Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-09-16
Furll.er frsn. .I.e na.s Esa..Ic..
From the Army Correspondence OF the Savannah r
publican.
Is FRONT OF FAIRFAX COURT HoURE Z

nave not YET Deeu aDle- 70 SEND on my l6Gte
Of yesterday Il is sixty-6ve miles back &
RsPidan station, the nearest available Postoiiica
and have found it impossible to obtain the ser
vices OF couTier to go so far, though j hav
offered fifty dollars for one. For the same raa
son, have not been able to send you tele
graphic account of the late battls The wire
and ell the railway bridges from this point wen
destroyed by the enemy, and it win require SOM
time to replace them, especially il the presen
management be continued. In this gtateInen
you will concur, when | tell you that the fice
charged with the duty Of rebuilding the bridgt
at the Rapidsn station, goes down to Gordonsvilt
at night, distance of eighteen miles, TO sleep
The battle Of Saturday, the 30th was emphat
ically pitched battle. The enemy selected his
ewn ground chose his own time, and delibe-
rately advanced to the attack A large part q
eur forces had rot arrived, and consequently
while we were in condition to accept battle
we would in few days have been better pre-
pared to offer it. It was a short battle and yel
| it was long enough to be violent and bloody
/ while it lasted, and decisive IN its results.
True to thier lying procivities, the Federal
officers, as late as > o'clock Saturday afternoon,
claimed the battle as a victory, and SO represent
Cd it TO taeir government The Washington
STIR of that date contained a telearar-A +s-s-ai
/ Pope giving acUuuut OF sue engagement on
/ Friday, with jackson. lie informed the geueT-
]
JscksOn and that, with the reinforceTnents then
at haud, he should crush outthe whole army the
next day, Saturday.
! A subsequent telegram dated at i've p. M,
/ two hours after the battle commenced, said thas
/ the Federal arms had everywhere been success
/ ful I'D to that hour. The statement was not
true at five O'clock and three hours later it was
an uublushing falsehood. Ope part Of the dis
/ patch giving the result of fridays fight, may
/ be true, viz: The admission that his losses on
/ that day would reach eight thousand men Ii
such were his casualties on Friday, they must
have been twice as heavy on, Saturday.
fad that I must correct the statement made
upon the authority Of prisoners, that H8lleck
and Mcclellan were present on Saturday. Hal
| leck certainly was not there, nor is it believed
that Mcclellan was Haleck came ont 10 5C-
tervills Sunday, yesterday, and possibly Nc
Clellsn, who, it is reported has been assigned
the chief command OF the field Nor did the
enemy retire Immediately to Arlington and
Alexandra He remained at Centeryille u ltil
this afternoon-at least heavy rear guard did
and was oyertaIsn three hours ago by Jack
sons corps two miles in advance of where !
now write. A heavy artillery fire. was the first
intimstion we had here that our advance had
encountered his rear guard. Oar wounded are
low being brought in, while canuouading s.iu
continues. But let US finish up one battle be-
fore we enter upon another.
My position during the fght was somewhat
on the right, where the battle seemed to rage
with the greatest violence, and this led me TO
believe that cur left and center had c0mpua-
lively easy thing Of it. / now appears, how
ever, that the contrary is true, and that the en-
emy, fought with great resolution for two hours
both on the left and center. jackson was
pressed very hard at one time, and found i.
necessary TO ask for assistance; but instead OF
sending it to him, General Lee created diver
sion in his favor, which answered the same pur
pose, By pressing forward our right under Cen
ersl Longstreet. The effect was soon peTc5Pti-
bic; Jackson was not only relie7ed, but was
enabled to move forward and dlive the enemy
back in disorder
The advance Of our RIGHT aud left compelled
the enemy to fall back in the center asl, and
thus our whole line moved forward as the adges-
ssTy retired. The principal ughtag. however,
after o'clock, was On the right, Whsre HsintZsl-
mans and Barnside's corps and heavy force
Of United States regulars contested Our advance
Upon the fall of Gan Ewell, b Bigadier-Gsneral
Lawton, whose brigade composed part 6f his
forces, took command of his division, and
handled it with great judgment and -:sa-gy.
