New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-12-03

| cens Hamilton. Mexican, Davies, and Stanley
4 ma frst three were placed in line Of battle near
1 the Oll Rebel intreuchmens, and the last heil ~
reserve in toe town. The salrmsnlnS was ion' "oI
ON the morning Of tie 81, ana by 10 or III JOCK
the en,sgemcnt became pretty general ana coh'lnu-
cd until dah. II was feIcey renewed on tle morn,
H ing vi the 4tb, and fought with varied success vi,
near noon, when The Rebels were defeated an'
driven from the field leaving their deai anu many
Of their wounded. The enemys forces were COM
manded by Gems Van Dorm, Price, Lowell, Vhle-
ri0ra and Rrst and their number estimated ~ about
IS 000 or nearly double those Of Gen. kosecrans'
Their loss in killed was 1913, which would give, oy
the usual proportion, 5ey@ wounded. "" ,sz ' o@
9oG5 prisoners, among whom were ~ ON
Gers. We also captured II stand OF colors,
liz pieces Of artillery, $500 stand of arms,
! and ammunition, accouierments, etc. Oar loss
! was 3l5 killed, ,Sl2 wounded, and rs: prs
onere aud missing This great disparity OF num-
bers in killed and wounded resulted In part from the
fact that portion of our fought behind the in-
II trcpched batteries Mai Gen. Grant mad ordered
| brigade of four regiments, under Brig Gen. Nc
II Pherson from jackson to Corlnth. FINDING the
railroad interrupted at Bethel the latter turned TO
| the left and reached Corinth on the 4th by the
II Pennington road, thus marching nearly around the
enemy, and forming timely junction win den'
1 Rosecrans.
II Other forces from jackson and Bolivar, under
/ Brig. -Gicn. Uurlbut, were directed 10 march on
! Corinth by way Of Middleton and PocHhonlas, To
cot Off the eneaIys retreat in that direction They
4 encountered the enemy the lIatche River. on the
/ morning Of the 9Th, and as Brig Gen. Hurlbut was
! making dispositions for an attack, MaJ-''en Of1
/ arrived upon the field and assumed command, but
being wounded about II a. m. no again relinquished
IL to Gen. IIalbut. The battle continued MI about
! "a D. m, when the enemy retreated SOUTH crossing
! the Hatchie at Corum's Mills, about six miles fur
ther up the river. Our loss was 50 killed, 495
wounded, aud IL missing; Gen. hntlbut an al no.
leave Corinih till the morning OF the 9Th. The en-,
envy therefore effected his escape, but was followed
for distance Of about sixty miles withon! beng
oyertaken.
Gen. Grant afterward led his forces south as far
rs Holly Springs, and drove the enemy across TIE
Tallaha,ohie. This operation was attended win
several brisk skirmishes in all of which our troops
were victorious. 1hese operations nave restored
Jeace in Western Tennessee. The Official reports OF
the operations Of Gen. Grants army are submitted
herewith marked exhibit No. o.
The unfortunate withdrawal to Missouri, by Cen.
Curtis. OF "A large part of the army in Arkansas,
prevented the execution OF the military operations
which had been ordered in the latter State. In
|, M;.souri the forces under Brighten Sch0ield, net
onIy broke up and destroyed numerous guerrilla
| hands. but defeated the Rebel army IN several
engageeuts near the southwest corner OF the state,
and drove It across the Boston Mountains, in Arkan-
sas c,nnot give the details Of these engagements,
as no Official rerOrts have been received
The Indian tribes in the North West, and more
rarticuarv IN Minnesota, melted il il said by Rebel
emiss,ries committed numerous murders, and other
ontrares on the frontiers during the latter part oil
the Summer. These sayagss were vigorously At
Taxed by volunteer force under Brig. Gen. Sib-
lev aud defeated in several wellfought battles Oh
/, tie MINER winters Of the Minnesota River. Thee
vigorous proceedings struck terror among the In
dans and put end to hOsiies in that quarter Tor
ths present aenson. IL IL quite possible that thess
hostiliies will be renewed in the coming Sprng,
and pretArlions will be made accordingly.
In the Department Of the Gull the withdrawal OF
our notlla from Vicksburg enabled the enemy to
concentrate considerable force Oh Baton Rouge
Which was then held by Brighten. NiilIams The
attack was made on the 9Th Of August with grestly
superior forces, under the Rebel Gen. Brsckinrdge
Gen. Williams gained most signL victory, but tell
in the Gght. Our oss 20 killed aud 30 wounded
We buri.d 800 Of the cnomy's dead, lcft upon the
FIELD On the lcth Of August, the garrison OF Baton
Rouge was withdrawn 20 New-Orleans. On ihe
2iih ~ Ocioler, Gen. Builer sent a force under
Brighten Wcifzel, 20 oleraie on the west bank OF
The MISSISSIPPI, IN the la Fourche district. He ell
gagged COY siderable body OF The enemy on the 2Jih,
about nine miles from Donaldsonvc, nnd defeated
them, with the loss of their commander, "a large
number killed sud wounded, and 2hs prisoners. Our
loss was ~ killed and * wounded. This victory
opened the whole Of that part If The country. Gen.
Buffers reports Of the military operations in his
Department submitted herewith, marked ExHibit
No. !.
In The Department OF the South the oply military
ouerafions which have been undertaken the
reconnoissances Of the Poco;also and Coosawatchie
Rivers. These expeditions under Bris. .Gen. Bran
nan aud Col Barton, encountered "a considerable
force OF the enemy on the I'D Of October and On.
gagementr ensned, In which We lost 20 killed and
lsJ wounded. The official reports Of these engage
menis are submitted herewith, marked Exhibit
No. :.
In the DEPARTMENT Of North Carolina our force has
also been too small 20 attempt any important oilen-
1--WE operations. On the 9Th OF September party Of
the enemy surprised the garrison OF W Washington but
were soon driven ont. Oar loss was killed ard 80
wounded and that Of the enemy 80 killed ard about
100 wounded. Several successful Reconnaissance
, have been made into the interior. The official re-
ports Of the affair at Washington marked Exhibit
No. ..
IL is seen from this brief summary Of military
operations during the last three four months that
. while our soldiers have generally fought with
bravery and gained many Important battles, these
victories have not produced the usual results. In
. many instances The defeated foe was not followed
from the battlefield, and even where Il pursuit
attempted it almost invariably failed 10 effect the
capture destruction o: any part Of the retrcaiug
army. This is II matter which requires serious aud
careful consideration. A victorious army il sup
posed 10 be In q condition 10 pursue its defeated foe
with advantage, and, during such pursuit, 10 do nm
serious, If not fatal injury. This result has usually
been attained III other countries IL there any reason
why IL should not be expected IN this IL II easily
understood that III country like that between York
town aud Richmond, or the hickly-wOodod swamps
OF Mississippi and Louisiana, that "A rctreating
force, by telling trees across the roads aud de-
sroyng bridges over deep and mnrshy streams, can
eiectually prevent any rapid pursuit. The one, IN
few Minutes blocks up destroys roads, which
the other cannot clear repair for hours, or even
days. The purfuer has very little hope of over
, takiug his flying foe. But this reasoning is not
applicable to Maryland and the greater part OF
Virginia, Kentucky aud Middle Tennessee. II must
be admitted that in these theaers OF war the Rebel
armies have exhibited much more mobility aud ac-
tiyity than our own. Not only do they ont-march
w., both IN advance and retreat, but Oh two meui-
orabo occasions thoir cavalry have made viii i'm