, 1862-12-04

Correspondence Of the New York Tribune,
HEADQUARTERS GEN. SUMNER, Nov, sc, 1862.
Ne are beginning to experience some OF the
trials of winter campaigning. All last nipft:
the rain again fell steadily, and this morninp
wafer 1s standing in great pools in almost
every camp. The soldiers are grouped around
lhefr camp-dres drying their Vet garments, and
oeaf1ng upon their faces the nnmistakable
hoicatlohs Of having spent eleepless and
unpleasant night. Rain is more disagreeable
10 Soldier than snow. 1t81nakes the most
patient and accomplishing frettul and discon-
tented with himself and all his surroundings.
and at this moment rain is peculiarly unf6r-
11pnna1e, and has depressing influence upon
AID Belle Plain are almost impossible, With
u q quarter Of mile OF Gen. Bprusfde's
headquarters, saW three heavy transnort
wagons stuck fast in the mud, all the mules
1hey could hitch to them seemed powerless to
country has been Mcclellan refusal to march
, when ordered to do SO by Gen. Halleck.
linen We were having the most DELIGHTFUL
weather, and the roads were all in most sg-
perb condition.
From Harper's Ferry to Richmond we
ana then, too, We would have had our enemy
Reariy 2o0 miles from his base-now he is
within sixty, with railroad transportation
zen. Burnslde may be embarrassed at this
point, and it is barely possible that the cgul
pia1g93 T. may prove failure-it so, it is but
elmple Justice that the onus of the failure be
llfted from the shoulders OF Gen. Burnside
and hesped those Of cCIeIlau.
Rneh ge are to move it seems impossible
to tell The great pontoon train comprised
Ct forty,eight boats, each thirty feet long and
drawn oy eight mules. arrived several days
SINCE and ls ready to be laid at moments
notice, or rather these in charge OF it ready to
make the attempt; to lay It, in the face Of
the batteries erected against 1t, will be uuite
another matter: The laying Of the train, if it
is Ceemed advisable to Cross the river here.
Rnl De ander the direction Of General Wood
composed OF $500 practical engineers. II
not exposed to the fire of the enemy il can
be put down in one hour and forty minutes,
Gen. Lee is working necessarily night and
a,11 aay ~ erecting 1oTtiilcations all along the
hIghts back Of fredericksburg. The Bowling
Green road, the telegraph road, and the ojd
turnpike to Gordonsville, are now commanded
bV ealthWorkB at every angle. On the Cor
louisville road, where there seems to be q very
large encampment, / counted this morning
haa fourteen en- @intrsnchments, nearly. all OF which
came IN sight Of the signal glass this morc;ng
which were not there last night, proving can.
cinsIFe1y that during all the cold. piercing
rain, which made eyen those sitting beside q
warm lire in q comfortable house shiyer. theV
s.er %ere st st work 20 straining every nerve to
strengthen their position. Every DAVIS de1av
now on cur part is gain to them. The railroad
from Richmond is running as far as Massapo-
max Valley, but seven miles from the r3yeE.and
all their supplies and reinforcements are un-
doubtedly received from that source, It Ia
but Simple truth to say, in the sight OF Whist
IS transporting in front Of US, that If wa
but displayed half the energy and self-sacrifce
OF the enemy, ne could drive him into the
Gulf Of Mexico in three moushs.
am now writing IN the Phillips House, well
knoWn to the old armies of the .Rsppahanock
and Ct Virginia. and soon to be as familiar a
spot to the army OF the Potomac. Gen, Sum
rer has taken it for his headquarters. The
Plsntation contains 500 acres, When I ar.
rived here last Spring with Gen. Mcdowell it
vas in admirable condition, being well fenced.
under high state Of cultivation, and giving
evidence ct thrift and culture, and enterprise
IL its proprietor. Now the entire estate is a
barren waste. Not yard of fence can be
found upon it. The debris Of old camps is
scattered s11 around. Even the fine barns
which are so rare in Virginia attract the atten-
tion no longer: Nothing but the mansion it.
fslt, and that terribly defaced, remaius Of all
ttAt man bad made SO beautiful aud inviting.
Mr. Phillips, Of course, is rebel, but rom
all that can learn never interested himself
much in tie political questions Of the day.
He owned between forty and fifty negroes. aud
Wht \ told By JEFF. Davis and his crew that M
Oh tHe lnaugurallOn OF Abraham Lincoln they
would all be set free he, Of course, became .
rehsl- But one slave now re1lcios upon his
P1antaticEs- His oycrseer is still here, but
from one weeks end to the ether has nothing
in the world to do. He mumbles and sWear5
= good deal between his teeth about what The
Yankees have done to him, and cannot be
made to admit that the class to which he be.
longs, the Door whites, now have an cpportu-
nifty to imp owe their condition. With his one
old pToken-backed negro to command, he had
rather remain here than be the owner Of the