The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-10-04
THE CAMPAIGN in MARYLAND
The Battles offs nth Mountain and
Antietam
WASHINGTON, Sept. %, 1862

Correspondence. oiqcIuhati Commercial.
WASHINGTON, Sept %, 1862
The weather wise predict the coming
storm by the threatening clouds along
the horizon, the sultry calm, aud the oc-
casional flashes OF lightning and bursts
OF thunder from the advance guard"
Of The marshaling elements. The indi.
cations Of an impending battle week
ago o-day, Of which those Of South
Mountain aud Champions Gap was more
preludes were too apparent 10 be miscon-
strued. Fitz John Porter's corps had
moved on the previous Saturday, and
was rapidly advancing Tyler's brig
ade, and several other brigadss of new
troops were also in motion.
The temptation 70 be present during
the coming engagement, aud TO witness
what IL was hoped 70 be not only the ex-
pulsion OF the rebels from Maryland,
but the humiliation Of the grand army"
was too strong to be resisted Accord
ingy, accompanied by Colonel Wall, of
Washington your Correspondent took
saddle for Frederick City. II isa ride
of forty miles through the pleasant part
of Maryland The country presented
the usual signs Of army occupation-de-
serted camp grounds, fences broken down
and burned up, cronfelds pillaged Of
their roasting ears. orchards relieved of
their ripening nurdens, and here aud
there the still ordorOus skeletons Of horses
aud mules, which had "givcn out" by
the way, and the cremation Of which
had been bat partial. Beyond Clarks-
burg the citizens complained equally of
both armies. Their property had been
oveIrun, their meat and spring houses
ransacked, their gardens aud cornfeds
wasted, not by the army proper, but by
the strsgglers. Between Clarksburg and
Frederick, il is no exaggeration TO say,
that we met enough sirsgglers TO have
formed brigade Of effective men. Many
| of them, however, were convalescpnis who
| had been discharged from the Washing
ton hospitals and ordered TO join their
| regiments. The regiments bad advanc-
| ed with the main army, and these con
valescents, without rations for more
| than two days march, and generally
without money were compelled to sub
sist on the country. There are bad men,
too, in all armies-men who enlist more
for the sake of plundering than fighting,
and these fall out Of the ranks purpose
Is TO straggle through the country and
pillsge the farmer. No precaution can
| prevent this. Commissioned officers were
ordered 10 march in the rear of their
companies and regiments, and after
each brigade came rear guard to pick
up the stragglcrs; and yet the country
was full of them.
we arrived at Frederick City on Tues
day, at mid day. 1t anything were
wanting TO assure the public that Mary
land is loyal, the display If flags. aud
the cheerful greeting of our troops as they
| passed through the city, would supply it
have never seen Cincinnati on any gala
or national holiday more magni6eently
ragged out" From every house, almost
from every window, the stars aud stripes
were unfurled. These flags had beer
hidden during the rebel occupation o.
the city, and we've displayed before the
rear guard Of the rebel army had fairly
withdrawn from the city, and at time
too when il was very uncertain on
which side, in the impending battles
victory would turn. Anticipating tn,
order of events, let me say here, from
observations and inquiries along the
route going and returning, | could hear
of but few recruits having joined The
rebels. Jackson himself expressed grea
disappointment, and his army openly
cursed the Marylanders as Unionists
and their State as "a id Yankee State
anyhow" Two recruits were obtained
near Monocacy Church-One who fed L
avoid the attentions Of pressing creditors
and another 10 escape prosecution for Sc
| ductiOn. A few were obtained abOu
Frederick, generally Young men of like
desperate fortunes. Four joined them a
HRgerstOwn--One, who intended enlist
ing in the Federal service, made drunk
by his companions, put his name to tn,
wrong paper 8, and found himself in til,
clutches of Lees army. Itis not prob.
able that the recruits to the COnfederat,
service from Marylan will aggregrat,
five hundred. Contact with the gray
backs as the rebels are there called, dis,
PEELED thousand pleasing illusions, II
the exceedingly greedy, needy, filthy
lousy and ragged rebels, their Marylan,
sympathizers failed TO see the chivalry
Of the South the bloodroyal of its arts.
tocracic institutions, aud refused 10 rec
ognize their deliverers in such guisc
1t was in vain that Lee plead and Jack
son prayed. They were plainly tolC
that they were not wanted, and that To,
expressions under which Maryland Ian.
guished were not 50 disastrous as Ia,
occupation of its soil by such an army
The invasion of the State has BEEN IL
this sense, a blessing, that il has made
its loyal people unconditional Unionists
and exposed the hitherto latent treason
of many influential families,
Running nearly due South, and to lh,
West of Frederick City, is the Catoctir
mountain range, a continuation Of tht
Blue Ridge. On the South it terminate,
at Point OF Rocks. Ga the North il unite,
the Peunsy lyania line with the South
Mountain Range, which, tending 10 the
Southwest slopes dawn to the Potomac
at Knoxville, four miles East of Harper:
| Ferry. Between these two ranges nestles
the lOveliest valley in Mary land-tbt
Valley Of MiddletOwn. The doep blue OF
the mountain slopes, their SUBMITS rObed
in the richest purple and yermillion OF
the lingering sunset, as We crossed the
Catoctin rangc--lhe dark shadows al
ready falling like a veil over the Valley
tho gllmmer OF Camp-iires and the
light of the distant village, made up a
panorama OF exquisite loneliness and
picturesque beauty. We were following
/ the road which McClcllan's army had
taken but three days before IN pursuit
Of the retreating rebels, Ambulance
trains bearing the wounded from the
| field OF South Mountain TO Frederick, and
supply trains guarded up Infantry and
cavalry, moving forward TO the "seat OF
war" we're passed continually The viii
lage Of Middletown, ten miles from Fred
nrinL and I'm the nnnLra Of the NallnN-