The New York herald., 1862-12-04

killed and wounded resulted in part from the fact tat
portion o. our men fought behind the ntreached bate,
ries Major General Grant had ordered brigade OF fenr
regiments, under Brgadier General McPherson, frsssi
jackson 70 Cerinh Finding The railroad interrupted AZ
on the 4h by the Pennington road thus marching near
GeaVaa Rosecraps. ~ & F3kAt
Other forces fm jackson and Bolivar under Rrigal Ell
General Hurlbut. directed to march Ccrnih
by way Of Middleton aad pecahontas, tr cut on tao
enemys retreat IN that direction They encountered nc
enemy on the Haehe river on the morning OF the STD
and as BrHadier General Hurbul MAKING dlspos oLs
for an attack Major General Ord arrived upon the c
ani assumed command; but being wounded about eie ~
A. NJ he again saquished Il 10 General Harlhut tAe
battle continued till about hsfpas three NJ, whci u
enemy Te,reated south, crossing the Haschs al corms
NILS about Six miles further up le Our loss was
fifty killed. four hundred and ninety three wounded ad
seventeen missing General Hillhu dll not attempt auy
pursuit and General Rosecrans dld leave Corih ~
tho mornng OF the 9Th. Ine enemy therefore, erocied
his escape but was followed Tor distance VI about aAty
miles without being overtaken.
General Grant afterward led his forces south as tf 2,
Hally springs. and drove the enemy across the faa
hatchie THIS operation attended with seYera, bris
ssrmshes IN all Of which our troops were vclof'ors
These operations have restored peace ia Weaera leDne7
zee. The official reports Of the operations OF Conceal
Grants army are Submitted herewith, marked EXHIBIT
10. o.
The unfortunate withdrawal 10 Missouri by General
Curtis OF large part Of the array in Arkansas pre- nt
ed the execution OF the military opef ations which had
been ordered IN the latter state In Missouri the forces,
under Brgadicr Genera! Schced only broke up and
destroyed numerous guerrilla bands, bnt defeated the
IL
corner Of tbs State and drove il the oston Mon
taias in Arkansas. cannot give the details Of these
gaserea.s as no oaica! reports have been received
The indian tribes in the Northwest, sAG particu.
hry ~ Minnesota, incited 1t is said by rebel emssavJ
committed numerous murders and other orages on the
frontiers during the latter part OF ihe summer Those
savases vigorously attacked by volunteer l0Iss
under Brgader General Sblcy and d-featei in several
well fought battles On the upper waters Of the Mnncc'
river These vigorous proceedings struck terror au0ls
the indians and ps. end 10 hdsties ii that quarter
for the present season II = quite possible that those
host,es viii be renewed in the coming spring, and pre-
paratious wiz be made accordingly.
Ia the Dapartm mt of the Gull the whifawal Of c9r
Goa from *icksburg enabled the onoy TO concentrate
conside able force on Baton Rouge winch was thea he'd
by Erigader General Williams The attack mads IN
re 5th q August with greatly superior forces ude h
rebel Gen. Breckenridge Gen Williams gained b most
sigma! victory, but fol- in the sht Our loss ninety
k'lled and two hundred aud ffsy wounded We ps.iea
three hundred OF the enemye dad left anon tie tef
On the 10th q Angus The garrison q Baton Rouge
w.hlr0wa " New Orleans. GA tbs 24th oi uc,ohg Gt
butter sont force under fgaG!ef General Wei'4e t2
operate on the west bank OF tie Mississippi, III Tic
la Fouschc district He engaged considerable body e
the enemy On te 25th, about nirc miles fIou Donaldson
VILE and aeeated them, with q loss 81 their coiaau
der large numbeF killed and wounded ana two hundred
and sixty eight prisoners Our loss eighteen kjlcf
and sixtyeight wounded This victory opened the Whole
Of that part OF the country Gen Butler reports O. tie
military operations n his department are Submitted hero.
with, marked exhibit No Z.
In the department OF the South the only military onera
tons which have been undertaken the reconrols.
sanccs Of the Pocotago and Coosawache rivers These
expeditions under Bri.adier General Frannan and Col
Il
on the 22l Of October aud engagements ensed in which
we lost thirtytwo killed and one hundred and eighty
wounded The official reports OF these en.a gemens arc
submitted herewith, marked exhibit NO. 8.
