ing the Rappahannock, and extended for a distance of about four miles along its left bank. The right grand division was under the command of General Hooker, the centre under General Sumner, the left under General Franklin; the total numerical strength being about 150,000 men. A more than ordinary powerful artillery was attached to the army, of which no less than 143 guns, overlooking the town of Fredericksburg, commanded the course of the river and the opposite bank.

The Confederate army under General Lee, numbering about 80,000 men, was drawn up along the heights, which, retiring in a semicircle from the river, embrace within their arms a plain six miles in length, and from two to three in depth. These heights, or bluffs, rise higher and steeper immediately in rear of the town. of Fredericksburg than those which stretch away towards the East; they are also almost bare of trees, whilst, on the contrary, the hills receding from the river are thickly covered, and their lower ridges, or spurs, clothed with brushwood. This semicircle of hills terminates at Massaponax River, about five miles below Fredericksburg. The right of the Confederate army, extending nearly as far as the Massaponax, comprised the cavalry and horse artillery under General J. E. B. Stuart, posted on the only ground at all suitable for that arm of the service. On his left was General Jackson's corps, of which Early's division formed the right, and A. P. Hill the left, the divisions of Generals Taliaferro and D. H. Hill being in reserve. The left wing of the army under General Longstreet comprised the division of General Hood on the right, next to it that of General Pickett, then those of Generals

Formerly General Ewell's.

M'Laws, Ranson, and Anderson. The artillery, according to General Lee's practice, was massed together, and not dispersed among the divisions, and was so posted as to sweep the front of the position-the semicircular formation of the hills favouring this disposition. Few stronger positions have ever been occupied by an army; a direct road running in rear of the crest of hills connected its two wings, and the minor features of the country were favourable to troops acting on the defensive. The Confederate army, confident in their leader, and flushed with success, awaited without anxiety, and almost with exultation, the anticipated attack.

On the 11th of December the Federal engineers commenced the construction of the pontoon bridges on which it was proposed that the army should cross the river. Franklin, on the Federal left, completed his bridge without opposition, and requested leave from General Burnside to commence at once the passage of the river; he was desired to await the construction of the bridges opposite the centre, attended with greater difficulties, as Barksdale's Mississippians, holding the houses on the right bank, opened a brisk fire on the bridge builders, and even in the darkness of the early morning succeeded in killing and wounding several of the engineers. The men were driven from their work, and operations were at a standstill. News that such was the case was brought to Burnside, who was pre cluded, by a thick mist which hung over the valley, from watching the operations; he therefore gave orders that the whole of the artillery should open on the town. For two hours the bombardment continued, the mist concealed its effects, and only a black cloud of smoke rising from the valley marked the probable result of the

terrible fire. At noon the curtain rose, and the town of Fredericksburg, or rather its ruins, became apparent to both armies. Many of the houses were in flames, many had been battered down, but the object of the bombardment remained unfulfilled. Barksdale's Mississippians still held their position, concealed in the houses facing the river, which were comparatively secure from the artillery, as the guns could not be sufficiently depressed to play on them.

During this time scarcely a shot had been fired from the Confederate batteries, as General Lee was unwilling to indicate their position. Finding the artillery unavailing, two regiments of infantry were ordered by General Burnside to cross by means of the pontoon boats, and to drive off the enemy's riflemen. This was successfully accomplished, and on the evening of the 11th, one corps from Sumner's command, and one from Franklin's, crossed the river. During the 12th Burnside massed the greater portion of his army near the pontoon bridges, in readiness to advance when the attack should commence. He endeavoured also to move Stoneman's corps across the river, but the fire of the Confederate batteries, which commanded the slope of the road leading to the pontoons, delayed the attempt till after dark. Nothing occurred during the 12th, excepting skirmishing between the advanced pickets, which now on either side formed a continuous line, Franklin's right being connected with Sumner's left in the town of Fredericksburg. An artillery duel across the river was likewise kept up with energy by the Federals, and replied to sparingly by the Confederates, who were still careful to conceal the position of their batteries. Thus passed the 12th of December; and it was known in both armies. that dawn on the following day would inaugurate a