, 1862-07-03

1etary Of War, which excited such general
alarm, was done to concca! as far as posi-
bic, the real purpese Of the movement
which Gen. Mcclellan was executing.
The facts Of the whole matter appear to
be these: The recent raid of Stewards
rebel cavalry upon Whitcholse, i'll which
they passed through the guards Of 11cClel-
1c.,'s right wing, fired upon train, cap
1urcd some CARS, desu1ye1 L bridge,
burnt 4 depot aasl two vessels load
cl With army supplies, SHOT several team
stcrs and soldiers, s.anpedcd mule train
and played smash generally, and then de.
1;herately passed clear round the rear Of
our army, crossed the Chickahominy be-
low IT, and then returned to Rivhalnui III |
safety, were circumstances that Justly |
alarmed CUR officers for tl1eir base Of op@ra- |
lions :sL.l supplies on the Panlulsy Riyer |
It was seen that the right wing was
drawn out too far, taat the front was too
long. anu that it was 1.aail1stly Impossible
20 defend line of twenty miles i'll length
1t vas exposing the army to The hazard of
pierced By sudden onset Of the rebels,
massing their forces Oh one point Of attack.
McClcilau's force was not sufficient to pro
tcct 10th sides Of the Cilickahom1ny, and
his trof;,s on the rib side OF that sTam:.y
stream, were il constant danger Of being
attacked, oycrpoN cred ard crushed, and
vet hc was under the necessity Of ndvanc-
ing on Richmond by this hazardous route.
For some time past the left wing Of the
amy Las been Strengthening itself BY
throwing up strong earlhgorks in front,
which renders il secure against successful
assault in that quarter.
Therc was another objection to the
grounds occupied by our troops: they
could obtain no support from tie fleet on
ei.her the York or james Rivers, and IN
the event Of meeting with defeat they
could not take sl;ltcr under the guns Of
tue war vessels until after a long and per-
haps disastrous retreat Il became appa-
rcn. that the grounds occupied by our lines
were i'll chosen, sicily and dangerous. L
council Of war determined to swing the
right wing across the Chickahominv, and
abandon the advance on Richmond on the
north sii:e Of that creek, and shift the base
of operations 10 the James River. For the
past ten days this purpose has been in pro
cess Of execution. The vast and tempting
army stores, forage and ammunition were
quietly gathered up, placed on transports
aud 1i.,atcd down The York to Fortress
Monroe, under convoy Of the gulbo4ts;
The sick were removed to the Same place.
and other preliminary preparations were
secretly and rapidly made,
Thc@txtrenlc left wing Of our army res
Cd On the White Oak Swamp, which is be-
tween the Chiclzaho niry and the james
River, bordering on the former, leaving !.
peninsula Of dry land, next The James,
which has been il The possession Of tue
rebels. The fighi o.s Wednesday, the 25th
inst. was part Of plan to master the diff
fculties Of the situation, and to enable the
1rmy 10 shift the base of operations to the
James Kiycr. The ground won from the
enemy ard held that day, commands tue
turning point ef the White Oak swamp;
and opened the way for our troops to :akc
the dry ground between the s1an1p and the
river, IN their march upon Richmond
Tho rebels seem to have suspected that
some stratcg 1c u2aueuver Of the II ankecs':
was on the tapis, but they could not quite
make it out. a Richmond correspondent
OF tic Grenada 4lpcM writes Oh the 18Th ;
ftoar +{@ ,rrf+ -
cert through the dese-tcss, and from the inforn
1ien thus afforded. it seens natter Of .ssayc
doubt 70 determine whether o. not Mcclellan is
1fiMdFdhih9 hifhM4w, 50 various and conlctiu.
arc the accounts. That t7aus sports in considerable
numbers, crowded with soldiers d.J leave Wes.
Point four days a:.o, as stated III NY list il
cestain-
The rebels conjcctured that these troops
were going to help either Burnside or
, Banks
The Richmond Dis1atch Of June 9th
says:
On Monday night signal rockets were frequently y
Fccato ascend from our extreme left, iu,Dovanl
s7it1S ?1Vf"re eft7ts, and from preparations ere
e7g7Fs7e 7sib'e we were led to suppose that trans
2ctlcos of momentous character would hare
traIEpired yesterday; but despite every conjec:,
a.cc. Sharp e6,mishlns is Of daily occurrence
or car ext:emelel, d." lie rssus Aare not get 5ten
5s''r':c9t'oncd- Several wounded in these affairs
-l'e arrived in the city aud report the eucmy IN,
eohteu!y InE1ac1oue in that direction, a1thoucR39
f;cn +yrry Indication. We are led to bclcye thai
t3e!r increasing appetite for slaughter will be mott
sAA2s fully sa1isfrd ere many hours shall hdse
parsed oyes us.
This paragraph from The Richmond 9 974.
per Is quite suggestive. Tic concluding
lines hint at the assault made On our rieht
tie next day. I'll quite probable that the
rebel leaders discovered that Mcclellan
:: was Oh the eve Of Withdrawing lis righ;
wing to the opposite side Of the Chicka-
hominy, for the purpose Of massing hi:
army, under the shelter Of the feet, and
pressing on Richmond along the james
sided By i1on-c1ad gunboats. To prevent
This formidable movement the rebel leaders
hurled their whole available force on
our right wing.
The accounts given elsewhere describe
the desperate nature Of the onset, and tho
bloody reception it met It was critical
moment for the Potomac army: To Eal
back and change front, in the face of 6
pursuing foe, is recognized by military
writers as the crucial test Of the bravery
and discipline Of soldiers, But OUT North
crn volunteers were equal to the hazardou
task, and though hard pressed by the vast
1y greater force under the rebel Genera
Ice, they defended themselves With thei
superb artillery, ana when the rebels cam
TOO close, hurled them back BY charge
with the hayonet.
Three c7cntful days-Thursday Frida
and Saturday, were occupied in this re!re
gade movement across the marshy Chick
1onlny. On Saturday the rebels cease
the pursuit and pushed on for Whitehous
on the Pamunky, to seize the vast arm
stores they expected to find ther
But what must have been the
disappointment and modification til,
nothing was left behind but few bales I
spoiled hay in flames, a lot Of store bog
and empty barrels, but not musket, ca
noD, ounce Of ammunition, sick soldier
contraband. Every dimes worth had be
carried off But p,1t in the stream We