Colonel Sinclair, the enemy having opened on the left, and enfilading my line. I opened with case and solid shot in line with Captain Cooper and Lieutenant Simpson. I soon after returned to my first position, by the order of General Meade, and under the immediate direction of Colonel Sinclair.

With the other batteries of the division, I shelled the woods in advance of the line, and ceased firing as the division passed, having nothing but canister. I remained in the same position until relieved by Randolph's battery. I then formed line in rear, and a few yards on his left. Some ten or fifteen minutes after, I came into battery between Captain Cooper and Captain Randolph, on the ground previously occupied by Captain Amsden; with the other batteries on the line, covered the retreat of the troops from the woods in front. I remained in position until relieved, on General Reynolds' order, by Captain Leppien. Near sundown, I joined the division, on the ground occupied the night before.

My casualties were 5 men wounded and 2 horses disabled.

During the 13th and 14th, I used 25 rounds of canister, 481 case shot, 47 solid shot, and 14 shell.

I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

D. R. RANSOM,

Captain Third Artillery, Commanding Battery C, Fifth Artillery.

Captain E. C. BAIRD,

Assistant Adjutant-General, Second Division.

Numbers 248. Report of Colonel William McCandless, Second Pennsylvania Reserves, commanding First Brigade.

HEADQUARTERS FIRST BRIGADE, Near Fredericksburg, Va., December 18, 1862.

CAPTAIN: In compliance with orders from division headquarters, I have the honor to report the following operations of the First Brigade Pennsylvania Reserves in the recent engagement:

On the morning of December 13, this command was drawn up in line of battle on the plain between Dr. Pratt's house and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, forming the right brigade of Meade's division, being joined on the right and parallel with the division of General Gibbon. The Sixth Regiment was deployed as skirmishers in front of our artillery, and kept up a heavy fire upon the enemy until about 2 p. m., when the brigade was ordered to advance upon the enemy, who were stationed in sheltered positions on the west side of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, and through dense woods directly in our front.

The brigade advanced, with the regiments posted as follows, viz: The Sixth covering the brigade as skirmishers, First Infantry on the right, Second on the left, and the One hundred and twenty-first in the center. The Rifles (Bucktails) had been posted in the rear of Captain Cooper's battery, and advanced in line with the Third Brigade.

The enemy defended his first line of rifle-pits stubbornly, but was forced to retire, with severe loss. Our men pushed forward rapidly, and came upon the second parallel of the enemy in the wood before they had an opportunity to remove a portion of their guns from the order in