The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 17, 1865

ling the Richmond detachment not in the battle,'to from
25,000 to 40,000, and those, again, separated by the chances
of battle into four distinct squads, each separately put to
flight and being pursued. Thus the rebel army in Northern
Virginia is in reality destroyed. The general direction of
the flight of each squad is towards the Danville Road.
Probably they have a plan of forming a junction at Appo-
mattox station or Burksville. But the plan will be frus-
trated. Neither of the fragments will be permitted to halt
long enough at any point for another to find it. They are
on the run, fairly put to flight, and Sheridan's magnificent
cavalry, with the elated victorious army 'of the Potomac,
are on their heels picking up additional prisoners by hun-
dreds and thousands almost at every turn. A more com-
plete destruction of an army was never known. Even Wa-
terloo, when the facts are learnt, will be found not to miry
pass it. The fugitive character of this once magnificent
army is attested by the multitude of :its numbers found in
Petersburg hid away in houses, barn; and other places of
concealment, anxious to give themselves up as prisoners
rather than 'stand a long and hopeless pursuit. It is fur-
ther attested by their leaving behind them their artillery,
tents, and all impedimenta, and by the roads lined with
their cast-off guns and accoutrements. Good bye to the re-
bel army of Northern Virginia! It has been a noble army,
worthy of a better cause and a more honourable death.
" THE OCCUPATION OP PETERSBUG.

" When Ely's brigade entered the city daylight had not
yet dawned. Seeing that the rebels would not fight, and
that but a scattered few remained in front of them, when
the outskirts of the town were reached the firing ceased,
and the troops made a dash in and captured the most of the
small skirmish line that had been falling back before them.
They had then undisputed possession of the city, and at
half-past 4 o'clock Col. Ely reported it to Gen. Willcox. At
that hour your correspondent rode in. The streets at first
seemed deserted, but the cheers of the soldiers as they
marched through the town soon brought out swarms of
negroes, men, women, and children, who manifested their
gladness by every conceivable demonstration. Aprons,
handkerchiefs, sheets, tablecloths, were waved by these
overjoyed people, either as tokens of amity and submission
or in welcome, it was hard to determine which. They bowed
and scraped, danced, shouted, and sang hymns, swung their
hats and turbans, laughed and cried and acted altogether
very much like people crazy with joy. Bross de good Jesus,
de; Yankees hab come.' Tank de Lord, you's all here.'
Bress de Lord, we's been looking for ye des many days.'
Glad to see you all, we like you a heap better'n we does de
rebels.' These and many similar expressions met us on
all hands, while the friendly salutations and greetings were
so numerous that we wearied of returning them. Your
correspondent, being the first mounted man in town, was
looked upon as some high military dignity, and received
more than his share of these hospitable demonstrations.
One old negro woman insisted on kissing my hand, while
any number of mothers presented their babies for a distin-
guished touch. It was somewhat embarrassing, as well as
a little annoying, to be compelled to explain at every street
corner that ] was no very great personage after all. Enter-
ing at the upper end of the main street of the town,
I forced my way along a most beautiful avenue, lined
at first with elegant dwellings, and lower down with blocks
of stores that would not look mean in Broadway, to the
Richmond railroad depot on the river at the lower end of
the street. Turning to the right on Water-street, and going
on a block, I entered a street leading to the river, across
which, at this point, were a waggon and passenger bridge,
and the principal railroad bridge. The latter had been
thoroughly destroyed. Its abutments had been blown
down with powder, and the superstructure burnt. The
wooden passenger bridge, known as the Lower Bridge,
had evidently been the last used by the rebels, and was
but just fired. Presuming upon my recognised authority
as an officer of high degree, I sent the negroes off after
the engines and very soon had a first-class brigade im-
provised and at work extinguishing the flames. Trans-
ferring my :authority to a white man, who represented
himself to be a fireman and seemed willing to work, I left
the scene to make other observations. Just below this
point was another railroad bridge, a temporary affair built
by the military authorities for our own accommodation, but
as the track across it communicates with all the railroads
centring in Petersburg it is an important structure for us.
This bridge the rebels had forgotten, or neglected to de-
stroy. It was just as good as ever it was. Most of the
railroad property in the city was destroyed. The depots
were
not fired, but the rolling stock that could not
be got away was burnt. How much destruction this
entailed in the limited time allotted me I could not
ascertain. From many citizens in the town I learnt
that the dense columns of smoke that have hung over
the city since yesterday morning were caused by the de-
struction of tobacco here. It is estimated that 5,000 hogs-
heads of the weed have been consumed. There are still
large quantities remaining uninjured. I was told that
there were immense stores of all kinds of provisions for the
army in the city. These were stored in buildings in the
heart of the city, the destruction of which would have en-
tailed the probable total destruction of the town, so that,
on the protest of the citizens, they were left unconsumed.
I had much curiosity to see the effect of the numerous shell-
ings to which the town had been subjected, and rode
through that portion of the city most exposed. It was cer-
tainly wonderful that so little damage had been done.
Nearly every other building in some localities had been
struck, but with the exception of now and then a chimney
knocked down or a hole through the building that a few
dollars would repair, the injuries were scarcely perceptible.
I found people living in the exposed localities, and was
told that they had been there throughout the siege.
But few people either had been killed by the cannon-
ading in the town. Some sad cases were cited, but
they numbered in all less than a score. By 6 o'clock
the town was quite awake and alive. Troops were
pouring in from all directions, shouting, singing, and
cheering, but otherwise preserving the most orderly and
commendable bearing. There was no straggling, no pil-
laging, no destruction of property or intrusion of private
residences. Guards were stationed thickly in all direc-
tions, with imperative orders to keep the soldiers out of all
buildings, public or private, and protect all property from
destruction. The citizens were showing themselves in
largo numbers upon the door steps, in the doors, and at the
windows of the houses, indicating that but few, if any, had
run away, while most of them manifested, in the expression
of their faces, a gladness at our arrival. Wherever I con-
versed with any of them I found the first thought to be for
something to eat, T hey seemed to be starved out. While there
was plenty of food for the army it had been carefully hoarded,
and the resident population left to shift for themselves as
best they could. Doubtless it was on this account, more
than any other, that they were so pleased to see us, and so
ready to abandon the rebel cause. On the main business
streets there was every appearance of thrift. Though the
stores were not generally opened at so early an hour in the
morning, I noticed here and there, where shutters were
down, considerable stocks of goods, while all the bushigss
portion of tile town had a commercial look. General Lee
was in Petersburg up to last night, superintending the with-
drawal of his troops, but was careful not to say in what
direction he was going. When asked by some citizens if
they had better go to Richmond, he told them that
would do no good, as Richmond was also being evacuated.
He acknowledged his inability to hold Virginia any
longer, and seemed very much depressed. The funeral
of General A. P. Hill, whose death I have mentioned, was
attended with military honours just previous to the evacua-
tion, General Lee and other distinguished officers being
present. He was buried in the city cemetery on the day of
his death, the circumstances not permitting the retention of
his remains longer. All the vessels in the river here, and
some on the ways, said to have been intended for gunboats
or rams, were destroyed before the evacuation. At a very
early hour this morning, just before our troops advanced on
the city, we were startled by several distinct explosions, so
violent as fairly to shake the ground. These explosions
were supposed to be in Petersburg, but I have just learnt
that they were caused by the blowing up of the rebel vessels
in the James, below Richmond. Everything, therefore, is
destroyed, oven to the rebellion. Law Dee. The end is near
at hand. lam off for City Point and must close hastily."