John D. Billings, The history of the Tenth Massachusetts battery of light artillery in the war of the rebellion

[247] to join their main body on the other bank, as our line, advancing at a double-quick, began to close around them. But thirty of them were captured in the redan, and the road was thus cleared to the bridge, with a loss on our side of less than one hundred and fifty. While this charge was in progress we shelled at random over the woods into the enemy's lines beyond the river, trusting to chance for our missiles to afford any aid.

During the night, the Rebels made futile efforts to burn the bridge, but the dawn showed that they had fallen back from the river at this part of the line. In the evening we were relieved by Burnside's batteries, and drawing out went into park. We were aroused at half-past 1 the following morning to be in readiness, as we supposed, for an early attack, but made no movement until daylight. We then took position at the extreme left of our line, or nearly so, on commanding ground, and there threw up earth-works again; but we had no occasion to use them, for we lay inactive most of the day. Our corps was crossing the river upon the bridge, and the only hostile demonstration attracting our attention, meanwhile, was a Rebel battery some distance up the river, which fired at short intervals during the whole day, although in doing so it invariably drew upon itself a concentrated fire from several of our batteries which had it in tolerably fair range. Its persistence against such odds became explicable when, about sundown, it came our turn to cross. To us on that wooden bridge suspended fifty feet above the river, compelled to walk at a slow pace, and even then swaying the frail structure considerably, the air seemed thick with Rebel shell and ball, and we seemed an age in crossing. That battery, from a well-chosen position, and protected by