receive
the San Jacinto for allowing the rebel steamer Ala-
bama to escape from Fort Royal, Martinique, and
to vindicate the
officers and crew of this ship is
principally
my object in writing to you. The fol-
On the morning of
ltohwe iln9gtharinestt.hwe pe asrttoiocdulianrsfo:—r
'Fort Royal Bay, in
the Island of Martinique, with the view of seeing
what vessels were in
the harbour. As we opened
the harbour we saw a steamer, with steam up, at
anchor underthe gunslof Fort St. Louis. We stood
in towards her, and, when about two miles off, she

hoisted the rebel rag. The San Jacinto was im-
mediately prepared for action and everything got
ready for desperate fight. At 8 a.m. a pilot came
off, and offered his services to take the ship in to
an anchor, which were declined. Shortly after we
saw a French man-of-war steamer come out from
behind the fort and anchor alongside the Ala-
bama, between her and us. About noon a French
naval officer came off with despatches from the go-
vernor of the island to Capt. Ronckendoiff, order-
ing him to either come to anchor or keep three
miles off from the nearest point of land. Of
course we chose the latter course, and kept our
position in the middle of the bay. Here let me
say that Fort Royal Bay is six miles wide, with
high land on either side, with very bold shores.
In the evening Captain Nickerson, of the
brig Hampden, came on board, accompanied hY a
whaling captain, whose ship, the Levi Starbuckf
had been burnt by the Alabama. Shortly after thei
came on board we dispatched two boats to go out
and watch the rebel. At this time it was very dark
and cloudy, with a light drizzling rain. From the
whaling captain we learn that the Alabama was
armed with 100-pounder rifle and 1 64-poundcr co
pivots, and six long 32's, with a complement of 150
men, most of whom were English. At 7.30p0'
Captain Nickerson left us, promising to co-operate
with us in vvatchi g the movements of theAhlbaao'
Previous to his leaving we gave him four rockets,
with instructions that if the Alabama got under
way, and stood over the bay for the south side he
was to fire rockets in that direction, and vice versa'
At eight p.m. we saw three rockets go up to the
southward. The San Jacinto was immediateli
kept for the south shore, every man at his gun, loci
string in hand. We stood as near the land as the
rocks would permit, and kept off and on until dar
light our boats returned, neither of which saw Or
thing of the steamer. Our first lieutenant went oti
shore to see Captain Nickerson, whom he found 10
trouble with the authorities for firing the rockets.
He expressed his opinion that the rebel was net
out of the bay, on the strength of which he re'
mained until the next day having sent actici
master Coon up to the head of the bay in one 01'
our boats to see if she was behind any of thef
islands. He returned on the morning 0t
the 21st, and reported that she was ll°
in the bay. Our hearts sank within us at this,
but we cheered ourselves with the thought that We
had done all we could. Whatever comments the
papers may make on this affair, the above state
meat is the truth. If it had been a clear night We
might have seen her; but the night was dark, 01°1
and rainy—just the kind of a night the rebel wanted
My opinion is that the French aided him in
.131;
escape all they could. There were lights poll
to and fro from one point of land to another, 011,,
from one part of the bay to the other, till past MI;
night. The position our captain was placed /veo
a trying one, and his first impulse was to ma into
her and sink her, but then what would the conee
quences have been P A war with France; the Sao
Jacinto sunk by the guns of the fort, or, Perbi.aPr°l
getting the vessel ashore before we got up to 'le;
for we had no chart of the harbour, and did oe,
know at the time the depth of water she was
chored in."