, 1862-12-16

main street Of Fredericksburg, half q mile
below Falmouth; the ecce nd aud third within
feW hundred yards from tile first. The re-
malnfng two were to be thrown over q mile
and a half Or two miles further down the
strean, and on these the grand division Of
Gen. Frank}in-tle left-Would cross, while
sumner and Rockers grand divisions right
and centre would use the three upper onvs.
1t was about o'clock this morning when
the boats were unshipped from the teams at
the rivers brink. Swiftly. and silently the
engineer corps proceeded to their work. 4
dense fog filled the valleys and water margin,
a. spectral forms. The recital Of the Times
special correspondent with the left, will in
form you Of the details Of the construction of
the two lower-Franklin' 's-.bridge Work
there was performed with perfect success
the engineers being allowed to complete the
while the construction of the other was but
slightly interrupted by the fire Of the rebel
sharpshooters.
We were not so fortunate with the upper
bridges. The artiticers had but got fairly to
work. when ut O'Clock the firing Of two
guns from one Of the cnemy's batteries an
nounced that We we're discovered They were
signal guns. Rapid vol1eys Of mnsketry, dis
charged at Our bridge builders, Immediately
followed. This was promptly responded to
-oA Jul e1AE, ~ LuI UHEQ1lE Ul Several paL-
teries. The fog, however. Still hung dcnsely
over the river. It was still quite dark, and
the practice Of the artiIIcrists was necessarily
very much at random. The engineer corps
suffered severely from tie IRE of the sharp
shooters concealed in the town. The little
presently the work Oh the bridges slackened,
and then ceased.
Meanwhile the firing from our batteries,
posted about 4 mile from the river, was kept
up vigorously. The effect was singular
enough, and it was difficult to believe that the
vas still quite dark, the horizon around being
lit up only By the flash Of projectiles, which
.eappesred in explosive Ha1ne on the other
side cf the river
Daylight came, but with it came not clear
ness If vision for on-'ookers. The mist and
more opaque aud heavy, hlis55gylng the ground
closely. Our guaners. however, still con
| tinueG to launch t1eir missiles at a venture
The rebel batteries hardly returned our fire,
and this chariness Of their ammunition they
| preserved ill day-I.ot a.tlozen rounds being
] fired during the whole forenoon.
Toward o'clock large party of General
| Officers, among them Gen. Burnside, the
| Corl,s Commanders, and many others of high
! rank, Lad congrcga1ed in front Of and on the
| balcony Of fGen- Summers headquarters, Phil
| Lips House, situated about Il mile directly
I EtsCh O1 1IC 4-1ttA lOueE- 1HE pC11o1 utA4GC
! could be heard, but not scen--the Stage WAS
| ebstil,atcly hidden from view, and all were
| impatient that the curtain should rise. Aids
and cUuricrs came and vent with messages to
and from the batterles and bridges.
At 5E o. clock official notification was re-
ceiyed that the two bridges on the extreme
left were completed, and Gen franklin sent
| to Gen. Burnside to know if be should cross
| his force at once. The reply was that be
should wait until the upper bridges also WcE1
| completed,
Meantime with the latter hut little progres:
was made. During the next couple Of hour;
lsalf Il dozen attempts were made to complete
pulsed With severe loss. On the OCCASION o1
one essay, Capt. B-ainerd, Of the 50th New
| York Volunteer Engineers, went out on The
bridge with eleven men, Capt. Perkins lei
another party, and was shot through tht
Eeck. and The Sixty y~sixth and Fifty-scyentl
the Fifaieth and Fifteenth New York Volun
tecr Eugineers-Gen- Woodbury's brigade
suffered severely. 1t WAS a hopeless task ANT
we made little or no progress. The rebc
sl:arpshooters, posted III the cellars Of th'
houses Of tAc front street, not fifty yards from
were able to pick of with damnable accurac,
any party Of engineers yenturing on the half
completed bridges.
