The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-09-20

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have The honor " sdssfs ~ fssic~hs btief)
sketch Of the operations II the army since Tie
9Th Of August: .isdsrsfs 4, ]
rnoved from spsrryville, Little Washington,
ana Warrenton, With three corps Of Bsnks and
Aieel. and one division Of ncDoWells corps,
numbering in all thirty thousand men, 10 meet
he enemy, Who had CROSSED tAs Rapidaa. nd
vss Advancing upon Oulpspper. ss asa >,
The movement towards Gordonyille had com.
uletely succeeded in drawing of large force
hom Richmond, and in relieving the Army q
the Potomac from much Of the dangers which
haA threatened its withdrawal from che PENN
sula- sid' SGD as.sw
The action Of August 9th, at Cedar Mountain,
With the forces under Jackson, which compelled
his retreat across the Rapidsn, made necessary
s,ill further reinforcements from ths enemy at
Richmond; and BY this time, it being apparent
that the Army Of the Potomac was evacuating
the Peninsula, the whole Of the enemy around
Richmond WAS pushed forward With great rapi-,
dity to crush the Army of Virgins, before the
forces evacuatiDg the Peninsula could be united
With it
I remained at Cedar Mountain, and still
thre.tenened to croes the Rapidan, until the
l7th of August, at which time Gen. Robert Lee
had assembled in my front, and within eight
miles nearly the whole Of the rebel army. AZ
aeon a. ascertained this fact, and knew that
the Army Of the Potomac was no longer in dan
ser. drew back my whole force across the
Rappahannock, on the night of the 18th and
day Of the 18th, without loss Of any kind, and
one day in advance Of Gen. Lees proposed
movement against me. q
The enemy Immediately appeared In my front
at Rappahannock Station, to pass the river at
that bridge and the numerous fords above and
below, but without succesa The line Of the
Upper Rappahannock, which had been order
ed to hold, that the enemy might be delayed
long enough in his advance upon Washington
to enable the forces from tho Peninsula to land
and effect junction with me, was very weak,
a. it could be crossed at almost any point above
the railroad bridge by good fords. By constant
vigilance and activity, and much severe fighting
for three days, the enemy WAS gradually forced
around from the railroad crossing to Waterloo
bridge, west of Warrenton. .4f.
Meantime my forces had been much reduced
BY loss in battle, and BY fatigue and exposure,
% that although had been joined BY de-.
sion of McDowells corps, my force barely mum.
heavy rain fell, which rendered the fords of the
river impossible for twenty -four hours AZ soon
a. discovered this concentrated my forces
and marched rapidly upon Sulphur Springs and
Waterloo bridge, to drive back the forces of
the enemy which had succeeded in crossing at
these points. This was successfully done and
the bridges destroyed. passed one day, or
rather part Of one, At Warrenton and beyond.
The enemy still continued to move slowly
around along the river, masking every ford with
artillery and heavy forces of infantry, go that it
was impossible for me to attack him, even with
the greatly inferior forces under my command,
without passing the river over fords strongly
guarded in the face Of very superior numbers.
The movement of Jackson toward White Plains,
and in the direction Of Thoroughfare Gap, while
the main body of the enemy confronted me al
Sulphur Springs and Waterloo bridge, was we'll
known 10 me, but relied confidently upon the
forces which had been assured would be sent
from Alexandria, and one heavy division which
had ordered to take post in the woods at Ma.
uassas Junction. AS '.a
Twas entirely under the belief that these would
be there, and it was not until found my COM
munications intercepted that was deceived.
it Was made by not less than twenty-five thou
sand men. BY this time the army corps Of
Heintzelman, about ten thousand strong had
reached Wsrrenton Junction. One division Of
it, think, on the very day Of this attack. Blu
they cane without artillery, with only fort,
rounds of ammunition to the man, without VA
CONS, and even the field and general officer
without horses. ''a at
Fitz John Porter also arrived at Bealton Sta
ten, near Rappahannock river, with one of BIZ
divisions, four thousand Eve hundred strong
whilst bis other division Was still at Barrett
and Kellys Fords. directed that corps, abou
eight thousand strong; to concentrate immedi-
.ately at Warrenton Junction, where Heintzel-
man already WAS. This vas accomplished OF
the evening of the 26th. As coon as it becam,
known to me that Jackson was on the railroad
It became apparent that the Upper Rsppahsn
uock Vas no longer tenable. -. @'a -
could not detsch sufficient force to NEE
jackson, and at the same time attempt to con-
front the main body of the enemy. I accord
ingly at once evacuated Warrenton and Warren
ton Junction, directing Mcdowell, with hil
own corps and Sigers and the division ct Rey-
oold's, 70 march rapidly BY the turnpike upor
Gainesville, 80 as to intercept any reinforce
uents coming to the enemy by the way of Thor
vv6uIsVc Ooy, AuO iueHVCtluk Veu IEuO. Will
bis command, and Kearney, with one division Of
Heintz-lman's, to:march on Greenwich, go as Il
support Mcdowell, in case Of necessity. sac
With Hooker's division of Heintzelman's corp,
moved along the railroad upon Manassas juno
tod, near Kettle Run Hooker came upon the
advance Of Ewell's rebel division on the after
noon Of the 9th. A severe action took place
which terminated At. dark, Ewell b ing driven
from the 6eld with the loss Of his camp, and
three hundred killed and wounded. The uhfofa
tunste oversight of not having more than forty
sounds of ammunition, became at once alarming
At nighsfall Hooker, had but about five rounds
to the man left As soon ss / learned this,
sent back orders to Gen. Ftz John Porter to
march With bis corps at one o'clock that night
90 as to be with Gen. Hooker at daylight in the
morning.
=, The distance was nine miles, and he received
taa dispatch at $50 o'clock, but did not reach
n tSl aetn S>nn -