Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1862-12-24


porting the 50th and 18th New York
Volunteer Engineers-Gcn. Woodbury's
brigade suffered severely. 1t was
hopeless task, and We made little or no
progress. The rebel sharpshooters, post
ed in the cellars of the houses Of the front
not fifty yards from the river. behind
stone walls and rifo pits, vera able to
pick off with damnablo accuracy any par
~ of engineers venturing on the half-con
pleted bridges.
Tho c, Sc was perfectly clear. Nothing
can be done till they are dislodged from
their lurking places, There is but one
way of doing this etfectualIy-shel the
the town. At ten o'clock Gen. Burnside
gives the order, Concentrate the fire of
Ill your guns on the city, and batter It
DOWN. You may believe that they were
not 10th to obey order. The artillery of
the right-eisht batteries-was com
manded by Col. Hays; Col. Tompklns,
right center-seven batteries, forming q
total Of l79 guns, ranging from ten poun
der Parrots to four and half inch siege
guns, posted along the convex side Of the
arc of the circle, formed by 10 bend Of
the river and land opposite Fredericks-
burg, opened OH the doomed city. The
effect was, Of course, terrific, and, REGARD
cd merely as phenomenon, was among
the most awfuly grand conceivable.
Perhaps what wonld give You the live
Hest idea oe its effect, is succession, ab-
soluteIy without intermission, OF the very
loudest thunder peals. 1t lasted thus for
upwards OF an hour. fifty ronnds being
fired from each gun, and know not how
many tons o. iron were thrown into the
town.
Tile congrcgatcd Generals were trans
fixed. Mingled satisfaction and awo was
upon every face. But what was tantal-
ling, was that though a gre. leal coad
be heard, nothing could be seen, the city
still being envelopei in fog and mist
Only denser pillar of smoke defining
itself on the back ground of the fog, in
d;cnted where the town had boon fred by
our shells. Another and another column
showed itself, and we presently saw that
at least n dozen houses must be OH fire.
Toward noon tho curtain rolled up,
and we saw that it was so. Fredsr.cks-
burg WINS in contiagration. Tremendous
tn ,ugh the firing had been and terrific
though lis effect was obviously or the
town, il had not accomplished the object
intended. 1t WAS found 10y our gurn 'rs
almost impossible to obtain a sufficient
depression Of their pieces to shell the
front Of the city, and the rebel sharp
shooters were comparatively safe behind
the stone walls Of tue houses.
During the thick Of the bombardment,
fresh attempt had been made to COM
pletc the bridge. Ii failed, and evident
/. " nothing could be done till a party
could be thrown over 10 clean out the reb-
els and cover the bridge head. For
this mission Gen. Burnside called for vol
unteers, and Col Hall. Of Font Sumptsr
fame, Immediately responded that he
had brigade that would do the business.
Accordingly, the Seventh Michigan aud
Nineteenth Massachusetts,. Two small
regiments, numbering in all about four
hundred men, were selected for the put
pose.
The plan Was that thcv should take
the eontoon boats Of tho first bridge, of
which we've ten lying on the bank of the
river, waiting to be added TO the half
finished bridge, cross over in them, and
landing, drive ont the rebels.
Nothing could BIO more admirable or
more gallant than the execution of this
daring font. Rushing down Tue steep
banks OF the river, the party found tenn
poary shelter behind the pontoon boats
lying scattered Oh the bank, and behind
the piles Of planking destined for the COW
ering of the bridge, behind rocks, &c.
In this situation they acted some fifteen
or twenty minutes as sharp shooters, they
and the rebels observing each other. In
the meantime new and vigorous artillery
firing was commenced on our part, and
just as soon rs this was fully developed,
the 9TH Michigan rose from their crouch
ing places, rushed for the pontoon boats
and pushing them into the water, rapidly
filed them with twenty five or thirty
each.
The first boat pushes of. Now, if
ever, is the rebels opportunity. Crack
Crack! Crack. from fifty lurking places
go rebel rifles at The gallant fellows, who,
STOPPING low in the boat. seek to avoid
the fire. The nuderous work was we'll
done. Lustily, however. pull the oars
men. and presently, having passed the
middle of the stream, the boat and ia
gallant freight came uuder cover of the
opposite bluffs.
Another and another boat follows.
Now is their opportunity. Nothing could
be more amusing, in its way, than the re-
suit. Instantly they saw new turn of
affairs. The rebels pop up by the bun
dred, like so many rats from every ccl-
lar, rifle pits 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
rapidly the Massachusetts and Michigan
boys sweep up the bill, mailing rush fc,
the lurking places occupied By t'le rebels,
and gaining them, each man capturing
two or three prisoners. The pontoon
boats on their return trip took over moro
than hundred of these fellows.
You can irnaaine with what in.euse in