Had every peFt OF our line on the right been
fought with equal energy and resolution, the
victory would have been more decisive even
than il was. The timely appearance oil IoOmbs /
aud the brilliant charge he made, had control
ling effect upon the fortunes Of the day Col /
Benning, an officer of rare merit, had charge Of
bis brigade until his arrival Had Dcayton [
promptly co-opersted in the charge, the elemy's /
line would have been more completely br0kea I
and he would have been driven back on Boil |
Run an hour sooner than he was. As il was /
one hour Of daylight was all We required to ut (
terly disperse the Federal army ead capture /
many guns and thousands Of prisoners. Jack /
son had already reached the run above, aud /.
Hood and TOOmbs, who held the extreme right of 4
Longstreets corps, were within a few hundred I
yards of it b5low when darkness prevented /
further pursuit. Napoleon defeated the Aus
trians at Austerliz because, as h5 said, they did
not know the value OF an hour. The prisoners /
we did take were paroled to-day, and sent North /
by way of HaTper's Ferry.
We have two reports tonight. Oae is that
the whole Federal army renamed at CeRtsrville /
yesterday and up to two o'clock today. The /
other is that the main body continued lis retreat /
toward Washington, and that only heavy rear /
guard, disencumbeTed of wagons and baggage, /
behind to cover the retreat. 1t was /
this resrguard, according to the latter report /
that we encountered this afternoon II Is not /
improbable that Mcclellan, who is now in COM I
mand, viii seek to conduct the retreat as he did /
AZ Richmond, by fighting US late in the evening 1
Of his James river army he may feel /
strong enough to give Us battle.
1t IS now (midnight) raining and has been for 1
several hours. The army has not had a mOuthful /
Of bread for four days and no food Of any kind, /
sxcept a little green cora picked up On the road
side, for thirty-six hours. The provision trains
are coming up, but many Of the troops viii have
TO 90 another day without anything to eat.
Many of them are also barefoOted. l have seen
IS gsv.krr
turnpike with torn aud blsteTed feet They bear
III these hardshps without muunuring, since
avery step they take brings them that much
nearer to bleeding Maryland. As for tents, they
have not known what it was to sleep under one
since last spIiEg.
have made but slight reference to the battle
of Friday, where Jackson S corps alone was en-,
gagged, because I have been able 10 learn but
little about it. The battle of Saturday was fol-
lowed by rain yesterday, and the army having
been put in motion. l have been almost con
,tRnly in the saddle ever since. For the pres
snt, therefore, can only say that the battle was
more violent and destructive thsn / had al first
and added new luster to the arms of
the veteran followers of Jackson. The loss on
both sides was considerable, but | am not pre-
prepared to offer any estimate OF them. The
prevailing opinion to-day IN official quarters was,
hat the enemy's loss in killed on both days was
sWlCS as ueAN9 US our own Ouf troops seem 10
hsve shot with fatal precision
Some sixty or more citizens Of Washington
City; who came over to witness the battle, were
captured and have been sent on to Richmond
They bad been deceived by Pope dispatch, aud
came over under the impression that Lee and I
Jackson were about to be wiped cut"
TUESDAY MORNING, September The affair
last evening referred to above, continued through /
the rain storm until it as quite dark Our
advance under Jackson encountered what we
suppose was the rear guard Of the enemy, and
fnslly stampeded it.
Major General Kesrney, of the Federal army, /
was killed, under circumstances. if cor
rectly reported, quite discreditabs TO his chsrae-
ter as soldier. lie was leading q regiment to /
the attack, and came suddenly and unexpectedly 4
upon the 18th Georgia. lie threw up bis hands /
and called out, Don't shoot ] surrender ~
then putting spurs to his horse, attempted to /
effect his escape. Tho base trick did not sue I
eeed q well aimed bah from Georgia rife hit 4