American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1851-1863, 1862-07-11
lsrH Miss. RsG., NEAR RICHMOND. Va
Tr-s- q. sc.

upon his lines. and expose himself 70 a s-Gie-l
blow or if the Yankee can only coax the CenfeeeF-
ate across the Chiekahominy. the question. " shall
Richmond stand? would be most isesivey settled
As t is, however. no prnyOoEtiou can dra~ either
i party over the line which. Ike schoolboys, thsy
I have drawn between their separate hosts SSir
mishng and artillery daeis occur almost daily Sea-
orally closing at the approach Of night, thos-h &C.
/ casionally the sharp crack OF mnsketry and tns
deep remonstrance Of cannon arouse the midnight
echoes. Last night for instance the 18th MISS
sippi occupied position within full bearing O. the
pickets shooting az each other al night long Al
occasional dash into the enemys iines. and ne
bringing away of all sorts Of trophies serve 20 re
fresl. and enliven the troops IN their duh camps
Stewart and Morgan are initiated on small scale
every day or two. The eagerness with whiea tle
news of such things is read and commented upon
and the general buoyaney and cheer.ulness every
where manifest among our troops. show taat "1en
the great struggle does come, the world VII nave
glorious proof of Southern invincibility.
In the present state of af4irs il Is impossible =
conjecture when tie great battle for Riehraend
commence. 1t has been imminent for more than
month. and 4 few days or a few hOHrs, nav bring
:; shout. But for the battle &C &c Sevea Pines.
which taught the nnendacions Mcclellan more ti1n
70 dreamed Of before the fate Of Richmond would
roraaps have already been decided. Bat thHu-h
7s: orsggart chief claims a great victory a. th1t
e, notwithstanding his loss Of To- 600. he very
Gamalv abates his pretensions ard takes % i17rd.
aate wing and ditch digging. His Z" On 70 Rich
mond F" has again smmered down. AMI from the
rtpdity with which he throws up brea>tSorzs- The
inference IS fair that he Il seized With another idea
which has worked is way into more beads than his
ctonevall jackson on the one side and the lesson o.
2!st May the other. have possibly led hin -
more serious reflections mon the condition n the
a7--oaches to Yankeelonl. L requires very little
-1ore breath to say " On TO Washington Indeed
Many Southern man confidently expects q Ions
march Northward before the falling of the leaves
Whether Mcclellan ever dreams of the tables being
,Vr1ed upon him or not. one thing mist Re very
D!5.a - bim now-he had better thrash TT IF be
CO... md that too. as soon rs possible. We ID nj
pretend to know. or even 70 cress At what may re
tie e-7ense If keeping his army idle before P'ch-
md. .rt do know that we can stand % a. long
% re can. and even profit by the delay. Let bfu
strengthen himself As he may-we are strong au1
growing stronger. Let him make 4 very GibraItsr
Of the other side Of the Chickahominv that wouli
not be the capture Of Richmond. Il ia opti0oa-v
with Gen Johnston whether he attacks him there
or not. We may hold him at hay until his inr-pii-
lie talent for flbricatnr sensation dispatches IS
exhausted the iepring rahbe FOR who's. sikes he
haa already 81 utterly d<gra~ed hi-7-eif. NAV. by
their reproaches Dive him 20 the madness Of real
attempt upon the Confederate capital. 81 mole lt
be. Richmond i safe, and that Is more than cao
be -aid of Mcclellan.
The health OF oar trooDs, notwithstanding The
hardships and exposure which they have FOR some
time undergone i much better than could hlve
been expected The fact "a. they are nearly al Id
soldiers and can stand anything. Pain, mud and
hard work are nothing IL all ~ those who
toned 10 them, and nothing is lacking 20 make the
troops perfectly happy bGt the opportunity 10 Fash
the war by quick and heavy swoofs upon tle enemy
Such an opportunity cannot be afar OF.
The 18th Miss. have had their share in the excite
-nent of artillery iuels. Two or three weeks $50.
while stationed at Prices farm. on the ChicElhon-
my they were subjected for four Eve days % the
almost constant sheIlinz Of the enemy the oppo-
site hills. And when three Confederate batteries
came to the farm and held very lively and CON
riucing conversation with the Yankee guns the
shells we're very nerve-shakinS, assure Jon Only
one man was hurt. however. We foGad oct long
ago the utility OF deep ravines for although bomb
shells are more noisy than destructive. they KAY
81: you 4 you stand out isiriy on level. We have
not been ont OF hearing OF shells for weeks.
Some of these artillery fghts are amusing. Pro-
vded you are out of range. long dense volume
OF faint blue smoke n rumbling crash Of thunder.
a sErieking. yelling whistle and distant baRg FOL
lowed by round ball OF smoke comprises the per
:ormance on our side. The shells from the other
side reach US nearly a. soon as the report OF the
gun, and when it bursts, the fragments SO their
separate ways with very musical sort Of whistle.
The base of the shell however. continues the jour
neg for some hundreds of yards further. with sound
between that OF duttering bird aud what might be
the caGckle Of a demon. hare never seen 4 nan
yet who did not feel little anxious when he heard
one of1his sort pass him.
On Friday iastaseoaple Of our batteries invited :
the enemy to I" sstto which he replied to at last
with three shots. The first shot wounded FIVE Geor-
gians-two mortally. This. however. must have
been accidental for, however accurate the Yankees
aim when there is no danger, whenever Coufeder-
ate shell objects to bis sport, his shooting is very
wild and unprecise.
UCa oF he noor ,F-