The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1862-12-24

into the water, rapidly filed thom with
twenty-five or thirty each. l.. .....
The first boat pushes of. Now, il ever,
is the robols' opportunity. Crackl Crack!
Crack from fifty lurking places. go rebel
rifles ut the gallant fellows, who STOPPING
low in the boat seek to avoid the fire, The
murdorous work was well done. Gustily
however pull the oarsmcn. and presently
having passed the middle Of the stream,
the boat aud its gallant freight come under
cover OF the opposite bluffs.
Another and another boat follows. Now
is their opportunity. Nothing could be
more amusing in its way, than the result.
Instantly they see a uew turn of affairs.
The rebels pop up by the hundred, like SO
many rats, from every cellar, ritle-pit and
stone wall, and scampcr off up the streets
! of the town. With all thcir neetness how
ever many of them were much too slow.
With incredible rapidity the Michigan and
Massachusetts boys swept up tho hill,
making rush for the urking-places occu-
! pied by the rebels, and gaining them each
man captured his two or three prisoners.
! The pontoon boats on their return trip took
| over more than hundred of these fellows
You can imagine with what intense
interest the crossing of the first boat.
load our men was watched by the numer-
! Gus spectators on the shore, and with what
enthusiastic shouts their landing on the OPP
positc side was greeted. i was an authcn-
tic piece of human heroism, which moves
men as nothing else can. The problem was
solved This flash of bravery had done
what scores of batteries and tons of motal
had failed TO accomplish. The country will
not forget that little band. Their loss in
the periluus enterprise was, so far as |
could ascertain, as follows:
killed--A. Wickson Corporal Joseph l..
Rice.
Wounded j. n. Basana, Riley Faulkner,
Lieut.. Secorc, {. IL. lIowsou, Serg. r. Cald.
well, JOS Creme.
Tho party once across, and the rebels
cleared out. it took the engineers but brief
period to complete the bridge. They laid
hold with will, plunging waist deep into
the water, and working as men work who
are under inspiration. In less than half an
hour the bridge was completed, and the
head of the column of the Right Grand D
vision, consisting of Gen. Howard's COM
mand, was moving upon it over the Kappa
hammock. \ feeble attempt from the rebel
batteries was made to shell the troops in
crossing, but it failed completely.
Gour correspondent found an opportunity
| To cross the river with the party who first
went over, in a boat. having been curious to
take closer view of the city which we for
near a month had been observing over the
| river, not three hundred yards wide, with
out the power of visitation. As the rebels
were in considerable force on the nights
back of the city, one could not extend his
pcrambulations beyond the streets fronting
! the river Every one of the houses which
| here entered, dozen or more, is torn TO
| pieces by shot and shell aad the fire still
hotly RACES i'll a dozen partc of the city. A
! lew clt2ens-a score or two perhaps
male and female, presently made their ap-
! pcarancc, emerging out of the cellars whittier
| they had taken refuge during the lombard
ment. Three women--white--wh we
found in a cellar, told us that they, with the
majority of tho inhabitants, had moved out
of Fredericksburg fortnight or 80 pre-
viously, but that growing rcassured by our
long delay, they, with good many others,
had como back the evening before. The
| former inhabitants they report as now living
in various parts of the environs, some in
negro huts. and others in tents made with
! bed-cothos, &c.
A number of rebel dead were found in
various parts of the city, some exhibiting
! irghtlul mutilatiOns from shells, and took
as II trophy, a rifle, still loaded, ont of the
grasp of II hand belonging to headess
! trunk.
The infantry in the city appear to have
been Mlssissippians, South Carohnians and
! Floridians. Those of them that we took
prisoners were wretchedly clad, and mostly
without blankets or overcoats, but they
! generally looked stout and healthy and GER
tainly in far better condition than they could
have been were there any truth in the re-
! port of some deserters the other day, to tho
effect that for three weeks they had nothing
to eat but the persimmons they were able
! to pick up. ............
Although we are not yet fully informed of
! the present position of the enemy there
seems to bc good ground TO claim that Cen
| Burnside has succeeded in outgeneraling and
outwitting them. His decoys to make them
believe that we were about to cross our
main force at Port Conway, seems TO have
succeeded admirably suppose that there is
no harm now in my mentioning that among
the ruses he employed, was sending down,
day before yesterday, to Port Conway, three
hundred wagons, and bringing them back
by different road, for the sole purpose of
making the rebels believe that we were
about to cross the river at that point. 70
the same end, workinen were busily ell
gagged i'll laying Causeways for supposed
| pOntoOn bridges there, while the gunbOats
| were held as bugaboos ut the same place.
Completely deceived by these feints, the
main rebel force, including Jackson's COM
mand, seems to have been two or three
days ago transferred twenty or twenty-five
miles down the river, 1t must be remem-
bered, however, that without the utmost
celebrity OH our part they can readily relieve
this hlunder by forced march or two.
Signal guns, at FIVE o'clock this morning,
gave them the cue TO what was going on,
and doubtless they have not been idle dur
| ing the intervening hours.
"WHY do you drive such a miserable
lnnliI,1r LLulH ANL,. ln,. Y