The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1862-12-22

:. MONDAY MORNING ]
:tornlas the sn.my's poAssdp % tho hill Conf
dent OF Victory. tue troops upohsd steadily up Il
within sho: Of the bassssiss ~ murdere ~ Ar
from tie rsbsl 'iAsmsn. 49, ~ the fusy Of th
eannonads, compelled cur - % iall back witl
hesvy loss Tho attempt - laFry the rebel basts
ries was repeated again in ~ afternoon, and th
attaetins party. strongly rsinEced. started on tn
h..us ouTt.. .au,cn but the 10y who wa a!,t
along the line the battle rased with unusual fierce
. ness, and when night ssms |. Was hard to LAY WIZ
were she victors OF the killed and wounded ther.
on ours. 10 correct estimate cAn be formed of thu
loss N II HookerS corps, but u kss pretty heavy
! The firing OF muskstry csassd about half past nva
O'Clock, but the rebels continued to cannonade the
to shel "a out OF our position IN Fredericksburg
| but thus far they have been unsuccessful
THE RxsuLr.
Tho result OF the days light proves conclusively
enough tina. the enemy's poaitloc Is one Of great
strength, and that It will squiee desperate sor.
On the part Of Gen. Burnside 10 drive bir, from bis
stronghold General, Ffsnklin appears to have
been the only one who has effected any important
result, and to morrow ne may succeed In turning
BtonewAll Jscksons position on the Masssponax -
sly engaged in making arrangements for a renew
al OF the battle to morrow. During the fight moth
ing was seen Of General D. II Hin's command, and
much anxiety ia created "a TO his whereabouts. 1t
u supposed by many tina. Hill has gone to intercept
Sigel, who ts probably his way to Cufpopef and
by others that he may be working around in our
rear.
In addition to the officsrs already mep,ioned az
being killed and wounded, I leain the following
were among the unfortunate ones:
General Jackson, OF the PA Reserves Had Lieut..
Col. Dickinson 4h U. s. artillery were beth kill.
ed Cons. Vinion, Kinball, Caldwell and Camp.
al hUtp NJ tnosn,o
Major Jennings, of the 26th New York Volunteers,
and Col! Sinclair Of the Pa Reserves, are slso
aInong tbs wounded
All the wonnded are being properly csred for.
and tonight tho surgeons s-e ndefatigabe in their
efforts to relieve the sufferers.
WHY THE REBEL LEE DID NOT MAKE RESISTANCE
TO THE CROSSING OF THE RAPPAHArNOEK.
FREDERICKSBURG, Dec l2-The great battle
has no: yet come oH but before the setting Of to-
lnorrow's Aun it will, beyond much doubt, be
known whether We are to occupy Richmond this
winter or not.
The slight resist ance that General Lee offered to
the crossing OF the Rappshannock s em3 to have
bsen designed. and not matter sltogsther of ne
cessity, as many were led to suppose yesterday
1t seems to have been ascartained to day beyond
much doub. that Jackson Gid not effect junction
with Lee until last u!Sht and that ths quiet recep
tion OF our terrific cannonsdng was simply to
save ammunition and draw nearer to their for.
midabls line of fortfca,ions.
Gen Lse's army now nearly If not quite, laO0 Coo
strong, with sOO pieces Of artillery. If he stands at
all he will light tho most bloody BATH Of the war
This position is q stronger one than at Antietam,
and If panic i5 created in cur ranks tae Kappa.
nannocx Will D, difficult steam to recrosa Balls
Bluff repeated upon . most gigantic scale, will bs
our fate. Bat |. is useless to speculate when the
telegraph will have announced before this reaches
you the result Of ths struggle
have speat the day in this city. have aeverAl
times described what fredericksburg uGs what
fredericksburg II you have also learned by tes.
eraph In advance of the mali. The city has not
only been in psrt burned, but ruined beyond almost
all hops OF recovery. All who passed through the
village OF Sharpsburg two days after the battle of
Antietam thought 1t would be almost impossible to
make town look more dssolsts aud forsaken, but
tie appearance OF Sharpsburg, ss compared with
that OF Fredericksburg, IL cOmely and pleasant
TIE CHARACTER OF SATURDAYS BATTLE.
