The daily Wabash express. (Terre-Haute, Ind.) 1857-1867, 1862-07-08

extent OF the line left bat few troops Tor
SUPPORTS Casey's. now Peck-s sadly redu-
ced Division. guarded Bottom Bridge, the |
railway bridge, and were assigned 20 other
similar duty. Our line Of battle OF the right Il
bank Of the ChickAhouiny. ~ have inform.
ed you. pressed 80 Close 70 The rebel lines
that neither could advance . regiment out
side Of their respective bre&stworks without
battle.
On Wednesday. June 2sth. General Nc
Clelisn made the first distinctly offensive
movement, by directing General Hooker 10 |
take up an advanced position on Fair Oaks |
Farm. near tho Williamsburg road. Ia pro-
soked sharp resistance. which We over
came, and accomplished our object. ID 10
necessary TO note this fact particularly. be
cause Il bears strongly upon the question
whether General Mcclellan had then dis
tlncsly contemplated changing his base Of
operations 70 James nyee--s perilous thing
TO afsnpt before. more now that ws were
still nearer the enemy. Twas pronounced
an important achissemsnt' BY General
Mcclellan himself. because II gave him ad
yantages cser the rebel position which be
bad not enjoyed before. Some time during
the night. however. tidings were received Of
a movement Of Stonewall Jackson on our
maintain the advantage Of the previous day,
and the line Was ordered 10 resume IL old
position Thursday afternoon the sntieipa-
ted attack upon our right wing Was msde,
and handsomely repnlsed: but Il was dis
covered that II bad not been made by Jack
sons command. Information was received
that jackson was sweeping down the Pa
munkey, probably 10 capture military stores
st White House. 20 cut OF our communics
tons 9th our water base. and menace our
rear. Orders were given At once TO destroy
AL public property AZ White House and
evacuate that point. Matters began 10 A.
sumo = critical appearance. and danger cub
minated In the disaster Of Friday. IL was
then fully determined TO change the base
Of operations 10 James river" IL seems Go
me this was compulsory. The enemy had
turned our right. evidently outnumbered us
In great disproportion, Was too strong In iront
for us 10 break through. and was In position
10 crush us In front and rsar-and. perhaps,
intended TO strike on our left flank. Appar-
entity his army WAS numerous enough for
hat grand combination. The great retro
grade movement was really begun Friday
evening. by the transfer OF Headquarters
from Trent's Blum 10 Savage Station. but
the grand exodus did not commence until
Saturday. and Cid not swell into FUN proper
tons mi nightfall Of that day. The history
Of that movement will follow in due course,
The reader being supposed to be familiar
with the war map, will now follow the course
pursued by the army. In order To preserve
the morale Of the army as far "a possible. and
obtain supplies OF ammunition and subsis
tence. was determined 10 carry through all
the wagons loaded. and the ambulance train
making q mighty caravan--yastly increas.
| ed by artillery trains There was but one
narrow road 10 pursue It struck almost due
south from the Williamsburg road. through
White Oak Swamp 20 the Charles City road.
into which Is debouched about eight miles
| from Turkey Bend In James river. The
course then lay up the latter road towards
Richmond, where Il struck llttlo south. west
by tho Quaker road. which terminated In
New Market road, leading from Richmond.
The river was bat short distance south, and
Malvern Hin beautiful, lofty bluff over
looking the river and commanding Ito sur
rounding country. being goal. Although
there was but single road-with slight
exception-it had the advantage OF coursing
through White Oak swamp, upon which We
might rely In some degree for sproiecton OF
our tanks. There was great danger that the
enemy might cut W of BY moving columns
i
Market roads. or all three, but these chances
we're necessarily accepted. Gen. Mcclellan
acted upon the superstition that the enemy
would not guess hIs determination until he
vas able 10 defeat their movements. At al
events. Il was the only hopeful course. 10
cause the enemy was watching for him OF
the LEFT bank Of the Chckahominy. The
road vas a'narrow funnel for such a might,
torrent OF trains and men. but fortunately i
vas smooth and dry. In order 10 make The
movement successfully. IL Was necessary to
tghs al the outset, because Il was morally
certain that our line Of battle could not b.
| withdrawn from the front without sucking
the enemy after them-so that due prepare
lions we're made The events will now b.
accorded in their order. With as much Of thu
spirit OF the perilous enterprise thrown int
the sketch a. have time 20 engrah. tn,
affair at Fair Oaks Farm Was the real begin
ming Of the dreary drama You will find
description of il in another letter. The Nc
GAINESVILLE battle was the second act. which
YOU will now read
Battle % NKCHAsicsXtLLr.
When closed nv last communication
left bank OF the Chickahominy, on the cas-
side Of Beaver Dam Creek. Our extrem
| right wing. consisting Of McCalls Pennsyl
vania Reserves. 800 strong, With i've bat
teries. were strongly intrcnched there in AL
rnrable position for defense. Information
leading General Mcclellan 10 expect an at
tempt upon his right had been received dur
ing "Wednesday night. and We were vel
prepared for resistance a. our limited forces
would admit. Gen. Fitz John Porter's corps
consisting of Morell's Division Of ' olunteer-
and Sykes Regulars. some 1000 strong. 10
creased By Duryea's Zouaves. was posts.
near New Bridge. within supporting distance
Gen. Stoneman had also been sent 10 Oh.
Church. with q regiment Of cavalry and tw,
Of infantry. az 4 corps Of observation and q
check tanking movements: or. ifpossible. 4
decoy the enemy down the Pamunky. A
about noon. a powerful corps OF the enemy
consisting Of Gen. A. +. Hills, ID. III. Hills
I.ongstreet's and Anderson's Divisions
fAsn supposed 10 b. Jsckson's forer--unde
command Of Major Gen Robert r. Lee
| crossed the river at Mechanlcsyllle bridge
Meadow bridge. and At Atlcs's. asd between
one aud two o'clock. attacked our Hank
T~o regiments Of Meads Brigade. Mccall
Division, were In reserve and Que on pickle
duty They did not at any time fully CT
gage the enemy. Gen. Reynolds brigsd
held the light. aud Seymours the left tn
6ght was opened with artillery. al long rang
but the epemy. bnally discov ersng our lups
riorisy IN this arm. forsshorisnrd the range
and came into close conflict. He ~s- er,
dently provoked .st bis own ineficiency
. sincs NJ she'll we're not destructive In ou
. (. lntreochmeuts. While our gamers played up