The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1862-09-16
Correspondence of the Press
Letter from Washington.
WAsuINGroN. Sept. IL. /

WASHINGTON, Sept. ID, 1862.
EDITORS DAILY PRESS Now that the
smoke of the late battles has died away, and
strife and excitement of the period during
which we were experiencing the sad disasters
at and around Manassas, and never to-be-for-
| gotten Bull Run,"-I send you brief ac-
countof the present state of affairs here, believ
ing that accurate information from this quar-
ater will be agreeable to your readers.
The results of the recent fight, or series of
| fights, between Catlot's Station, (near Warren
toni and Gainesville, this side of Centreville,)
were disastrous to our arms; and the brief
facts, in these cases, are readily summed up in
the sentence-1ce ,rere badly beaten.
From the hour when our army (under Pope)
left the Rappahannock, to the moment when
they came tumbling into the works before
Washington, our retreat was constant, and our
troops were continuously defeated, and vast
ed. In the first place, we were out-Generalled
by the enemy; and in the second we were out
numbered in forces; the result has been de-
feat, and terrible loss of life and treasure
Dut VIC nave utu IL ltoson HUH ILLS s6IltS
of disasters, which will prove of future bene-
ft, and we may now turn it to profitable ac-
count, if we will.
The number of killed and wounded in the
late conflicts, composed from the most reliable
sources, turns out, up to this time, to be about
eleven to twelve thousand. This includes the
missing, some of whom may yet come in. The
loss Of material, stores, horses, ambulances,
etc.. is very large, and probably will never be
publicly known, with any degree of exactness.
Over five thousand wounded have already
reached Alexandria, and this city, from the
field, and some twelve hundred more or less
wounded fell into the hands of tie enemy.
You have already seen the letter from the
dying Col Brodhead, of Michigan, who, as his
liie-blood was ebbing away, declared that he
"died victim to Pope's imbecility, and Nc
Dowelfs treason." This frightful declaration
from the lips Of so brave, so gallant, and so
truthful a hero as Col. Brodhead, tells fear
full tale, and was uttered at moment when a
mans assertions are ordinarily accepted as not
only reliable, but unprecedented. A terrible
announcement is this. t4r s..s
The army has moved up the Potomac, to-
wards Polesville, as you have already learned,
ere this, by telegraph; and later accounts re-
port Gen. Mcclellan at the head of his -
thousand troops, in good condition, close upon
the rebels heels. Another big fight may be
heard of before this letter reaches you. for we
are in hourly anticipation of hearing of an en-
gagement, again, in that direction.
The euemy has INDUCED in bold step-the
actual inrasioa Of the North, He is now en-
camped in great force in Maryland and Penn
sylvania, and his numbers are variously set
down there at 100000 to 10000. He has VEN
tured to get into Northern borders, and the
query now is, will he be able TO get out, as
comfortably. We think not, here.
Gen. Mcclellan has been "under a cloud" of
late, for time; but the crisis of this awful re-
bellion, we believe, has now arrived, and the
President has taken the responsibility of once
more placing this General in full command of
our advancing forces. Is he equal to the
emergency, and will he win, this time? We
think he will That he has the entire and full
est confidence of the whole army, rank and
file, there is no question. A few subordinate
officials, and certain politicians, are inimical
to him But the President believes in him,
and the opportunity is now before him to
make, or forever mar his military reputation.
We confidently hope he may now be success
full, and there is little doubt that he will aim to
secure success, and in the briefest possible time.
We have now settled down into the belief
pretty generally, that the object of this last
movement on the part of the rebels was to
seize the Relay House Station, at the junction
of the Bait. & Ohio Railroad, and Washington
Railroad-after taking Frederick-to cut off
that communication between us and Baltimore,
and then break up a portion of the Northern
Central PAL Railroad, after moving their force
towards Philadelphia, where they believe they
could make their own terms, tcould they reach
that city, as to the future. This is one YER
sion.
Others are of opinion that the whole move
ment was but raid, in search of shoes, food,
clothing, and forage-the counties they occu-
Ply being rich in supplies, of which they were
greatly in need, and of which they have already
largely availed themselves-their design being
to subsequently, retire, via Williamsport, and
recross the Potomac into Virginia. But this
latter proposition is hardly reasonable mas
much as you observe they are there in heavy
force: and, from appearances at this hour, so
far we have information in this city. they
do not intend to retire, at present On the
contrary, Gen. Lee, in his proclamation at
Frederick, says 1--WE come into Maryland, for
the purpose of freeing the citizens, etc.
Nevertheless, their whole system of warfare
has proved a continuous cheat and lie, and so
we may set it down, / think, that their late
desperate acts were designed as an expert
ment; and if they succeed, well. If not, they
do but fail" They have risked much, and
are now far into the enemy'scountry. McCel-
Ian is behind them, surely, this time They
will be in luck again, If they escape. Thus
stands the case, at this hour.
Gen. Banks has been i'll here, for some days.
He rode out yesterday, and is slowly improv-
ing. Two hundred 'contrabands" came up
from Alexandria, yesterday evening, and will
be set at work in the river Notifications, etc,
directly. A large batch lover 300 of rebel
prisoners arrived here, also, yesterday Brig
AIDES and regiments pass constantly through
the city, en- route up the river. Four or five
regiments from the North arrive here daily,
and our army in and around Washington now
numbers over 100000 men, 1--WE ought TO be-