The Washington correspondent of the New York
7tns writes:
Accounts recsivsd hers of yosterday'a battle at
fredericksburg leave no question that Il WAS the
most terrific artillery combat ever fought In the
world. An officer Of high rank, who was witness
OF the spectacle, states that the number OF pieces
of ordnance employed on both sides amounted to
several hundred, and under such circumstance IL
cannot be doabtsd that the list Of Casualties s very
large But little Of the battle was actually sesn,
by r. Uon Of the dense smoke that enveloped the
whole deld 1t Is only known in general that tbs
Union troops fought with ali the odds immensely
against them, and that, crowded into q narrow
space which gave the enemy's guns most deadly ef-
feet with deep river On one side and the hostile
Notifications on the other, they maintained the un-
equal tight with Unflinchirg heroisn till night
closed upon the scene and terminated the terrible
combat. At this point the advantage on the whole
rested with our army.
The accounts which are permitting TO reach the
public are meegre ead confused, and tho result s
differently estimated as the witnesses differ n tenn.
per and desire Your correspondent has conversed
with numerous parties, of eq1si opportunities for
judging, but whose opinions are widely apart, and
has been able 10 learn the general information in
posse ssion Of Government and the conclusions of
our highest military authorities en4 L5 .eueves,
from Q careful collection Of the facts at hand iat
the result II not all that we can DESIRE is still. such
as in no sense to justify the evil auguries which it
has caused Only portion OF our troops were en-
gagged, or could be, for want OF space. They are
In the best OF spirits and entirely confident Of
cess when the battle shall he renewed That il was
not to day probably owing to the sp-
proach OF the reserves, which successfully turn
tbs enemy's left flank, and cooperate In a victory
not only made certain, but less bloody, than could
have resulted in continuance OF operations on the
front alone. We may get down the action Of Sat
Crday as reconnaissance in force and confidently
count, if cur troops can be dispoAed that they
eau generally he cught into action, . dec;sive
success omcrrow, or whenever the strength of the
army can be brought to bear on the enemy
THE YANKEE LOSS SOME ExPLANATIONs ABOUT
BURNsIDE'S DIssATCH.
The Washington Scar. of the 18th, says:
We fear Cur loss IN killed and wounded wss
heavier than WE imagined NJ h n. yesterday
N orninE at headquarters In tie field as at noon
Yesterday 1t .e ssid At Gen sumuere aeadou9r-
tsrsthst there were ten thousand wounded th.n in
Fredericksburg; which though doubtless great
exaggeratiou indicates strongly that We lost more
than i've thousand, as few meme Of lhos, woucd.
ed on our left wirg-Frankns--vhers the contest
was quite az heavy - elsewhere, had 3: Tia. hour
reached there
Nearly all the ground we gained ss the result o.
the fght was about mile on the left wing. Che
right rested Saturday night about quarter CT q
mile from the town, On the drst ridge.
Weregret TO have to say that. at ye ..srdsy,
!hs impression prevailed at Fredericksburg that
tie enemy's loss had been fsr Iess thaa ours OWN
to the security Of their position under woods and
rehind their works from the cover Of which they
scarcely yentured throughout the days. engage
meat.
Cen. sisels army corps, it is now eiear did not
from knowledge of the point at which he arrived
at noon Of the day before. He will, however,
doubtlegs get up to-day.
Prom al We can gather from persons who left
fredericksburg yesterday. we shall not be surprised
if no more lighting takes place there fer some days
to come, az the enemy seem determined to stick
to their hitherto almost invarisble policy OF keep
Ing behind brssstworks and urttsr cover of woods.
REPORTS CONCERNING THE BATTLE.
Wounded officers who have arrived here from
Ere ID sricksburg express the opinion that the en-
envy has yet much the beg. of the situation at
Fredericksburg, as they are in position whers they
can only be disodged at much sacrifice Of life and
in the meantime they are capable of doing us Iiueh
more injury than we can them.
gURNsIDE's DISPATCH
Th6 version of General Burnsides dispatch to the
President, bearing date yesterday 1t A. n which
sore OF cur city contemporaries have published
embraces 3 very grave mistake. He did not state
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