The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-23 00:00:00

7HE FIDERAL ARMIES.

From Virginia we have the following reports
of military movements :
" Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac,
Saturday, Dec_ 6, a.m.

"On Thursday the rebels brought some field
pieces to bear on our gunboats lying in the Rappa-
hannock, near Port Royal. A few shots compelled
them to withdraw their guns out of range. No
harm was done. Yesterday the weather was any-
thing but pleasant. In the morning it commenced
nwrai ge,otnhtei
nn
uheadi lrianpgi,d
landrapidly
t ao
bout
nntoiol n 1
osnowl
cske t
lai
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snow on the grounds and everything is frozen up.
hginiticith. This morning there are about tour inches of n
Much complaint is expressed among army officers
in reference to the large number of Brigadier-Gene-
rals hanging around Washington, with a view of
getting appointed on courts•martial in order to
escape active service in the field."
" Head-quarters, Army of the Potomac, Dec. 7,
‘ La nightsstuffered f
Wraoamintethnesely cold, and some of the
troops
formed in the Potomac and Acquia Creek from one
‘
want of blankets. Ice
and a half to two inches thick. Today the sun
came out fair and cheering, but the air continued
piercing cold. The roads are hard and very rough.
A lady who came over the river yesterday under a
flag of truce represents the condition of the rebel
army as destitute beyond description, and that they
cannot possibly retain their position during the win-
ter. Quite one-third of the army is without shoes,
and hundreds are almost wholly without clothing.
Hundreds in one regiment are said to be barefoot.
Hard work upon the entrenchments, insufficient
food, and scarcity of clothing are sending regiment
after regiment to the hospital. Many of the citizens
of Fredericksburg—men, women, and children—are
encamped in the woods back of the city, and dare
not return for fear of being shelled from their
homes, The rebel camp fires have almost entirely
disappeared immediately in front of Falmouth, and
no troops can be seen behind many of the intrench.
ments. Notwithstanding these indications, the fords
upon the river and all the naturally weak points of
the line are still strongly guarded."
,c Opposite Fredericksburg, Monday, Dec. 8,

100 l m.
" It is still intensely cwith two to four inches
of ice in the Potomac and Rappahannock to-day.
Any movement involving the probability of fight-
ing is considered by our Generals impossible during
this inclement weather. Every wounded man
would die. With great fires, log horses, and em-
banked palisades under their tents, the troops keep
tolerably comfortable. It is reported that two or three
intoxicated men froze to death last night. Owing to
the greatly diminished length and breadth of the
girth of camp fires visible the night before last, the
impression was prevalent that the enemy had fallen
back to a new position, some distance to the rear of
their former line of encampment. The immense
volumes of smoke, however, that arose last evening
on the opposite side, above the hills overlooking
Fredericksburg, and seemed to extend for miles in
a western and north-western direction, demonstrated
that the presumed retrograde movement, if made at
all, was meant only to bring them under better
shelter in the ravines between the first and second
range, and in the woods upon the latter, from the
piercing north-west winds prevailing since the day
before yesterday. The apparent fact of the con-
tinued presence of the great body of the rebel army
in front of the right grand division can be but
gratifying to General Burnside, for reasons that will
be developed in a few days. The range of the rebel
encampments in a western direction having evi-
dently been extended within the last few days, it is
presumed that Stonewall' Jackson, with his force,
had taken position on the extreme left. The in
tense cold of the last 48 hours is confining every-
body not on outdoor duty inside of houses, tents,
and huts. The freezing winds render it impossible
to keep comfortable, and both officers and men suf-
fer. Reports from the river stations note several
deaths from exposure during the past 48 hours.
Large quantities of supplies are prevented from
landing at Acquia and Potomac Creeks by low water
and ice. The latter is fully two inches thick. Not-
withstanding this the army generally is provisioned
for 12 days ahead.
s' Head-quarters, Army of the
Potomac, Dec. 9.
« The -weather milder and the allow has nieito