Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-01-27
The TLGS The re- aTs

The Movements upon the RaPPahannOek
1.-The storm that Frustrated the Move.
Correspondence Of the New York Tribunel
BASEs' FoRD OF THE RAPPAHAHSocK,
SIX MILEs ABOVE FALMOUTH, Jan. =, lS63.
1t will be difficult to convey the full and
correct impression of the difficulties and
uncertainties which at present surround
the army now gathered about this locality,
The anxiety of the people at home can be
hardly greater than has been Oecasioned
in the army by the very unfortunate inter
ference with our plans which the severity
of the weather has occasiOned. For more
than tWenty-four hours right upon the
Commencement Of our m6Vement when
every hour Of delay was the sacrifice Of
life and the risk of success, a storm Of the
greatest severity has blocked effectually
our progress and rendered the final issue
most uncertain. The storm is still raging,
and the prospects of its terminating are
entirely indefinite. The wind is bowling,
| the rain pelting, the cold freezing, and the
army exposed to it all without shelter or
protection. 1t is one Of the seyerest nights
of year. Few at home would venture
/ out in the storm, without some pressing
necessity. Yet the army has been for
more than twenty-four hours drenched in
it, pierced by it, and almost frozen in it.
Military operations have halted. We
have been struggling against the elements
with might and main, yet the progress is
hardly perceptible. The soil has melted
under the rain like wax. Horses hoofs
slump into it, and they draw their feet out
Of it with grosn and evident exhaustion
Of strength. The wheels of the artillery
| sink nearly to the axles, and the infantry
must be called into requisition to lift the
wagons out of the mud holes. In the
darkness of the night the greatest difficult
| ty has been experienced in finding the way
to their designated positions. Batteries
have turned off upon wrong roads, and in
| place Of being all in position by daylight,
a few have not found their destined po-
sitions after tWenty-four hours By the
! greatest effort, most Of the artillery had
been placed in position by noon. In evil
dence Of the effort which was required,
| twenty horses were seen fastened to a
single gun-a 12-pound Napoleon.
The pontoon train was most seriously
affected by the storm. When the bridges
ought all 10 have been completed, many Of
the boats were scattered upon a score of
roads, in all directions, fast in the mud or
lost in the labyrinth of roads, with which
the country is intersected. A remarkably
confused state of things pervaded the pom
toon train. The horses, exhausted, were
unable to move the wagons, and a detail
of three regiments of infantry was made
to help them out Of their situation. These
regiments were the 141st, 63d and Hath
Pennsylvania. Long ropes were fastened
to the wagons, and fifty men hold of each,
pulled them through the mire to their des-
tination. They worked Justify and cheer
fully, and the back bone of the army prov
ed its value for draft as well as fighting.
The tugging of the fagged-out horses
through the mud and storm with artillery
and pontoon wagons, and the efforts Of
the men to e1tricate them, with their
shoulders to the wheels or pulling at a
rope, made the activity of the night full of
interest and long to be remembered by
those who witnessed it or participated
in it.