; and here, with military honors, the remains of
Lieutenant Decker and about fifteen others, who fell in the late
struggle, were interred. Later in the day, and after considerable
hesitation, the mayor of Fredericksburg formally surrendered the city to
the Yankee General, whose guns on Falmouth Heights commanded obedience.

A bridge of canal boats, similar to a pontoon, was constructed across
the river, and we took possession of this beautiful, proud city. This
was the first appearance of Yankees in this Rebel locality, and we were
the subject of no little curiosity. Many of the people, who, by the
misrepresentations of their licentious press and flaming orators, had
been led to believe that Yankees were a species of one-eyed cyclops, or
long-clawed harpies, or horned and hoofed devils; who had been deceived
into the notion that President Lincoln was a deformed mulatto,
degenerated into a hideous monkey, and that all his followers were of
that sort, on seeing us, expressed great surprise and wished to know "if
we were specimens of the Lincoln army." They had forgotten that our
fathers fought side by side in our common country's early struggles, and
that now we, their children, as brothers, ought all to sit unitedly
under the tree of liberty which they had planted in tears and nourished
with blood.

But it is painful to observe how the spirit of secession has blotted out
the memories of past days and deeds, and filled their hearts with
bitterness toward us. A few Union families in these parts, whose
acquaintance we have made, assure us that their neighbors, who were
formerly most hospitable and humane, have become, through this Rebel
virus, incarnate fiends. To secede from the Union was evidently to
secede from the God of virtue and charity.

_April 25._--After spending a few days of tolerable quietness on the
banks of the Rappahannock, with our camp near the Phillips House,
Falmouth, a most lovely spot, we were to-day ordered out as escort or
guard to a train destined for the Shenandoah Valley. Such a job is
generally any thing but pleasant to a cavalry force, for the movement is
altogether too slow, especially when bad roads are encountered. And in
case a team becomes balky or gives out, or a wagon breaks down
(incidents which occur frequently), the whole column is in _statu quo_
until the difficulty or disability is removed. And so we are halting,
advancing, halting and advancing again, with this monotonous variety