Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-10-26
RROM RICHMOND.

lOpeSlAl correspondence VI oPPoe-l
Officers By the ThOuSaHd-Gen. Lees command at
Big SeueU MouHtain-Horr5lc ROdds-WaHt
Of Procisions-Report Of a Skirmish IN the
Penias4la-Rumorso Of Attack at rdriOHs places
A Battle imminent at the EvaHsPOrt Battery
.drricOl Of eminent KcutuokidRS.
RICHMOND, October 81, 1861.
Officers! Yes, oficers-all over town. Walk
where you will, like the cannon at Balaklaya,
there are officers, 0 to the right Of you, some
10 the left Of you, some just in front OF you.
Officers of all grades and descriptions, from the
general in his buff facings to the little artillery
lieutenant with the scarlet trimmings. Go to
church and the chance is you'll see an officer in
the pulpit. Go to a concert and you may hear
an officer perform a solo on the clarionet. Go
to the hotels and the main saloon Of the EI-
change, or the SpotswoOd, looks as gay as a
tulip bed, or a poultry show. ZOuave captains,
crowned with their blazing red caps and wad-
ding about in their loose trowsers; cavalry colo
nels, gold-laced in three lines from wrist to
elbows; infantry majors, in smart uniforms fresh
from the ~tailor's, and probably as yet unpaid for,
all moving in and out of the miscellaneous
crowd in bewildering confusion. The ignorant
visitor wonders how the army gets along in their
absence and what such a multitude of fighting
men in commission can be doing in Richmond.
| make no effort to explain .it-as correspondent
I seek only to give you rapid sketches Of what
is seen and talked about here, and officers just
now are more seen a good deal than anything
else.
Bad news from the forces under Gen Lee at
Big Sewen Mountain A gentleman OF this
city, occupying a high position in the govern
ment. has lust reached Richmond from Gen.
Lees headquarters. The enemy under Rosen-
| cranz was in full retreat toward the Ohio, but
pursuit was impossible. The roads were in the
most awful condition. Dead horses and mules
that had persisted in their tracks, broken wagons
and abandoned stores lined the road TO Lewis
burg. There was no such thing as getting a
team or a wagon through uninjured. The road
beyond Big Sewell was if anything worse than
on this side of it. To be sure, the difficulties
were quite as great, perhaps even greater, for the
Yankees in their fight as for our troops in Pur-
suing them. But Gen. Lee was entirely out Of
provisions, and had not the wherewith to cook
the next meal for himself or to serve the next
ration to his soldiers. The general was not in
the best health, and, it may well be imagined,
not in the best spirits. The splendid horse,
which was presented to him just before he left
this city, had been famed in two legs and was
unfit for service. It will be absolutely necessa.
ry for Gen. Lee to abandon his position in q
very short time as uninhabitable for his army,
and 60 into winter quarters. Where this will
be, whether in the Kanawha Valley or on the
line of the Central railroad, is uncertain, but
much depends on the choice as to the footing the
Yankees will have in Western Virginia next
spring.
A letter was received in town this morning
from an officer in Mai. Randolph's Richmond
Howitzers, stating that a considerable skirmish
had been fought in the Peninsula, o miles
below Yorktown, on Friday, the 18th inst, in
which a small Confederate force had driven back
the Yankees with a loss to them of 60 killed and
wounded, and Is prisoners. Our loss was set
down as 10 killed sd - wounded. As no other
intelligence of this affair has been received in
town, either at the War Department or the news
paper offices, it is generally discredited. There
are rumors of attacks at various points. Gen.
Huger is expecting a combined movement upon
Norfolk, and Gen. Magruder apprehends the
landing of a large force in Mobjack bay. The
better opinion here is that these viii be but
| feints, to divert attention from a really for
midable assault to be made Immediately on the
EYansport battery. This assault is intended by
Mcclellan beyond d doubt, and it may be a true
explanation of the withdrawal of Johnstons
army within the lines of Manassas, where they
can cooperate readily, and at four hours notice,
with tho command of Gen. Holmes at the battery.
From the information l have received, l am 50
confident that the attempt will be made by a
heavy force from Washington to reopen the nav
igatioE of the Potomac at an early day, that
predict you will hear of & severe engagement
there before this letter gets to Memphis.
The Hons. John C.. Breckenridge, Humphrey
Marshall and VIM. Preston, of Kentucky, ar
rived here by the Danville train this afternoon
and took lodgings at the Spotswood hotel. II
having been known beforehand that they were
on the train, a large crowd assembled at the de-
pot to welcome them to this city, and in response
to an enthusiastic call, Mr.. Breckenridge made q
stirring speech from the platform Of the car.
His noble address to the people Of Kentucky has
been published in our city papers, and has e1-
cited a feeling of renewed admiration for this
eminent statesman.
We have cool weather again.