The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1862-12-18

of our men was watched by the numer-
GUS spectators on the shore, and with
what enthusiastic shouts their landing
on the opposite side was greeted
Itwas an authentic piece of human he
roism, which moves men as nothing else
can. The problem was solved This
fash Of bravery had done what scores of
batteries and tons of metal had failed to
accomplish. The country willhot forget
that little band.
esa The party once across, and the rebels
cleaned out, it took the engineers but a
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 Division, consisting of General
Towards command, was moving upon
it over the Rappahannock A feeble at
tempt from the rebel batteries was made
to shell the troops in crossing, but it
failed completely.
Your correspondent found an oppor-
tunity to cross the river with the party
who first went over, in boat, having
been curious to take a closer view of the
city which we have for near a month
been observing over the river, not three
hundred yards wide, without the power of
visitation AS the rebels were in consid-
cradle force on the nights back of the
city, one could not extend his perambu-
lations beyond the street fronting on the
river Every one of the houses which
here entered, a dozen or morr> is torn to
pieces by shot and shell, and the fire still
hotly RACES in dozen parts of the Ne;ty.
A few cltizens-a score or two, perhaps
male and female, presently made their
appearance, emerging out of the cellars
whittier they had taken refuge during
the bombardment. Three women
white-whom we found in cellar, told
US that they, with majority of the in
habitants, had moved out of Fredericks-
burg fortnight or so previously, but
that growing treasured by our long de-
lay, they, with good many Others had
come back the evening before The for
mer inhabitants they report as now liv-
ing in various parts of the city, some ex-
hibiting frightful mutlations from Shells
and took as q trophy rife, still load
ed, out of the grasp of hand belonging
to headless trunk.
The infantry in the city appear to
have been Mississippians, South Carroll
mans and Floridans. Those of them
that we took prisoners were wretchedly
clad, and mostly without blankets or
overcoats, but they generally looked stout
and healthy, and certainly in far better
condition than they could have been
were there any truth in the report of
some deserters the other day, to the eff
feet that for three weeks they had moth
ing to eat but the persimmons they were
able to pick up
Although we are not fully informed of
the present positions of the enemy, there
seems TO be good ground to claim that
Gen. Burnside has succeeded in out-gen-
eraling and out-witting them. His de-
coys to make them believe that we were
about to cross our main force at Port
Conway, seem to have succeeded admi-
rably. | suppose there is no harm now
in my mentioning that among the ruses
he employed was sending down, day be-
fore 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. To the same end, workmen were
DuSny enPloyeu III iaylng causeWays Tor
supposed pontoon bridges there, while
the gunboats were held as bugaboos at
the same place, Completely deceived by
these feints, the main rebel force, includ-
ing Jackson's command, seems to have
been two or three days ago transferred
twenty or twenty-five miles down the
river. 1t must be remembered however,
that without the utmost celebrity on our
part they can readily retrieve this blum
der by a 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 during
the intervening hours. Tomorrow will
disclose what unseen moves have been
made on the chesshoard.