The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-07 00:00:00

tThe

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7, 1863.

Day by day, almost, we are getting news now from
the American seat of war. Day by day, fresh intel-
ligence has been dropping in upon us from the scene
of the last fighting, and this by means of rapidly
succeeding arrivals, each vessel being but little
more than twenty-four hours after its immediate
predecessor. The Etna—the latest of these arrivals
from New York, the steamer in question having
reached Queenstown but this very morning at
coekcrow—brings information it will be seen by our
telegrams down to the 26th inclusively. From these
additional particulars, it cannot but be more than
ever apparent that the defeat of ROSENCRANZ,
on the 20th ult. was unmistakeably disastrous in
its character. The New York journals talk
still confidently enough about the conflict of
the preceding day, that is of the 19th ult., as of a
drawn battle, and as nothing worse than a drawn
battle, But there is no attempt made by anyone,
even by the most lying of the systematic apologists
of the North, to gloss over the serious and alarming
character of the defeat suffered by General ROSEN-
CRANz on the morrow—that is, in the great battle
fought on the 20th near Chattanooga. The scene
of the actual conflict is just immediately upon the
state boundary—dividing, as by a line drawn across
the map with a ruler, Tennessee from North Georgia.
Nearly eao
hrly e
. upon this boundary line, immediately
vest of Chattanooga, the River Tennessee
winds at a sharp angle round the spur of Stringer's
Ridge. The mountain range, so called, branches off
at that same sharp angle (watered atits base by
the winding Tennessee) to the north-east and to
the north-west—the point where that forked ridge
meets trending southwards until it nearly
restsge
upon the boundary line aforesaid, immediately to
the west of Chattanooga, Chattanooga, itself, and
of courae the winding river to the north of it, to-
gether with the diverging range of Stringer's
Ridge on the other side of that river—all lie in
Tennessee. It is directly to the south of them
all that lies the boundary line separating
Southern Tennessee from Northern Georgia. And
iaere, directly below that line, trending slightly each
of them to the south-west, one behind another,
almost parallel in their relative positions, are three
distinct ridges or elevations of land close together.
Nearest to Tennessee, in fact running direct from
Chattanooga in a south-westerly direction into
Georgia, is Lookout Mountain. Next to that is
Violate Ridge—while on the other side of West
Chickarnanga River, is the last of these three ridges,
namely, that of Pigeon Mountain. Between
this serried cluster of parallel, or all but parallel,
ridges, and a much larger ridge than any of them,
Ridge, further to the north in
called Taylor's
de a valley watered by several
Georgia, there extends
streams, this valley having in the middle of it, at
the (16tance of about thirty-five miles from Chatta-
nooga, the town of Lafayette. At the upper, or
northern extremity of Mission Ridge, about five
miles from Chattanooga
stands called Rossville.
on the road to Lafayette,
another and smaller town,
Advancing southwards from Chattanooga, General
ROSENCRANZ on the 16th ultimo reached Rossville.
On the 17t1.
advanced still southwards ten miles
beyond Rossville, then at that point halting on the
17th at a distance of twenty miles from Lafayette.
On the 18th his pickets
had
pushed forward so
that
much further to thesouth pus
they, there and then,
drove in the Confederate guard
immediately rn
Oa front of Lafayette.
—a the jot
beg in to look rather ug'y for , however, things
'11,3 Federals under
RoSENCRANZ—thcir opponents
advancing in turn,
then, against them, and so advancing nc
the direction of Lafayette, but downpourina e. only from
upon their front and upon their flank,
froinTat once
_Ridge and from Pigeon Mountain. Talk aylor's
a
Northern papers may about the battle of the 19ththe
being only a drawn battle—there is the damning fact
that by the evening of the 19th the Federals had
been driven far northwards towards Rossville. On
the 20th came the bloodiest fight of all, ROSENCRANz
being signally defeated on the road towards Chatta-
nooga, losing fifty cannon and from 10,000 to 12,000
men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. His
defeated troops were wholly disorganised,
were completely routed in many parts of the
field, the mass of Federais at the close of the battle

flying in the utmost confusion. Siace then it