, 1862-09-08
The Battle OF Rich mond, BY.

forces from Richmond, Ky. They were SUBJ
pareled, and returned home. The
correspondent OF the Commercial prefaces his
account of the fights with the following OBJ
servations:
The battle which took place near Richmond,
Ky, on the a9th AID ;j0eh of August Inst,
eEonld be called the hattie Of RDgersville, the
first and decisive engagement having been
fought about half mile from q small cluster
five miles bcyond Richmond, on the turnpike
leaGir e through that town to Lexington. I
have heard it named the battle Of Mount Zion,
from church near the first scene Of action;
also the battle Of Richmond, because it ali
occurred near to and part Of it in that place.
By whatever designation it may be kuo wn,
it Tas on avoweuly disas +rous atfair-an event
that has led 10 results more Injurious TO the
federal cause than any battle fought 10 the |
Southwest. It should not have been fought
need not have been. Gen. Manson, command |
ing about 1000 federal troops, undTille1 and I
undiscip1intd, gave battle to- an enemy nu-
mericRlly nearly three times as strong, whose |
troops bad seen more than year service in |
the field 1t waE, in reIity, making one pri-
vate citizen meet three disciplined soldiers on
the hattie field; and is not to TO be wondered
at, that tic result was in favor OF the soldiers.
Gen. Manson either knew, or did not know,
the strength Of Kirby Smiths army. II he
buGH LIZ 115p3d3 bAA EEHCAthtSu4D III
mencing an engagement in which he was GER
tain TO be overwhelmed with numbers. Il he
did not kn0E 1t, he certainly displayed no
coed generalship in bringing such snan
complement of raw troops against q foe Which.
for aught he knew, might br ten times thelr
! EQUAL
Instead of bringing on Al engagement be-
ycnd Richmond, the federal t3rces should
have retired ten miles, to Clay's forces, on the
Kentucky River, on the approach Of the rebel
| army. They wou1d thtn have been but six
| teen miles from Lexington, at point mu:h
more favorable to them tE:an the ground they
unfortunately chose, and to which reinforce
| mtntB could much more readily have been
! sent.
t'RCLL NELSON'S FIGHTING.
Consider the number Of our forces in the
morning, the fact that they Lad been panic
stricken twice. and that they had already lost
| upwards OF 500 in killed and wounded, aud
it will be apparent that the remnant WAS not
large enough to make q formidable stand.
But Gel lcra1 Nelson had arrived from Lex
ipgron, aud IVES determined THAT the day
should MT be lost SO early. H. knew well
the rtsul. that awaited hial-indeed, as soon
ae be heard that General Manson had brought
en- an engagement with Kirby Smiths forces,
be sent 8 courier to Richmond to order all
The baggage aud supl1f trains to be sent this
side Of The Kentucky River.
AS The general approached the battle field,
lie II Eetsed part of the STAMPEDE aud be-
csme highly exasptrated at it. am told that
hc fire 1T several men who refused 10 stop
1ht ir retreat at his bidding, and that he killed
tne or two and wounded three others. [ can
I rot speak With certainty as to this, but kno =
that the general is not over polite to his sll
/ | ci: rs at ary time, is quite p1otane at Others
and uuder Euch un.stances as those which
) tu1ruuudtd him On Saturday afternoon. Ii
: would do many things that in normal conai
/ tion Of affairs would be call:d cruel and in
e human. He vas very angry On Saturday. 81
r Was urgry before he arrived, aud the prospec
i Of affairs whcn he reached the battle tirld Ra
H. not calculated to appease bis wrath.
4 Whoever may have formed The third line c
a battle, Gen. Ncl=on direcien ali the move
l. ments after it was formed, and the result {
+ The engagement shows that master hand VA
t at the te'm. UEder his management, 800
n | federal !ruops did more execution iua HpAc
vi time not much larger than is ffcqueatly 0:
= cuplcd in skIn1}s.,, than 6OG0 had done j
e two battles OF several hours duration. Au
:. amid all the Danger aud exposure, none Tei
e more exposed than he. H. rode along tt
le lines giving words of encour2 cement to b
Ie men, while the bullets flew thicker than
II any other time during the day, and he was
1e Conspicuous mark ut Which shots We're fire,
10 "K-tp it up, men-the devils are runniu
in That's it. Let them nave it. Fire low. Tat
ot good aim. Wen whip them yet"-aud stu
1e lar expressions he used to make q victor
Or already certain, as dearly bought as possio
nc for the enemy He frequently said, " Rel
he forcements will be here right aWay,'"'-and,
rs course, it is not for inc to say they new
Of caln-. The rebels had, evidently, resolved
ID. tinshing The work this time. They were ]
in iIforvcd and fought with desperation. Til
". used but little artillery, relying, principal
Us upon their q unerrlug rifles" >,
lg I should have mentioned before now tt
&c she ground selected for the third stand wa
e1iglt elevation about three quarters Of 4 m
lot from town, ard inc uded the Richm ond cen
1e tery, whose beautiful obelisks now bear IN
nut naIks Of the bloody struggle Many OF
nee monuments are very much defaced BY
in, bullets which were poured in among tn
ps. from two different quarters. In that Lit
rs. city Of the dead no less than Beyenty-f
nd rebels # II in bali sn hour. They had sou.
