The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-11 00:00:00

AMERICA.

SOUTHAMPTON, Wednesday.
The North German Lloyd screw steamship
America, Captain H. Wessels, from New York on
the 30th inst., arrived off Cowes at 1 p.m. to-day,
and went on to Bremen after transhipping mails,
Sec., for this port. She brings 22 passengers for
Southampton and Havre, and 74 for Bremen ;
50,000 dole. for England, 6,150 for Bremen, and
2,000 tons of cargo. Southerly winds and cloudy
weather have prevailed throughout the voyage. On
30th ult. the America spoke the English ship
Garibaldi in New York Bay; on the 3d of August,
in lat. 44 58 N., long. 51 40 IV., the ship Flora
; and in lat. 4:5 8 N., long. 51 5 IV., the
schooner England's Rose.
The Cincinatti Gazette publishes the subjoined
account of the great battle in front of Atlanta on
the 22d ult. from the pen of a young cfficer in
General Hooker's corps:—
" 41 miles north of Atlanta, Georgia, July 21.
" On yesterday occurred one of the most san-
guinary and brilliant conflicts which have befallen
this army upon the soil of Georgia. I shall endea-
vour to write an account of that portion of it en.
gaged in by the first division of the 20th corps,
and I trust the same may not be unacceptable to
your readers. On the 19th inst. the army of the
Cumberland arrived in position south of the Chatta-
hoochee and north of Atlanta. The 14th corps oc-
the 4th the left, and the cupied the right wing,
20th the centre. The line extended along the north
bank of Peachtree-creek, and in a direction per-
pendicular to the line of rebel works bordering
the Chattahoochee. The position thus adopted
compelled the enemy to change his front and
assume a new Hue of defence. In the mean-
time the armies of the Tennessee and the
Ohio were expected to shortly sever the Georgia
Railroad near Stone Mountain, and to march
towards Atlanta in a direction threatening the right
flank and rear of the rebel army. On the 20th inst.
a general advance in the direction of Atlanta was
begun, By 10 o'clock a.m. the 20th corps had
arrived in position on the heights skirting Peach-
tree creek on its south bank. The let division
joined the 14th corps on the right, the 2d division
held the centre, and the 3d joined Newton's division
of the 4th corps on the extreme left. A heavy
picket was thrown out, and was considered a suffi-
cient precaution against any hostile demonstration
of the enemy, since nothing was thought of but an
advance against his position. The troops were per.
mitted to rest quietly in the shade, and were not
troubled with building the usual breastworks
deemed necessary at each change of the line of
battle. Temporary barricades of rails were thought
a sufficient strengthening of the line for all neces3
sary purposes. Thus the day wore away until two
o'clock p.m. Comparatively little firing had fol-
lowed the movements of the troops—just enough to
reveal the presence and position of the enemy. The
developments anxiously hoped for in the movements
of N.l'Pherson and Scholefield seemed to be awaited
as the signal for active demonstrations by the army
of the Cumberland. But the enemy, appreciating
the desperate condition to which he was being
rapidly brought, bethought himself to make one
bold, dashing, determined effort to thwart our des
signs. Accordingly, early in the afternoon a fierce,
rapid ire broke out along our plcket lines, which
quickly grew into a volleying roll of musketry in
front of Ward's and Geary's divisions. The storm
Boon extended along the line towards the right,
where Williams's division lay grouped along the
crest of a rather high and densely-wooded hill. Be-
tween Williams's and Geary divisions lay a deep
hollow, down which, washed by the timber, the
enemy was now advancing in heavy masses. Gen.
