noon
No sooner do they reach the bridge-end when down they go by the dozens before the hot fire of a thousand Southern rifles . So dense is the fog that the gunners can not aim . Shot , shell , and canister go shrieking through roof and wall , and ripping up streets and crossings ; but the plucky riflemen hug the shore in stern determination , and again the bridges are abandoned . And so a cold and cheerless morning ebbs away ; and at last , towards noon , there comes relief . The sun bursts through the clouds , and licks up the fog-bank . The mist-veil is withdrawn , and there stands Fredericksburg , with shattered roof and spire , backed by a long line of gun-bristling heights , and there are the unfinished bridges jutting helplessly out two thirds across the water . A number of the heavy pontoons are still moored close to shore , and while all along under the bank the regiments are ranging into battle order , two or three of them are tumbling into those clumsy arks , cramming them with armed men , and then pushing off into the stream .