In the department OF North Carolina our force has
also been too small TO attempt any important offensive
operations On the 9th OF September party of the enemy
surprised the garrison OF Washington; but
driven out. Our loss eight killed and thirty six
wounded that Of the enemy thirty three killed aud
about 100 wounded Several successful reconnoissanccs
have been made into the interior. The official reports
of the affair at Washington marked Exhibit No. Q.
tons, during the last three or four months that while
our soldiers nave generally fought with bravery and
produced the usual results. Ia many instances the de
feated Zoe not followed from the battle field and
even where pursuit was attempted 1t almost invariably
failed to effect the capture or destruction Of part Of
the retreatng army. This is matter which requires
riots and careful consideration. victorious army is
supposed to be in condti pursue its defeated foe
with advantage, and during surh pursuit. do him
rious, if not fatal injury. This result has usually
attained in other countries. Is there any reason why
should not be expected in this'
1t is easily understood that in country like that be
tween Yorktown and Richmond, the thickly wooded
swamps Of Mississippi and Louisiana, that retrcatng
force, by telling trees across the roads and destroying
bridges over deep and marshy streams efeCual'y
prevent any rapid pursuit. The one in few minutes
blocks up destroys roads which the other
repair for hours days The pursuer has very
little hope Of ovcrtaking his ying foe bu, this reasoning
is applicable to Maryland aud the greater pars OF
Virginia. keuttcky ana Middle Tennessee IL must be
admitted tant in these theatres Of the rebel armies
have exhibited much more mobility andactvity than orr
Not only they outnarch us. both in advance
and retreat but on two memorable occasions their cava
ry have made with impanity the entire circuit OF the
Army or the Potomac II Il be true that the Of
army depends upon its EARNS its legs has
shown Itself deficient the latter Of these essential requ
sites.
This defect has been attributed to our enormous
baggage supply trains, and 10 want OF train.
ing in marches There is no doubt that the bag
gage trains Of our armies have been excessively
large. Every possible effort has been made within
the last few weeks TO reduce them. But this is easy
task Once accustomed to Of transpor.
Ia an m " g
which supplies in the ed. BY the recent increase OF
the army ration which vas previously larger than in any
other country, considerable amount OF por alton
is employed ID moving provisions ard supplies which
not necessary fo the subsistence Of the soldiers
An examination Of the returns Of the Qlarternlaster
General few days since, developed the fact that the
Army oi the Potomac including the troops around Wash
ngion, most OF which are without field trains, had
81 900 animals, and that 9.0e0 of these were EN-
ployed in transporting ambulance and hospital tocs in
addition TO all this the roads, aud wharves
encumbered with private vehicles used for the ransrorta
tion OF suffers stores No matter how large the main
body OF army may be- il can never move rapidly with
such mass Of inpcdiments and yet speculative project,
almost daily urged the War Department 70 increase
the immobilty .. our armies in the field.
Again, TROOPS especially those in the East haze
been very little toned to march az least thlt
KIND Of marching useay required by active operation
IA the acid.
Abseneesm Is one Il ihe most serious evils in all onr
armies Hundreds oi officers and thousands OF arc
almost cuntin ally away from their commands AIany
Of those really staggers and descrers IN regard
10 officers tue cvli is beng abatcd by summary dsin
sas ard n the law could be stringenty enforced against
the men il would soon pat an era to desertous hGt
Struggling on the march and in battle cs lie prevent ed
only by and summary punishment inflicted on the
spot In this and many other important particulars our
military laws require lewiston and amendment. They
mostly enacted small army aud for Times OF
peace and unsitcA 10 the government or the
have. and The war ia which we a now engaged
Very respectfully, your 0bedient servant
H. W. HAIIE,k, 0eneTal.in Chief.
GENERAL cLELLAS TO GENERAL HALLECY.
80. Ia cory IN cypHER
BERKELEY Va, Aug 4-12 NJ.
MAJOR General HAIfEoR, Commander-in-t Chief
Your tsegram Of last evening Is received. must con
fcss that II has caused me the greatest pain expe
renced Tor am convinced that the order 10 Withdraw
this army to Aqua creek will prove dsarous in the
treme 10 fear viii be fatal blow. Several
days are necessary complete the preparations for
important movement this, and while they are in pro-
gress beg that careB consideration may he given TO
my statement This army now In exceeut discipline and
condition. We hold deGouche on both banks Of TIE
james that free TO act any direction
and with the assistance u the gunboas consider our
communications
We are twenty i've miles from Richmond and are not
.f.