Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1862-07-04
FN0WREFs CORRESPONDENCE:
r,,. ee,rest OF N~eauregnrd' Army from
CorinLii.

10 the Edll0rS ~ tHe L"9""e' ,th
GENTLEMEN: The enemy before Oor!h.i
would not accept battle in the open helo; a.
though his forces greatly exceeded ours. po
tween the first and the last OF May we lnsIcheu
omt If our entrenchmcnts tour TIMES, and otereh
him b.t,le. At Pennington, on the 9th, we
.tt,cked his position snd took il, almost With
o,,, r.s;stapce. lie made no effort 10 reinforce
or snnnort the brigsdes which occupied hal
ul,co and thew soon retired before the supc-
r,or forces We brought against them.
T,;s and subseouent events, proved that the
,emy wss resolved not to give us battle, OK
oant b.hind his own breastworks, end when
ho uo,ld have in his favor every advantage
which superiority OF position, Ct forces, and
~ moons cnuld plve him. lie sought to invest
Gor;ntb and. by means Of mis- vast resources
and of his convenient! depots on toe Tennessee
river, to compel its surrender:
Alter full consideration Of these facts Gan.
paouroeard resolved 10 withdraw his army to
. nosit,on whore the enemy,would be compelled
either to give battle in s lar teld, or 70 confess
before the world that ne dare not do 80.
Tne preoarstions Tor Withdrawing The forces
commenced about one week before We lett
Corinth. The interval was occupied IN cutting
nut and opening wagon roads ID our rear, ana
IN moving llC hISh, - IS"'J oo c'
SURPLUS stores Of tho ari:y.
On the 18th The troops, ready Tor battle,
moved cut from their entertainments ahu 'o"h
nosition before the lines Of tbs enemy.
. The writer Of this can only slate what vas
snbsfnnently done by tho Army OF The eat,
commanded By General Van DJrn. For more
than two DAYS and nights We remained Within
a mill. or little moro, Of he eneIny's main
forces Daring this time We had several IN
concidoranle Affairs rith MS advanced tro'p5.
4 Tex,s rerimept, commanded BY Lieutenant
Colonel Lane. attacked ,w, regiments on TIC
morning Of the 29;h. and drove theln PACK ~
their msin body after intilctiDg hcaSy loSs.
A hastily constructed rcdan, ~ "H!c" Ma
,l.ced tvo twelve Founders and two t"eniy>
ionr poundsrs OF a field battery, gave great
ANNOYANCE 10 the enemy, s%iirnclng his guns
whenever he brought thcm up, sad driving oil
in confusion q large force oi Inia''iry.
AL eleven u'Cleck on the wight OF the Jun,
the advanced brigade Of the Army Of the Wess
commenced 10 withdraw from hoicro the army
commanded by General John Pope. Itie rear
guard moved st shout hal;-pasl one n'cio;k
A. n. Tho night was dark. TIE ambulance,
ordnance and artillery tram was loos sad tho
column moved very. slowly, 81 that II was
GlHUL n. vi. blu ltiC hn' H"' "''"
Bridge Greek, tive miles from where II iiad
moved at l.30 \. NJ
The whole army, with every wheeled vehicle
belonging to it, having passed this creek, the
rear guard remained to ob-truct and defend
the BASS. re until the army could have lime TO
take up It's position for battle, IN tho eY1nt "i
the enemy's resolving to follow lis.
The passage OF the creek was soon eiFacGuailg
i-y-.- - A.. r.., r,, t,,l .n,sIttdIt "a,
oppose the enemy. Here wo renamed until
eleven o'clock. quietly awaiting the approach
Of General Pope's army. We then, leaving
our cavalry with orders 70 reuIair lor seversi
hours, unless forced by tie enemy, resumed
olr march.
We marched slowly. stopping 10 cbstrnct Bill
passes until about ) F.. " when we %rfjoined
the army encalnped upon a creek, about eleven
niles from our CAM at Corinth. The cavalry
Of tho rear guard rejoined Us about sunset, and
reported no signs Of the enemy being in our
rear.
The next day wo marched thirteen miles,
and cncanpc,l several nllos beyond Bonneville:
on tho mex! day we marched To Is l!dwIn. about
twelve miles, and took position 1" receive An
sttsck in case tho enuaIy ,uld resclse 10 make
one. We waited for him here six days, when
VS. moved to Supclo Tor tho sake ct better wa
Tar. From the iirs. 10 Inc last Of this extra
ordinary movement We had. no in;iinslion Of a
desire for action on tho part Of The enemy or
any portion of his forces. II is difficult 10 &c
count for this upon any other S1pposltlcn than
that he dared not attack w. Military men aud
the common ssrso Of the people will ascrihe hIs
conduct to this Cause Hlonc.
No movement was ever cJndac!ed with moro
complete success than TiS on change O. po-
sition from the Immediate l,nl. If the enemy
to .ghore We now are, wiihcn. loss 81 nan or
material. We DESTROYED IN Cirimih an incon-
si1ernhln a;nnnnt NJ stnr"I. y railroad bridge
over the TuscuInhis vas ordered IN DO burned
at sunrise Gf the 3lst ult. The officer charged
With the duty executed it according to Frs or
doris; unfortunately Seven trains OF cars loaded
with stores md not yet paased, and were con.
seqnsntly destroyed by our troops. On the
3O:h the enemy sent a attachment CT c1vRlry
down lo Bonneville, which We failed to inter
ccpt. This detachment appears 10 have been
clearly commanded; it got we'll behind us. dc.
stroyed our railroad train Of Stores, ana Gil
caped the parties which had bfen sant 10 st-
tack it.
Besides these there were TO contrctanps or
accidents to intai lere with Tho cnmpie'r exc.
cution OF orc Of the mrst Temarkah!a ais CT
the wsr.
Tho statements Of Ganeral Pope that fn look
10. 600 prisoners and IS 900 stand ~ arms can
be readily explained hY thoso who know thr
fervor Of his sanguine Imagination. Tho re-
suits Of his ''hard pushing" IN pursuit Of an
enemy he dared not COIN" up with, will be
found to he az real as the gushing ArteSian
wells which bis cfiiclsl reports developed m
the staked plains during tho three years ex.
pensive explorations which he conducted in
those regions.
It is more inoxplicabls that the Commander
in chief Of lhs cnen.y's great army can un-
dertake 10 satisfy hia public by such chsiF SIS
is contained in his ttficlAl despatch Of tie -
inst and that he should endsavnr to gloss over
his failure by forwarding 10 his Government
the transparent Inventors Of General John
Pope. llow depravrd must . people be, hor
degraded g tiov rnlnent, when. in tbs 81" Of
intelligence and Of moral progress, lis great
military commanders lay aside truth ard re-
sort To shallow ialsehnnda to sarye az tempo
rary substitutes lnr victories thny daro rot
attempt!
This movement Of Gen. B~Aauregard will cor
vince all military men that no IL rhe master OF
Grn. lIalleck in tho art OF wsr. Aud ali will
perceive that CIR II loops arc regarded by The en-.
any as very formidable antagonists, since they
dare not engage ns when greatly ontrunber-
ing us unless protected by their gunbasts or
breast works.
To the Editors ofthe Enquirer;
DRrRY's BLUFF, June 2S;h, 1862
GENTLEMEN Our attention has been called
to > communication published in yeur iscue ct
.lha Off. IN tnct. o-horctnF q ultIn Der oil tic Navy