Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-03-28

~ thtt eitY yesterday hlothinE - t"e
announcement that Gen Forrest, with
: 900 rebels, had attacked and held par
tial possession Of Paducah
From Master Walter Andrews, boy
Of - years, who was IN the city when
the attack was made, and who, with bis
mother and her Two other children, came
up on the Liberty No 2, yesterday, we
obtain fall and interesting particulars OF
the affair. Master Andrews IS an uHnsn.
ais bright and intelligent lad, and told
bis story IN straight forward, cool and
intelligent manner thai plainly showed
be was in the midst of the fight, aud was
a close observer Of passing events The
rebels charged into the town at = o clock
on Friday afternoon, taking the city al
most completely by surprise, and met
scarcely any opposition in the streets.
At the first alarm, the soldiers IN the
city hastened to the fort, aud Col. Hicks,
commanding the post, at once disposed
his little force, consisting Of four com
panies Of negroes, three Of white infan-
try and three Of dismouutcd cavalry, to
resist the attack. The rebels came in
by the Gravel or Cairo road, and as soon
~ they charged into town, they dis
mounted and at once proceeded TO as
sault the fort They were permitted to
approach almost to the breast works be-
/ fore fire was opened on them When
the fort opened ibe slaughter was
terrible, and the rebels recoiled With
dismay.
/ Two Of the rebels reached the top Of
the works, where they were shot down,
one falling in and the other outside the
fort A negro soldier, called Wild Bill,
attempted to drag the one falling out
side into the fort when he was shot
in the head
Two other assaults were made on the
works, which we're likewise repulsed
with heavy loss to the rebels, while the
total loss in the fort was not over FIVE
killed-three negroes aud two white
men-and some fifteen or twenty wound
ed.
The buildings near the fort affording
shelter TO the sharpshooters Of the rebels,
we're fired by the Federals and burned.
In the meanwhile, the rebels had fred
one building used as stable, near the
fort in which were four Government
horses, which were lost They also burn
cd the quartermaster offices and slores
the latter of no considerable amount
They also set fire to the steamer Ida
hoe, on the marine railway, destroy.
ing her and greatly damaging the ways.
Two gunboats, 80 and "a, were lying
off the city They set Gre to the front
row Of buildings on the river, and a large
number Of houses we're destroyed
/ One rebel went to Morgans stable and
! demanded Morgans black horse. AS
Morgan was dismounting from the horse.
a Federal sergeant shot the rebel, killing
him instantly, but was himself soon af
forwards shot.
The rebels made their first assault I'M
der flag of truce, but the trick did not
win. When they demanded the surren-
der Of the fort, Col. Hicks told them he
had been placed there to defend the fort,
and he did not know what surrender
meant
After the third assault the rebels sent
in flag of truce, asking permission to
bury their dead, which was granted, but
while that was going on they engaged in
plnndering the city, robbing stores and
private houses.
Some private houses were burned by
the rebels, the houses Of Union men
being always selected Tor destruction,
while rebels houses were spared The
Secesh ladies went out 10 meet the reb-
els, waving their handkerehicfs and
greeting them warmly All the people
who could get away, especially the I'm
ion people, crossed the river, and the
woods on the Illinois side were full of
refugees.
After the first repulse Of the rebels,
they attempted an indiscriminaie slaugh-
ter Of all the citizens they met on the
streets, regardless Of age or sex. Young
Andrews and his mother, with the rest
of her children, got across the river at
9 o'clock at night, and left on the Lib
erty No. . about Q o'clock Saturday
morning, and after the boat left heavy
firing was heard in the direction Of the
fort
Capt Yves. Conner, of the Liberty.
brought up about fifty refugees, who are
entirely destitute, having nothing but
the clothes they wear.
His conduct was in the highest degree
meritorious. lie placed everything like
provisions at the disposal of the refugees
and told his steward to Distribute as long
as anything was left, and rendered to
all, who chose to come up, a free passage
The rebel loss could not he ascertain.
ed, as many Of their dead and most Of
. their wounded we're carried off Ii is
believed their killed will not fall short
OF two to three hundred
IATER.
The Gen. Anderson left Padueah at
five o'clock Saturday evening, at which
; time no fighting was going on and rein
forcements to the Federals were arriving
' The town was greatly damaged, many
houses being burned ard still greater
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