The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-10-23
-
FROM THE ARMY OF TIE
KANAwHA.
me retreat Of Rosencranz-Gen. Floyd.
'e'"mn on the Mareh--appenrance of an
Army In Mo,ien-An Incident. &c, &c,

'ss "ohoh-An Incident, &c, &c.
Inc Lynchburg Republican, of the 22d, con-
tshhs an interesting letter from its editor. II.
IL. GLASS, Esq, attached TO General FIoyd's
stan, dated "Richmond Ferry, 20 miles west
OF Sewell, Oct. H." som which we extraet
the following:
Inc latest Information In reference tn the
movements of Kosepcranx is, that he has re-
| tired The last OF his men from the sotth ell
OF me tauiey, and Is, probably. in bastv rc
treat with his main strength TO the banks az
the ohio. He has probably left small d.
,achInehts al ttanley Bridge and Carnifax's
feFry, 10 defend those passes but this Is only
conjecture. We are little capable m here ~
Judging the canse of this sudden back1x.r5
movement OF the enemy, but we have reasons
10 suppose that it was occasioned In go,
part by the conscious i,npoasihiIitv of 49,
ing through our compact lines at Seveli ard
py me imminent dangers which sae,n h,
threaten Cincinnati itself i ="
The rapidly advanced movemar+s 90 a.
tonfederates in Kentucky and Miss,,ri III
nave Il wonderful tendency to weaken The
sneinys lines in Western and Northwastern
Virginia. ava 80 os'ih
On Friday morning last our epcamnman,
On Seweii was struck, and General F'iovdts
column took up its line OF march 10 the H..
nawha Valley by the road running v-est IF
We" hlEer, throngh Fayette, Raleigh, Boone.
Nc, while Lee and I.orng still remain on
SeWeli. 1t is the purpose of Gen Floyd ~
strike the kanawha about ter mics .h !" ~
charleston, aud thus throw himself in the
ItaF OF Lhe enemy, unless he retreats before
bim 10 the Ohio. In either event The eyna-
dition, it is confidently believed, Will proye =
most important and successful one II j. uu
derstood that the movement will be greatly
strengthened by the speedy advance of tha
central column of Lee and Lorinr along 49,,
line Of RosencranZ's retreat You will moi
be surprised, therefore, if our combined forces
winter In the rich valley OF the Kauawha
ha N,.aI ,.I-
section of the State.
we felt sad In leaving our entrencued posi-
tioh upon SeWeit, where We ex pected our ILL
tie army 10 nave covered itself again with the
laureIs OF glorious victory. But il NAV ha
that our work has not been in vain a. tha
continually changing tide of war NAV Vet
iioat us back 10 them, and make them of craaf
importance IN our defence. They cover Il
space OF about four miles and though te,pnn
rary IN their character, were nevertheless
qnite formidable. The carthen portinn Of
them on burwelfs Mount will probably re-
main Tor century, and be the object of on
rlotis interest to orr children-s children
" was from this point" they may eXrIaim
that the tide of Northern aggression -
surned back IN the war Of our independence
in 1851.
You can form no adequate convention Of
the condition of the roads in these fnoun-
tains. The like of them, | presume. ms
never been seen. Between the two Seweus
they are impossible TO any single team 1t
requires six horses TO move a two-horsp load
and even then it is a slow and tedious bust,
ness. 1t Is almost impossible for r horse IN
move ont of & walk from General Floy0's 10
Gtn. Lee camp, and before we could ia Ike
up our march on yesterday, we had 10 cut
new road nearly four miles long! 1t was i'm
possi bic 10 move over the Old road, and even
now, we nave to keep large forces in front
repairing tue ROAD to make il pisSable
DID You ever see an army in motion It
most Interesting and imposing sight, though
the most tedious mode of travelling III the
world. A regiment moves off ia double ile
led by its Colonel and is followed by a loag
train Of numbering wagons. Then comes an
other regiment followed by It's baggage train:
then comes a park of artillery, then another
regiment aud is train, and so on, alternately
moves the line for miles out of Your sight If
single wagon stalls the whole rear train has
10 stop until the vehicle Is dragged ont of he
mud, for IN many places the ROAD is so narrow
that not even horse and sometimes not a
foounan, can pass single wagon. The con-
sequence Is we move about ten miles a day
and when night comes both men and horses
are well broken down with the excessive Ia
bors of the day. We then have our horses to
feed, our beeves to butcher, our tents to pitch
and our suppers to cook, when refreshing
sleep closes in upon our iabors. But when
the roads and the weather are good we make
- or - miles a day with much less fatigue
and trouble
/ have been curious to note how soon vol
unteer service accustoms men to all the hard
SIN !lS ANA IL con -enIences OF life. a thousand
incidents which would cause men to curse
themselves ont of their boots at home, are en-
Gured In the army with the greatest patience,
and sometimes become the sources OF his
greatest am NJ ement. We soon learn 70 laugh
at our own troubles, and TO surmount difficult
ties, incur dangers, aud endure hardshius
from which we would inNoiun tariiy shrink at
home. War, therefore, rs well rs adyarsity
hath its uses, and is to a nation what the lat
ter IS TO an individual. When peace returns,
We viii be more hardy, self-reliant, moral.
and religious people,
| had Intended 10 sketch several interesting
aud heroic incidents connected with the b4t-
tie of the Gauiey, but / have deferred il 50
long, that shall omit it altogether now
But there is one incident which l Will ven
ture, even Ill this late day, to record. When
Gen. Floyd had crossed the river in his re-
treat, he discovered that, by the oyersig it OF
has servants, his fine sword, which he seldom
Wore, had been lett al his late he;ldq
To get IL was a Quss ton OF intense i'm port
auce 10 MIN and his friends, for verify be-
heye he would as soon lose his life as his
sword should have fallen into the hands CT
The despised foe. Day had just dawned-our
troops We're all across the riyer-it was II III II
mile and a half to our deserted breastWorks
aud 10 return to them was certainly u most
perilous undertaking.
The Rev. j. I. McMamon, of Smythe coun-
~, chaplain in the 18th regiment, happened
to be the only person by the General at the
moment the loss was discovered and without
a moments hesitation he heroicaly yolun-
teered to return for the left prize. He trudged
inc W uOie distance on I0OI. passed through
our encampment to the point where the Gen
erals headquarters had been, directly at the
breastworks, and in full view of the ene,ny's
position. obtained the sword, and returned
with it to the river. just the bridge was
thrown down and the last boat but one had
been destroyed. Such an act of disin teres ted
courage is seldom performed, and never by
one who is not a brave man and Il true friend.
We have been deeply panied 10 learn TO day
of the death of Mr.. J. A. Totten, volunteer
from Logan county, who for a long time,
has been acting at our headquarters as Clerk,
Provost Marshal, and Postmaster. He was
much esteemed by all OF us for his business
habits and private virtues. He had just been
promoted to a Guartermaster's place, when
he was stricken down by that terrible scourge
of the soldier-typhoid fever. He Was good
Christian, but leaves q large and dependent
family to mourn his loss.
Lieut.. Arlington, of Concord, is quite sick
and has been removed 10 Lewisburg Ii good
many of his companions are also sick, and one
of them, whose name l have forgotten, has
diea. Capt. Rector, himself, has been quite
sick and is not yet fit for duty.
GLOOMY Future poR ENaLAND.-A short
cotton suDDly in England is cOntpyn nj n ted