/ Tic case was perfectly clear Nothing cal
be done I'LL they are dislodged from tAei
9k1g rssss Hhe;e + 4ht 4n way 9f Do
O'Clock Gen. Burnside gives the order, icon
eertfatc the fire Of i'll your guns on the city
and batter it down." You NAY believe the,
were not 10th to obey. The artillery Of til
risht-cight batterics-was commanded b
Col. Hays; Col. Tornpkins, right centre
seven battcrics-Capt. DeRussy, 1efl-nin
batteries. In Il few moments these thirty-tiy
batteries, forming total o. 1f9 guns, rang
ing from tcn-poundeF PARROTS to four and
half inch siege guns, posted along the conTe
side Of the arc Of the circle, formed by th
bend Of the river and land opposite FREQ
ericksburg, opened on the doomed city. Til
effect was, Of course, terrific, and, rcgarde
merely rs (. phenomenon, was among til
most awfnlly grand conceivable. PcshaI
what will give you the liyclicst idea Of il
effect is Il succession, absolutely without il
tcrmission, Of the very louaest thunder peal
It lasted thus for upward Of al hour, fif.
, | rounds being fired from each gun, and
! know not how many tons Of iron We
: thrown into tho town.
: The congrcgated Generals were transfiSc
= Mingled satisfaction and awe was upon eve1
: face But what was tantalizlng. was tn
5 though :, great deal could be heard, nothi1
cGll:d be seen, ,.the city being still tnve1op,
t in ft,g and mist. Only denser p11lar Of s11ol
!. defining itself on the back ground Of the 70
luutC.lCA HuElG llV toH14 uiIl AlEu
+ our shrl1s. Another and another coluu
b showed itself, and we presently saw that
. at least 4 duzen houses must be on fire.
l. Toward noon the curtain rolled up, and :
J SAW that il was indeed so. Frcdcricksbu
y WIS in conilagration. Tremendous though IL
q obviously was on the town, it had not accoi
: plishcd the object intended. TWAS found
d | our guEners almost impossible to obtain
r sufficient depression Of their PIECES to sh'
!. tic front part Of the city. and the rebel shar
|, shooters were still comparatively safe behi
e he tnick stone walls Of the houses.
u During the thick of the bonhardment,
y fres., attempt had been made to complete T.
l. bridge 1tfailed. and evidently nothing cor
Is he done till q party could be thrown over
If clean out the rebels and cover the bridge lcs
y For this mission Gen Burnside called for "
Is immediately responded that he had 4 hriga
$ That would do tlle business. According
n the Seventh Michigan and Nineteenth Mas
ry cll1lse1ts, two small regiments, numbering
q MI about four hundred ult1l were selected
l. the purpose.
n Tie plan was that they should take the N
i tom boats IF tic first bridge, Of which ti'
II. | were ten living on the bank Of the river, w,
in ing to be added to the lf-6nished bfid:
'e cross over in them, ard landing, drive out
I'd | rebels.
ht Nothing could be more admirable or m
Il :1allant ihan the execution of this daring #
cl Rushing down the steep banks Of the riv
r. tie party found temporary shelter behind
to ront Don b,ats lying scattered on the ba
be and behind the piles of p'anling destined
cr tho covering Of the bridge, behind rocks,
of In this situation they acted some fifteen
nd twenty minutes as sllarp$hooter:, they :
er the rebels observing each other. Ii the Inc
fs4 time new and vigorous artillery. firing
Die commenced on our part, and just MS soon
,w this was fully developed, the 7th Michi
Or rose from their crouchtng places, rushed
Is. 1lc pontoon boats, and pushing them into
IS, water, rapidly Tiled them with twenty-five
&C. thirty each.
fg, Tic first boat pushes of: Now, if cve1
III the rebels opportunity. Crack! Cra
Crack from fifty lurking places 30 rebe
pss, t,cs at the gallsnt fellows, who, STOPPING
nd dc1ous work was we'll done. Lustily. h
TX, ever, pull the oarsmeI, and presently, ha1
re- passed the middle Of tho stream, the boat
"a; its gallant freight come under cover Of tho
OF 1,osItc bluffs.
!cr Another and another boat follows. No
acc their opportunity. Nothing could be Il
MS amusing. in its way, than t1lc result. lnsta
ION ! they saw a new turn Of affairs. Tic re
the | pop up l'y the hundred. like so many
red from every cellar, rlfc-pit and stone wall
ley sca1nper off up the streets If the town.
INC Ill their tlectncss, however, many Of t
VI were much too slow With Incredible rapi
ter the Michigan and Massachusetts boys sy
up the hill, making q rush for the lur
elt, places occupied by tho rebels, and gal
live them, each man capturing his two or
as prisoners. The pontoon boats on their re
ned "trip took over more tlan hundred Of
fellows.
lcs.1 1on can imagine with what intense int
- the crossing OF the first beat-load Of our
If II was watched by the numerous spectator