ide r.fuge behind the marble, the more effectua
raj to destroy our men aud insure their 0
safely. Gen Nilsson discovered them, {
Cd, | manHuye1ed his troops SO as to bring th
;ly. under cross fire, which made terrible h4
lsr- amorg them.
nen This vas hot1y contested engaseme
ere though Of short duration, and one in Wh
des our nleD, thoug Ii onsnumbered, punished
Qks enemy very severely. Had all the fighting
J to the day be en- proportionately favorable to
on side, the SUI would not lave set upon =
rht qnisEed federal army.
The But, Notwithstanding Gen. Nelson's effo
leu. he could not prevent break in his lii
hat The men felt convinced that the day Wills
. it theirs, and could not be kept from fee
eeed Still third stampede occurred, and then
1an- question Of victory was decided The re
ters pursued our troops into the streets OF
lied | rnond, and killed many during the pursuit
few determined ones attempted another II
as but tailed. Napoleon hiustlf could not
= tn rallied men so thoroughly imbued with
nifty belief that their only safety lay in flight
hich Tie Gazette's correspondent, speaking 0
wed oun can.urr. savs-
e in ~
the Inc reason WHY Sae 5eoGls olu u: nog pu
{ il. our NTH after the battles below Richtn
Fere MAS no9 apparent They knew they ha
wa in their power, and wishing to capture tht
enr. | tire army, they had been playing with u
cmv day, in order to give their cavalry tim
nci' make a circuit Of the country and come il
:;nr | the Lexington road, some distance q
dis. town, thereby closing the mouth Of the
and into which they We're slowly but ste
rs.r driving US. few cf their small howl 'zer;
ed also bren moved with their cavalry, and
,aea- NOW playing upon such Of our men rs sti
msined in the rnad. THIS movew a mas
erelg one, and might have been anticipated, tn
was y couio nos nave oeea pte'euoea- oeo II re-
rr IA artillery, md the entire wagon train.
Pope
con- HOW the Rebels Used our Telesr,
n tue r,,o .oha1. ho,a ,,sod on- +a1eyrant
s1 e.. W in Virginia recently with even more {
oattle eu!tseo ':ts - .ua .s,,oh ;nnnSanoo ~ M
= 20 - Fitz Hugh Lee captured Manassas, he
:, - prAptd IN the name OF ten. ropes CQ
- 49,. ~ staff to the proper officer in Washiagto
ts1a- questipg him to send to the Junction q
A"'"' tupp1y Of shelter tents and harness for
od IN | lery horses.
, uora The order was promptly filled, and til.
20 ~ els were soon gladdeued by the appeara1
.1a ~ " train loaded With what they wanted,
nh,t son, on his arrival senta message to Il
on.es ptrintendent OF mil tary 70 ids, coolly s
plan. ~ ~ aaoa,,n,e5ot;o, w. 81 III 1rnh.h1,
- 10 find these and other equally grs7ifying
- ,sS.1 pondeDce published in the form Of a
,us - graphic operators diary in the Sos
i nno Newspapers.
"no Gen. hooker has command comp
IN Was MS own @ aoo 9en1 oouIIs ulf's1ons.-
force '"9so's e0'' 4'e" 'o'N 1''o""e'
- - 1sno nt Capture of Rebel Couscrtpte
n nos. NEW York, S-pt, 6.-The HeraId's
enf It pondcuce from 5nffolk, Va, says
,layin~ A detachment OF Dodge's New York ,
ed rifles WAS dispatchtd upon scc
heroic Monday, unds the command Q: II j. "
whose The larry proceeded about thirty i've
of tne | from this place. and when about twelv,
honest "efI OF sou II hlllss tuey cauie acloss
;r ogn psDy of Ttbels on their way towards
,s,encn Dond. Mujor Wheeler made ouch {
tion Of his forces that he succeeded In
a];eyed ing the whole command, consisting
MI see commissioned officers and Ill pEivat
Ao' WV | +.r.n+v.inhr neo1oes The rebel cf