White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1862-09-11
From the New York Tribane-]
A Connected History Of the Lnt
RattleS In v1fHin1o.

I LO0 SoS 4SCW 1WA AssSess~>J
A Connected History OF the Lnts
Battles In Virginia
We propose in this article to elucidat'
the recent conflicts in Virginia to the ex
tent Of our present Information.
Srategeticslly. the State Of Virgins
msy b ,egaried in three unequtl divis
ions or districts a
| 1. estvirginis. lyisg westward sad
southwest wsr., Of the crests ofthe Ape
ghany mountains which travsse ~
State from northeast to southwest in u
unbrokeas chain. rising from 1000 q
4. 900 feet above the ocean level. and o
course nowhere perpetuslly snow-coveref
or impossible. though the roads which
cross them sre narrow snd baa.- two OF
three great turnpikes excepted. The D J.
timore and Ohio Railroad crosses them
at this end Of the State. anil is held BY
the Unionists nearly oil the other road,
whereby the State is amply gridiroDed
are (save for few miles around Wash
ington) in the hamis of the traitors
West Virgins il almost unanimously
free-Iabor and loyal. aud is held by the
Unionists. Little fighting has been done
there for months. and Il is presumed near
ly bare Of troops. The rebels predomi-
nate in the extreme south-west Of it.
2. The Valley of Virginia. so called. is
deep. very fertile. and from forty to eighty
miles wide, lying between the crests oi
the Alleghsnies and Bloc Ridge. which
runs parallel to them on the south
cast. This valley is traversed by the
Shenandoah river. which rises south and
west Of the centre of the State. and pur-
sues generally northeast course to its
junction with the Potomac at Harper 9
Ferry. forty miles northwest of Washing.
ton City. Winchester, Strasburg. Wood
stock. Harrisonburg and Stanton sre
the principal places in the valley. The
Blue Ridge is lower and smaller than the
Alleghanies. (holding much the same re-
lation to them n the Jura to the Alps.
and is broken by repeated "gaps. through
one of which the Manassas Gap Railroad
makes its way into the valley (which it
connects with Alexandra. at Front Roy
81, which is near the junction of the two
principal branches of the Shenandoah.
some twenty five miles above Winches.
ter. and fifty from Harper's Ferry. The
white inhabitants of the valley are main
ly secessionists. AMI the valley above
Front Royal was mostly in their posses
sion prior to the events Of last week. We
presume that they now holi evrything
south Of Winchester, and may have that
city. F-'. ''
8. Eastern Virginia consists of the
residue of the State, (all southeast Of the
Blue Ridge. being abont half the area.
and probably containing a. little more
than half the entire population. Its rail.
roads mainly centre upon Richmond (the
rebel capital. though one from Leesburg.
{ few miles north Of Washington. and
another from the southwest reach the Po-
tomac at Alexandria. The Manassas
Gap Railroad" diverges from the latter
at Manassas Junction. (,hirty miles south
Of west Of Washington City. runs west
wardly through the Gap into the Valley.
and SO to Strashnrg. whence it follows up
the north fork Of the Shenandoah, and
comes to stand at Mount jackson, half
way between Woodstock. and Harrison
burg, which are the capitals respectively
Of the Counties Of Shenandoah and Rock
ingham, mainly settled by Germans of
very old emil ration. and lannon's for al
ways voting solid for whatever is called
the Democratic ticket.
4 The Rappahannock river rises in the
Blue Ridge. but few miles from the |
south fork Of the Shenandoah. anil pur-
snes an easterly conrss to Fre.lricksbure.
some sixty miles southwest Of Washing.
ton City. where it is within ten miles Of
the Potomac. 1t has here become al
broad. navigabls stream. though its ex-
treme sources are hardly eighty miles dis.
t"nt. From Freiricksbnrg. it has gen.
eral southeast course till 1t is lost in
Chesapeake Bay. some twenty miles be.
low the mouth of the Potomac. For the
present. its conrse below Frelricksburg il
by the Union gunboats, but
above that city it becomes disputable,
and has for months in good part divided
The Union from the rebel forces. It nat.
nraily forks toward it's source into iunu-
streams and rivulets, bnt at irst.
some ten miles above Fredricksburg, into
:wo m,in branches. whereof that coming
rom the northwest retains the name Of
while that from the south
vest is known as the Rapilan. IL
5: When Gen. Halleck, after Gen.
change Of base to the James
liver. was called to the com and -in-cbief
IT the Union army then covering Wash
ngtou on the south and west General
Pope. also from the West, had Jus. be-
ore been called to the command of this
after force, known as the Army of Vir.
.inis." in contradistioctiou from Gen.
dcClellsn's. still awkwardly designated
the Army Of the Potomac. Gen. Nc .
Clellan is understood not to have eoncur- /,
ed in the advisability of svscsatiue thu
'eninsula. wishing to be reinforced where
'e was, and to move thence upoo Rich. /
nond once more. he was finally over I
uled bnt his opposition is said to have
elayed the commepeement and retarded ,
he conclusion Of his return to the Po,o-
nae. which was finally effected some ten |
:ys ago. Some portion Of his late army !
till holds YORKTOWN and the Pesissuls :
Glow that point to Fortress Mo.soe. II
o. When it was decided that Gen, Ne. !
;leilan should evscuats the Pssipsaas. b
Zen Pope was pushed forward into the :
cart OF Eastern Virginia to make Q d.