, 1862-09-22

WAeuMGTos. Sept ~. 1862
We hare lost Harper's Ferry aud We deserv-
ed to lose it. One o1 two things WAS true.
Either Col. Miles could not reasonably have
been expected to hold the position with the
forces under his commsnd, In which case he
should either hare been withdrawn or rein
forced, as he easily might have been: or he
could have held the place, in Which case lie
was rot the man to whom Its defense should
have been entrusted The government, we
believe, as well Us most of his men whom the
enemy, after capturing, paroled, think his
surrender unnecessary, to say the least Of it.
Ifeo, the government is to blame. Col Miles
will be reco]lected as the officer who WAS
brought bliore court marital on charge of
drunkenness at Buli Run, where he Was in
command Of the reserves, whose failure to
tributed to eur defeat The finding Of the
court was In effect, TINT he Was drunk, but
not very dunk" or perhaps, more occafate-
ly, "mcre OF less druIk' Col Miles has
since said in conversation with a gentlem1n
Of my acquaintance that he WIS really unable
to cay whether he WAS on the occasion IN ques-
tion drunk or sober: he had been In the habit
Of drinking freely up to that time and had pos
eibly done so then. His reputation IN this
regard had been previously established In the
Amy, and General Scott, to whom he owed
Lis important command at Bnll Run when ha
heard Of the failure Of The reserves to come up,
simply asked: twas Mics d1upx?"
With these facts In It's possession aud with
charges even grayer, before 1t, If common re-
port may be believed, the government contin-
utd Col. Miles in the service, continued him
In command Of 4 brigade, snd finally entrusted
to him the defense Of Hsrpers Ferry, at time
when 1t waa, and was considered very I'M
portant charge and was in danger Of being as
! 1t did become, detached, isolated post, Of
| which the commander was necessarily given
tore to be diecz,et and capable as well as ener-
| Retic AID determined. It beloved Gen. Wool
and the administration to see that, under these
circumstances, the right man was put In the
| right place; and it certainly was incumbent
upon them not to dexolve 90 important 13. trust
| II, however, the general sentiment regard
! Ing Col. Miles be wrong one-if his abau-
| dGnment OF Ma1yland Heighte, his throwing
| cut OF the white lag at Bolivar Heights, when
lis loss was under 100 out Of tcrce OF not
vIich, forevarred Of Colone1a Mills
intentions, escaped the previous night,
| ard when succoc was approaching him, were
necessary, he should have been withdrawn or
reinforced. Usually well-infosnled unofficial
lew days, that Gen. Wool had much larger
body Of troops at H.rpsrs Ferry
tlan were really there, aud TINT one or
| more Of the new regiments were adding
themselves to the garrison daily: Unless that
garrison we're strong enough to hold its oTa
ii should be Kept there; since 1t Vas matter
Of course tha. the rebel army would
try to take the place, then leave it In their
rear. Even after Frederick VAS occupied By
jackson, it was possible for eever1 days to
reinforce Miles. The Baltimore aud OHIO
/ pay1+ Vnst Ar4 ms
wcre received and communications sent By
way Of the Cumberland; and Point Of Rocks
below was uncccnpied to the last, the te1e
graph operator there sending the first news ol
tic eurTeLder. Whether Gen Sigel should Of
could bare been sent up the river on the Vir'
ginia side xith column Of twenty five thou.
eapd men, as be desired; and whether Gen.
Mcclellan could, had he pushed On eth mort
ct e1gy, have relieved Niles, as he promised
TO- do within the two days during which
, are questions which 1t woufd perhaps ,. pre-
J nsture to answer with positl7eness, A. pres
; ept-
The glimpses which xe have ofthe contes
T now proceeeding on the upper Potomac an
tar1sl.zirely lew and tar between. That th'
; battle Of South Mountain Was a victory 9aiuet
b5 the two corps Ut Generals Reno and Hook
' er, over an enemy ycry strongly posted, bu
not, 80 tsr as Jet appears, Of great numbers
in a country presenting the rugged aud grand
| Ut WILL at l1t p.aCS1u1 hEu 41fGlf G1ATaCbtI
isitcs Of Swiss scenery, appears clear en- 3ush
Tuesday Is md Wednesdays confess seem tt
l have ragged from Antietam creek. near Sharps
burg, where the principal part OF the force,
were engaged, to the vicinity Of Berkit.syille
At Catoctin Creek, some ten miles to th
, Foutt cast, at a greater distance from ths rive
ard not far from the scene OF Sundays baItl'
. At South Mountain, the object Of the rebels i,
? t making q stand at the 1attEr place apparent,
; beirg to prevent access to E1per's Ferr,
and q possible Aankipg movement Rgnns
] their main body. The contest Was ono Of n
tilery, and probably more guns were brough
. into action than ever engaged each other BE-
; fore In AmercA. At1he close OF the day Geo
!. Mcclellan sent here fur supplies and progie
! ions and Of Ammunition on-that for his twenty
/ pound Parrots being completely exhausted
Where the rebels get al their artillery Is
0 An effort has been made to hold the navy de
9 parment responsible and to cry out upon th
Q fntff1ciency Of the hlockade-n1ne being NOR
. aIxipue to make "old MI. Welles'' the sc1pe
. goat than the generals. Yet, I an assured b,
!, The as.istant secretary Of the navy, that in th
: hold Of no one Of the numerous VeseelB r
I hsve captured have more than two OF .thee
. pieces 3} Gt c.39Ga s@9eS 5ssa s:z. found;
8 in getting In have carried no more
q Is faitly presumtble. the supply Of aEtilter
7 fiom this enurce must hare been comparative
Z ly small. We need not seek SO far for an e1
r PLANTATION. In the course Of the Peninsul
+ campaign the rebels captured q. 1caat fort
d pieces Of cannon IN the course Of the Rapp7
hsnnock campaign they took thirty ERos; an
l. they cs1ried ont Of that place ffsy 1a1d guns
l. making one hundred aud twenty cannon. q
. thirty. baite1ies-1htre being but four gun
a | each-whfch arc known to have fstleu int