Williams, with that sudden inspiration which cha-
racterises true military genius, saw at a glance the
arrangement of his troops which, according to
the nature of the ground and the unexpected exi-
gencies of the movement, was best adapted to meet
this unlooked-for demonstration of the enemy. He
hurried his brigades into position on the double
quick, and though they moved with all possible
celerity, was unable to got them in their proper
places before they received a terrific fire from the
enemy. Robinson's brigade hastened along the
crest, of the hill, then, facing by the left flank,
marched down the slope to receive the swarming
masses of the over-confident and defiant foe, The
fire of the enemy was so murderous, and his advance
so impetuous, that it seemed for a time as if Robin-
son's line must surely yield, It was an awful mo-
ment. The combatants were mingled with each
other, and fighting handtto•hand. The safety of the
corps, and indeed the entire army, seemed to depend
upon the courage and determination of these devoted
men. Should they give way the enemy would get
possession of the hill, command the rear, break the
centre, capture hundreds of prisoners, all our artil-
lery, and drive the remnant of our troops back to
the creek, and perhaps to the Chattabochee. But
not one inch would those intrepid veterans yield.
Though their ranks were fearfuliy thinned, and the
tangled forest became strewn with bleeding forms
as with autumn leaves, yet they determinedly main-
tained their position and compelled the enemy to
withdraw, leaving his dead and wounded mingled
with the brave heroes who had fought and fallen
'beneath the starry folds of the flag of the Union.
While Robinson's brigade was thus contending
against fearful odds, Knipe's (First) brigade had
formed a line of battle stretching along the crest of
the hill, in continuation of Robinson's line, and
forming connection with the 14th corps. Knipe had
no sooner got into position than the enemy poured
down upon him in an onslaught less fierce and
desperate than that made against Robinson. The
awful picture of the battle ns it raged at this
moment no pencil can paint, no pen describe. The
noonday air became dark and heavy with the
powder smoke, which hung like a gloomy canopy
over the pale bloody corpses of the slain. Wounded
men were borne to the rear by scores, the blood
streaming from their lacerated flesh, and presenting
a sight which at any other time would sicken the
heart with horror. Each instant some patriotic
heart, some noble form, the treasure and the light of
some distant household, fell prone upon the earth,
and added a new martyr to freedom, a new victim
to the causeless crime of Southern traitors. The
rattling roll of the musketry sounded like the con-
tinuous roar of a cataract, and was joined by the
thunderous chime of the deep throe ied cannon, which
spouted unceasing volumes of flame and iron into the
faces of the foe. But, amid all this carnage and
confusion, Williams's veteran heroes wavered not,
and the red star (the badge of the Ist division 20th
corps) of the let division never gleamed more
valiantly than it did in the hour of that dreadful
conflict. Too much cannot be said in praise of men
who would thus so nobly do and dare for the cause
of country, God, and truth. The enemy, finding it
impossible to break the line or drive it from the
hills, suddenly withdrew a short distance into the
woods, but the fight eid not end here. Ever and
anon the rebels would surge forward again to the
charge, as if goaded by some spirit of madness, or
fired by a desperate resolution which would not listen
to the failure. The sanguinary recklessness of Chicka-
mauga, was repeated, but with different results.
Every effort of the enemy was foiled, every attack
repulsed. Evening canoe on apace, and the battle
subsided into the irregular firing of the pickets.
The last beams of the declining sun, though
they gleemed on a sad and revolting spectacle,
ret seemed to set the bloody field aglow with the
'
almost unearthly light of complete triumph and
glorious victory. Thus terminated the fifth battle in
which the let division has participated during this
campaign. In each previous instance, as in this last,
theenemy has been thoroughly beaten, and in no case
has he gained the slightest advantage of Gen.lVil-
liams's veterans. Twice at Bessacca, once at Dallas,
once at Kenesaw, and, finally, once at least in the
great struggle before Atlanta, the enemy has been
compelled to eat the bitter fruit of defeat
and disas-
ter by this splendid division. Yet comparatively
little has been said of its exploits in the public
prints, and the credit of much that it has done has
been unfairly awarded to other commands. Its in-
trepid and skilful leader, who has the most unli-
mited confidence of his entire command, seems to