Washington telegraph., 1862-02-19
Correspondence of the Memphis Argus.
BOWLING GREEN, Jan. 81.

A .
las had an unwontcd effAcr upon the Con
federate soldiery Of Southwestern Ken
lucky.
I Reverses and mishar:, as they settle
upon one or the other of the disputants,
who have resorted to husiilities for the
purpose Of adju-tiog difficulties and the
trial Of their prowe>s, generally have a
depressing influence npon the dcfeated
party. Mt 80 with the Fishing creek re-
verse never were bravesct Of men r'orc
( anxious to meet the enemy, and forever
w!pe out 'hc unfortunate stain that now
! b.urs onr h, retofore stainless banner han
are the troops composing this division of
tie army Of the West. Upon every street
curnr, aud at places where men are wont
| to cungregatr, can b. l..arI discussions as
\ 10 the cause and an;'.r of our late defect
Censure with 40 unbridlcj tongue j, add
\ ed 10 calumDy, and Z had Of nfany
heaped upon certain supposed TO be re-
! sponsb!e persouages. while others are as
unlicensed In their atuse of those upon
whom they would cast the opus of an en-
gagem ,nt winch for the nonce has erased
one If the mauy black marks with which
The Federal e,cutcheon WIS striped.
La one opinion al agree, J. thar
whenever battle is fought upon this lite
| Of such a contingency should ever happen
victory must aud will be won, the result
ut which will be to put to humiliatin2
shame aud defeat releutiess enemy, aud
swallow up in the jubilancy of the occa-
Sion remembrances of the Wholesale mur
der Of the 10Th Of January
a gentleman direct f'om General Mar
shar's camp, and who VI. the bearer Of
which was contained an official and minute
account of the late encounter with Colonel
Garheld's Federal forces. arrived here yes
terdsy. From him we learn that the bat
tie OF Middle creek, fought and won by
Us on the 10Th instant, lasted nearly four
and a half hours.
Mar-hali's command numbered only ? =
500, of whom our informant states 10,
over one-haif were at any time actively
engagcd-,hey being PORTIONS of Coils
Williams aud Mo~re's regiments, Twigg'
regiments being held in reserve to support
the battery placed on the brow of the
mountain. Five regiments Of the enemy
as they successively advanced, were alter.
nstely repulsed BY our forces with grea
slaughter, the dead aud dying left upor
the feld being witnesses Of the ierribl,
carnage which resulted from their nCu
success.
A, the close Of the engagement, as nigh
drew her black mantle over the crimson
held, our iUicca occupied the same posi-
tiuu as that held BY them when the battl,
began, and retained their ground for seve
raj hours, when, the enemy not approach
TO-, an order was given To fall back I,
the main transportation, distance of sil
miles, where hale was made aud ration.
Of parched corn issued to our men, bein.
the first nutriment they had taken fol
twenty-four hours. On the following ia,
the greater portion OF our troops fell bac.
TO Cams Fork, point near which is ID
Gated a mill, which i used for the pur
pose Of grinding corn FIR the army. d.
the morning OF the lth inst. Gen. Mar.
shall sent Capt. ,ialidsy's company oI
cavalry TO reconnoiter the battle field who
returned aud reported the enemy in full
retreat toward Prestonsburg.
Upon receipt of this information, force,
were sent out to recover our dead, Of WHOM
twelve we're found 90 :he field, fourteen
wounded. two Of whom have since died
another had his Lee amputated and the re
mainder reported as doing we'll. One hun
dred andslxty- eight FederaIs we're fouu'
dead on the field, aud two hundred ant
ten reported as wounded, with all defer
ence To Col. Garield's official report il
which their loss is s,atei at two killed.
The enemy have entirely disappeare,
from the Sandy valley, and our troops az
uow retracting their steps 20 Pound Gap
where they will 90 into winter quarters.
Connected with ihe bloody proceedings .
the day an act OF intaiuou- outrage unhe
ralicd in the caleud ar Of civilized warfare
was perpetraied By the Yankees, no doub
with the SANCTION vi their commanier
Captain CJnner, Of Buh county, Ken
lucky, member of Col. Villa Us rcg
Hent, who for several weeks had been
victim Of typhoid fever u the worst type
aud had been delirious for some time a
Prestonsbur., it being unsafe to remov'
him, was taken from his bed hustled int,
a wagon and driven off TO die By the bis,
hirellngs sent for the protection Of Ken
lucky from invasion, aud Of keuiuckIan
10 their hives and properly. The onll
prisoner taken BY the Federals was Hon
john NJ Rice, d ncncombatant and for
mcr mem er Of the Kentucky Legislature
In addition to the casualties mentioned
a. befalIins the euemy, We took twenty
six prisoners, who are now at Pound Gap
Middle creek, at the mouth OF which
the battle was fought, 6nds its source Al
Pound Gap, and empties into the hen'
lucky river, thirty y.seven miles from where
il rises, running 10 q norih-easterly dIrec
ton. AT the point where the engagement
commenced aud was ended, the creeS
courses between two mountains ranging
from sixty to two hundred feet IN slt'iude'
The enemy FIRST appeared at the mouth
Of the creek beyond which they we're una
Bile to advance against the decimatlng hre
hurled iuto their midst, regiment after
regiment being driven back as they
Intellectually charged upon our forces, whit
we're securely protected BY the trees upon
either side Of the mountain where they