Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-12-17

mishers to the right and left.
"They had been over but q m1ment
when they were met by a rapid succession
of musket shots from the rifemen of the
enemy, who fell back before them, as the
regiments behind came up to their sup
port. General Norton's division moved
over with alacrity, and was soon formed
in line of battle upon the crest of hill
At the sight of them fairly establisAed5h
threatening attitude upon the ground late
ly held BY the enemy, q shout vas raisHa1>
from the north side OF esaks river, tofsc. Ri
gave confidence to the detachment and iH1y
over, and showed their own eagerness to
follow Immediately.
SKETCHES OF FREDERICKSBURG AFTER TIE
BOABARDMENT.
al have Just returned from Fredericks-
burg. Last spring, when /, for the first
time visited this, the most important city
in the Valley Of the Rappahannock, was
struck with its strong resemblance to the
old villages in New England, where scarce
ly q modern dwelling can be found, and
everything bears a quiet, cultivated, finish
ed look, as if it had closed its career of
enterprise upon this earth and had retired
upon respectable competency. But to-
day this city, once so quiet and attractive,
is deserted, ruined, demolished town.
heap of smouldering ruins and falling
dwellings, which have for weeks been ten
antless and forssken. Who would recog-
nize it tonight The heavens are red
with the flames Of the old mansions; the
atmosphere is full of the smoke from the
smouldering embers. The desOlating blasts
Of war prayed and sought for, have at
last been visited upon her. What she
chose, rather than surrender, has been her
portion.
alt was singular, in the desolation and
awful absence Of human life in the place,
to notice, as bursting shell after shell fell
into the place to-day, how the old town
clock in the tower of one of the city
churches-truer to its maker than men
sre-struok out the time clearly and
grandly. Not all the shells this side OF
the Blue Ridge could effect that clock till
il got run down, as it surely must some
day. Virginia has run dO'0n; she may run
farther, but fear there are few depths
lower that permit existence.
Strange indeed would it have been if
we had allowed these brick and stone for
tresses to remain standing as monuments
over the graves Of our brave soldiers
But to-day these fine mansions are not
standing. A heap Of smoldering embersis
all that remains of them. Others, less os-
tentatious in their style Of architecture,
are riddled and torn with shot and shell
the furniture broken and defaced the
bedding ripped and stripped, taken into
the streets, and trodden under foot; ele-
ganbehinaware and cutlery, choice libra
ries of books rare works Of art, are all
heaped together in the streets, and are
scrambled for as trophies. The old man
sion of Douglas Gordon-perhaps the
wealthiest citizen in the VALLEYS now
used as the headquarters of General How
ard, but before he occupied it, every room
had been torn with shot, and then all the
elegant furniture and works of art broken
and smashed by the soldiers, who burst
into the house after having driven the
rebel sharp-shooters from behind it. When
l entered it, early this morning, before its
occupation by General Howard, | found
the soldiers of his fine division diYerting
themselves with the rich dresses found In
the wardrobes; some had on bonnets of the
fashion of last year, and were surveying
themselves before mirrors, which, an hour
or two afterwards, were pitched out Of the
window and smashed to pieces upon the
pavement; others had elegant scarfs bound
around their heads in the form of turbans,
and shawls around their waists, after the
fashion of the Turks.
"What 1 saw in this mansion was re-
peated in nearly every one which the
flames had not destroyed.
alt is but the truth to say that the
wealthy citizens of fredericksburg pos
sessed something more than wealth, and
of much greater value-culture. 1 doubt
if there is village in New England that
possesses more choice libraries than did
fredericksburg the day before the bonn
bardment You can see that the old ortho-
dox religious element enters into nearly
every one of them. Said a soldier TO me
to-day, rsking among magnificent pri-
vate library, half covered with mud in the
street. How intensely religious these
id rebels are Not only solid works
upon religion and philosophy are found
among the libraries, but books in nearly
all the modern languages, which looked as
if they had been well read and appreoia-
ted"