The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-08 00:00:00

T.

taining information of the greatest value ;—in a
word, the whole history and plan of the campaign,
the numbers and dispositions of troops are all re-
vealed to the enemy by this disaster. Its serious-
ness can hardly be estimated. It is taking the
rebel General into the confidence of Halleck, and
may render it necessary to change the whole cam-
paign.
" General Pope's position at the railway bridge
across the Rappahannock—the position deemed to
be of the greatest strength along the river—was
attacked in force on Saturday morning. The hill,
redoubt, and block-house, on the southern bank,
had been held up to that time by a portion of
General Hartsuff's Brigade, the 12th and 13th Mas-
sachusetts, and two batteries of artillery. The
bridge had not been destroyed—was considered
impregnable. But with the swelling stream came
down so much timber that the bridge was endan-
gered. General Pope, therefore, determined to
withdraw his forces on the opposite bank and
destroy the bridge. The movement was accom-
plished in order and without loss, and the bridge
was burnt. But the position which was thus aban-
doned was valuable to the enemy not less than to
us, and when its evacuation was discovered the
rebels immediately advanced in force to occupy it.
"On this side the Rappahannock, and to the
right of the railway, is another hill and redoubt—
the hill of about the same height with the other,
and commanding the ground beyond. From this
hill, and from the high ground adjacent, the ad-
vance of the enemy was met by a heavy fire of
artillery. They moved in line of brigade, and with
successive masses steadily advancing covered also
by their own artillery, pushed forward in spite of
losses that must have been immense, and possessed
themselves of the hill. They were driven from it
more than once, and so long as our artillery kept
the position could not retain it. But it was discovered
that our batteries were enfiladed by a distant fire
from the other side, and they werefinally moved to
a more secure position. It is understood that the
rebels hold the hill on the opposite bank, but
that the crossing is still held on our side. There
is a ford just below the bridge, which, I suppose,
must be held at any cost and all hazards, unless the
line of the Rappahannock is to be wholly aban-
doned, for to give up one ford is to give up the
whole.
" There have been attacks a'so at several of the
fords above and below, and the inference is irre-
sistible that the rebels are swarming along the
whole line of the Rappahannock, dashing at what-
ever point offers a chance of passage. The repeti-
tion and desperation of these attacks show also that
the rebel generals, determined to cross somewhere,
regardless of the cost in lives, are hurling masses of
their troops against batteries. If they can succeed
in gaining and holding a ford or bridge, they break
the line, and, cutting our armies in two, may hope
to fight them in detail, as they originally intended.
The Rappahannock, from Fredericksburg to War-
renton Springs, is a long line to hold ; but, unless
it is already severed, there ought to be force enough
at every point to-day to hold it against the South.
"The account given above is gathered from dif-
ferent sources. All of it, however, is from persons
who left General Pope's army only last night or
this morning. It is of course, only an outline,
and, though I believe it correct as far as it goes, I
cannot fully understand the cause or the probable
result of some movements connected with the battle
—movements which I cannot state. An abandon-
ment of the position on the southern bank, or an
attack upon it by the rebels, were the last things
thought of when I left head-quarters on Thursday
night.

~ The whole Staff train of General Pope has been
captured at Catlett's station, This information, at
least, is authentic. My account is from a quarter-
master's clerk who arrived here last night, and was
with the train when it was attacked. His state-
ment is in substance as follows :

" General Pope on Friday sent back his train,
which mustered 53 waggons, to Cat!ett's, a station
on the railway, about two miles this side of War-
renton Junction, and at least 12 miles to the
rear of the army. The tents were pitched
and the waggons in park. About 8 o'clock on
Friday evening Mr. Brown was lying in his tent
with a light burning. He was roused by a volley
of musketry and the sound of cavalry charging.
The camp had a guard of infantry, its usual escort,
whose muskets were in the waggons, and was pro-
tected also by four companies of the Bucktail Rifles,
under Lieutenant-Colonel Kane. There were no
pickets, not even a sentry. The first notice of the
approach of the rebels was the volley of musketry.
" The infantry escort ran at once. The Buck-
tails, surprised, but not wholly unarmed like the
others, scattered at the first fire, but rallied beyond
the camp. The rebel cavalry poured in unopposed,
took complete possession of the camp, pillaged and
plundered its personal effects, carried off the con-
tents of all the trunks of General Pope and all his
staff, and took with them on their retreat all the
horses of the train, about 200, and also those be-
longing to the staff which were not in the field at
the time. Some officers were in the camp, but Gen.
Pope and most of his staff were in front, 12 miles
away.

" Colonel Clary, chief quartermaster, and Capt.
Goulding, assistant-quartermaster, were both there
in charge of the property. Both were thought to
have been captured, but Col. Clary returned on Sa-
turday morning. Capt. Goulding has not since
been seen or heard of at the station, and unless he
went to the front is probably captured. One ac-
count says that he was shot, but there is no confir-
mation of that report. Col. Butler, aide-de-camp
to General Pope, came out of his tent with a brace
of revolvers, and did not retreat till he had fired 12
shots, then got off safely.
" The Bucktails were finally rallied by Colonel
Kane, and drove back the rebel cavalry, regaining
possession of the plundered camp. The rebels seem
to have had full time to carry away its spoils. They
knew that it was General Pope's, for they were
heard to ask repeatedly Where is the general ?'
and they neglected everything else to plunder the
trunks. They got also the papers and money in
all the offices, the adjutant-general's and the quar-
termaster's. There were 7,000 dole. or 8,000 dols.
in Captain Gonlding's safe—all lost. Papers
of the utmost importance must have been found
among Gen. Pope's effects and in the Adjutant-
General's desk—the muster-rolls of the army, for
instance.

" For these papers, for the money, and for the
plunder of a 'Major-General's baggage, the rebel
raid was doubtless partly directed, but it must also
have been meant to destroy the railway bridge near
Catlett's, over Cedar Run, a stream now so swollen
that it cannot be forded. The rally of the Buck-
tails drove them off while they were plundering, and
the delay saved the bridge. There were four regi-
ments of cavalry, as was learnt from u lieutenant
taken prisoner. Several men in the camp were
killed and wounded, and nearly all the teamsters
were captured. Probably the whole might have
been saved and the attack repulsed if there had
been pickets or even sentries about the camp ; but
there has not been a guardmounting at headquarters
since Gen. Pope took the field—a piece of careless-
ness for which he has paid a heavy penalty.
" This raid was by way of Warrenton Springs.
Four regiments of cavalry have succeeded in turn-
ing the right flank of Gen. Pope's army, and dash-
ing in upon his trains 12 miles to the rear, and an
equal distance within his lines from their extre-
mity. I have no wish to excite unreasonable alarm,
bnt I think I ought to say that such a movement
is significant of far more important results than
the
plunder of a camp. I know that Gen. Pope
considered his right out of danger on Th
ur ay.
movement then made by Gen. Sigel is conclusive
sd A
evidence of that. Subsequent dispositions of his
anticipated the consequences of pre-
viousforce may have
ed
At least he must have become con-
vinflank cannot longer be left to
eexthpaotsu hisre.
right
take care of itself.
" I repeat none
be no doubt that
of the rumours that are flying all
over the city, but there can
fight-
ing has been going on for two days, certainly severe
at some
points, and over such an extent of ground
as to excite a fear that somewhere the rebels may
have had
a success. But from all I can learn, I be-
lieve it to be
true that up to the last night General
Pope still held the Rappahannock
line unbroken.