Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1862-01-13
From the Army Of the West.
| LOUISVILLE, KY, Jan. 2, 1861.
TO Gte EiHer oftte BOstjR JopraaL

1 OouuAh 0u0i MS army III
six divisions. -Four of them are on the line
Of the railroad leading to Munfordsville
General McCook is in the advance, at Greou
River. Seven miles from the river toward
Louisville is Bacon Creek, a little rivulet
Here General Mitchell's division is epcamped
Fifteen miles further toward this CITY. a
Nolln, is General Nelson's division. There
are some troops at Elizabethtown which
you observe, is the county seat OF Hardin.
East OF the railroad, at Bardstown, a mum.
Der OF the new regiments are under instruc.
tion. Fifteen miles south east of Bardstowu
is Lebanon, where General Thomas is in
command of division. The Eastern di.
vision is commanded by General Schoepff
who is still at Somerset The Western Il
under the command of General Thomas
Crittenden, whose head quarters are at Cal.
houn, ss stated in another letter-the county
seat OF Mclean, fifty miles from the mouth
of Green River.
| suppose that General Buel can have not
less than seventy.five thousand men for an
advance, with sufficient number in reserve
OF raw material to guard railroads and
bridges and transportation trains He has
about three thousand regulars. About one.
third of his force is we'll drilled; the re-
mainder is very raw. He has at least ten
thousand cavalry, which is equally rs eff
fective as that upon the Potomac, and that
is saying but very little. Our cavalry is
hardly worthy the name. 1t is almost a
disgrace to us. If one-third of those en-
listed could be picked out-the most eff
cient-if they could be put in cavalry
school and drilled for several months, they
might be of some service; but as they are
now-many of them never rode horse till
their enlistment-have to learn how to ride.
how to drive, how to carry their swords,
and hundred other things, il is not to be
expected that they can be very efficient SOL
diers.
General Buel has at least 100 guns of field
artillery. His artillery is we'll drilled, and
will prove effective if the guns can ever be
brought into action. Such, in brief, ia the
composition of the Army of the Cumberland,
as it is called in the department records. |
have yet to see what is still further west in
the Department of the Missouri, both of
which go to make up what in these letters,
for convenience, will be called the Army of
the West.
THB REBEL ARMY.
What force opposes General Buels 1t
not expected that a correspondent can know
all that the rebels sre doing, but some infor-
nation has been obtained, which / give, not
vouehing for its truth. sn resdv TO scoept
ii SIS sn approximation to the truth.
The main force Of the rebels is AZ Bowling
Green. General Johnston is in eommaud,
Since arriving here, l have heard story,
which, so far as know, msy or may not 6e
true-thst when he Wss in California, the
Government had his commission made out
appointing him TO the position afterward
held by Mcclellan, the second military COM
msnder of our armies, but that his resigna
ton was received before the commission was
forwarded. He is considered as the ablest
officer smonR the rebels. The force under
Z 81 l. =
thousand; by Others at seventy five When
Buckner first took possession of Bowling
Green be had about seven thousand men,
with eighteen pieces of artillery. Since then
the following additions are known to have
been made General Alcorn's Alabama
Brigade, consisting of three regiments and
one full battery; two regiments of Texan
Rangers; General Walkers Alabama Brig
sde, three regiments; Colonel Scotps
Louisians Cavalry; five regiments of Ken
tuckians; also number of companies,
battalions and squsdrons raised by individ-
uals,giving known force of about thirty Eve
thousand. These are all near Bowling
Green. In the rear of Bowling Green, at
Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River,
near the crossing of the railroad leading to
Memphis, are about one thousand men. At
the crossing of the Tennessee River, at Fort
Henry, is the Tenth Tennessee Regiment,
composed OF lrishmen. At other points in
this section, are about four thousand Ter
nesseeaIs, who joined the ranks after Gen;
Johnston assumed command, and in answer
to bis call for volunteers. This gives force
OF about forty thousand. Within the last
few days other troops have been arriving in
companies, squads and singiy. And there
IS reason to believe that arrangements have
been made by Johnston for the sudden cou.
centIation Of all the forces in this vicinity iu-
Guiding those at Memphis, for they evidently
believe that the defeuses at Columbus will
hold the gun boat feet in check, if an attack
is made there. There is no doubt the rebels
magnify their numbers to frighten US. They
talk of having 900 men, but the story is
not believed From all the evidence | can
obtain, aIn willing to concede sc, 900 or
$4,000. They, like BuePs men, are raw.
They will not be in hurry TO make an attack
upon his army, but there is no doubt that
they will fight well behind intrenchmeuts.
General Johnston understands that, and he
Is straining every nerve to make his posi-
tlons impregnable. He has a large number
OF slaves employed. He is cutting down
forests, digging bitches, building earthworks
and erecting batteries to cover every ap.
proach. He is making up in activity and
energy what be lacks in men, as General
Jackson did at New Orleans. Why can not
our Oenerals proht by the eXample2 II is
understood that heavy guns are on their way
to be mounted on the works. A few weeks
hence, If Buel delays, Bowling Green will be
a second Manassas.
THE FEELING HERE.
There is the same impatience here that
there is everywhere. The people wonder
that General Buel does not advance. They
wonder that it takes so long to build a
bridge. They know that every days delay
ADDS strength to the enemy; that if our
troops are green Johnston's are equally raw.
They believe that it is time to fight. The
impatience is restrained from becoming out
spoken by the promises that an advance will
soon be made-as soon as the army "gets
ready That expression means the same as
all quiet along the Potomac" which has
been telegraphed daily for many months.
KENTUCKY TROOPs