n along the column. With a firm seat, as
his horse clears the railroad track and dashes through the small stream
near by, he directs his course to the Lacy House on the bank of the
river.

It was near noon when we passed over the same ground, and taking a road
to the right of the once tasteful grounds of that mansion, debouched by
a narrow pass cut through the bank to the water's edge. As we did so,
some shells thrown at the mounted officers of the Regiment passed close
to their heads and exploded with a dull sound in the soft ground of the
bank. With a steady tramp the troops crossed, scarcely the slightest
motion being perceptible upon the firm double pontoon bridge. Another
column was moving across upon the bridge below. Gaining the opposite
bank, the column filed to the left, in what appeared to be a principal
street of the town. Here knapsacks were unslung and piled in the store
rooms upon either side.

The few citizens who remained had sought protection from the shells in
the cellars, and not an inhabitant of the place was to be seen.
Notwithstanding the heavy concentrated artillery fire,--beyond some few
buildings burned down,--nothing like the destruction was visible that
would be imagined. Deserted by its proper inhabitants, the place had,
however, a heavy population in the troops that crowded the streets
parallel with the river. The day previous the Rebels had opened fire
upon the town. It was continued at intervals, but with little effect.
Z-i-i-s-s! a round shot sings above your head, and with a sharp thud
strikes the second story of the brick house opposite, marking its
passage by a tolerably neat hole through the wall. P-i-i-n-g! screams a
shell, exploding in a room with noise sufficient to justify the total
destruction of a block of buildings. The smoke clears away, ceilings may
be torn, floors and windows shattered, but the building, to an outside
observer, little damaged.

From an early hour in the morning the musketry had been incessant,--now
in volleys, and now of the sharp rattling nature that denotes severe
skirmishing. On the left, where more open ground permitted extended
offensive movements, the firing was particularly heavy. But above it all
was the continuous roar of artillery, and the screaming and explosion of
shells. To this music the troops in light order and ready for the fray,
marched up a cross street, and in the shelter of the buildings of
another street on the outer edge of the plac