The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-08-02

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BURLINGTON, BY : :. q SATl
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| ITHB BATTLEs BEFORE RICnMONn
H. yl,1s From ths Iondon Times, Jnly 1l.1s.,r,si
b The ."sstsategioal mssiyssv which have led
4 eenesal to retire, after an stack sof3ha enemy
\ from position which hs had occupisd In orde
70 make, aq assault upon bis capital are opurel,
unlntellgi6le u 1t is quite obvious: that retro
lgrade movement On the part of besiegilg arm,
mesns1 An u9tenables position, ., a,cconfession o
Weat1ess. . measure Of safety. lvab acds 90 40
4 the English army before Delhi hsd thrown
their right beyond the Subsee Mundee, and thsr
mad reureo across it after two hsrd fights agains
sortle Of the 6epoys, 90 that their, right wai
Obliged TO double back and cover itself behind
the left on the Jumna, even our sfFecsiou, oul
hopes, and aour fears. could not deceive us into
tne belief that the retrograde movement wse
mace 10 consequence Of any premedtated STRAIT
Eegy, and that the attack vas an expected result
which must lead to the strenstheuingof thensw
P0y.sicA'd div qulJ y srtga naraT aii9.1f
LII fora moment We take the Thames as rep.
resenting the James River, and then imagine q
deep and sluggish stream sweeping round the
city from the northeast, 90 % to, fsllinto the
Thames below Plaistow.marshes, We may have
rough idea Of the relations Of the Chick ahom.
my With the James River and Richmond. To
THE east Of the Chickahominy. thus represens.d,
let us conceive . river flowing from the north.
vest, at distance Of IL miles from it, which is
called the Psmunkey, and which turns off east
ward into the sea At some point on the coast of
Essex. 80 -. =, - -
The Union general, having advanced between
the James and the latter river, finds himself with
the ChickahomiDy in his front. He throws a
portion of bis army across the river, and, having
thus established his left proceeds to pivot upon
It, and to extend his right by the right bank of
the Pamunkey, 50 as to get to the north of Rich
mond. Scarcely has he done so, when the en-
emy attack the left which had crossed the river
Chickahominy, infict or it severe defeat,
take guns and prisoners, ana only retire when
Mcclellan throws large supporting force across
the river. ,.- :. s..g, =, S,5osfa .gd
A small cavalry razzia made by the enemy on
his right sweeps round it, destroys commissa.
riat vessels in the Pamunkey, and, encircling his
whole army, crosses the Chickahominy below his
left, and returns to the 'beleaguered city :" The
communications of the army so situated have
D,
and while the General has been preparing for an
assault on the enemy, the corps on which he bas
relied for some demonstration on hiseztreme
right are suddenly attacked by the Confederatee
under "Stonewalp Jackson (so called from his
tenacity in holding to an obstruction of that
nature in bis fight with Shields at Winchester
last Spring. and are chased across the Potomac.
An active offensive movement in combination
with Fremont forces Jackson to fall back into
the Valley Of the Shenandoah, but, suddenly
turning to the east, he crosses the mountains and
marches straight, with his victorious little army
largely reinforced" whether by Beauregard's
men or not it is impossible to say, and Joins the
CoDfederates at Richmond. The presence of
this dashiDg leader and his men seems to invig
crate the Southern leaders. On the 26th Of
June they direct IN attack on the right wing
Of the Unionists between the Chickahominy and
Pamunkey in heavy force. s,,.F .e.aar t...,,l.-
Then comes official confusion. 1.-THE FEEDER.
ais, by order Of Gen. Mcclellan, receded several
miles, hotly pursued" land therefore running
hard fghting,,led to the retreat Of the whole of
the Union army to the other eide Of the Chick.
ahominy, 60 that they now lie massed between
that river on their right and the James River on
their left. Now, their retreat has left open the
whole Of the country between the Chickahominy
and the Pamunkey to the Confederates.o
West Point and White House have fallen into
the enemys hands, and the head of the York
River is once more their own. If Mcclellan had
pyoprio naotss suddenly transported his srmy
across the river, after menacing Richmond on
the north side, SO % to lead the enemy to throw
up works and to prepare for IN attack on that
quarter, leaving Richmond at the side resting
on the James River, comparatively weak, We
might understand the strategy; but such q
movement after serious attack, hard fighting
for two days or more, "heavy loss, !" "a hot Dur.
suit" by the enemy, contraction Of lines, is at
least suspicious, strategically considered; and
''makiDg" for the James River looks like 90.
gone-the menace of the lines is no more-for
if Gen. Mcclellan or his successor makes the
James River the base OF operations, the Union
army must drop down lower than FortD Darling
unless their gunboats have worked through the
obstructions, which has not yet been asserted.
From the Daily News, July II. ~
We cannot profess TO be greatly surprised At
this disaster. We have for some time looked in
vain for any Federal preparations in virginia
corresponding to the change Of the general mil.
itary situation which has been taking place for
the last three or four month"; The dispersion
of . large portion Of the Federal army in sxps.
ditions and garrisons, simultaneous with the
concentration Of the Confederate army through
the abandonment of large number Of its posi-.
tions constituted new relation between the
two collective forces, the importance Of which,
it seems to Us, has not been appreciated at
Washington. It ought to have been clearly
perceived that every Union success in the out
lying portions of the scene of war would tend
to increase the difficulties of Gen. Mcclellan.
who should have been reinforced accordingly.
This was not done, and reverse 10 the natural
consequence. -- - = = -
Serious as this reverse Of the Unionists IN.
doubtedly is, II would be great mistake TO
see in it any decisive character. The people of
the North will be surprised, and possibly for
the moment alarmed, at the defeat Of the most
numerous Of their armies. But We do not ex.
pect that they will lose in moment that proud
consciousness Of immensely superior strength
which they have acquired BY experience, and
which they see reflected in the opinion Of the
world. y sfa .s3.l9# Hd7b 59g ad
They will more probobly ascribe theis disas-