, 1863-11-24

cliaea to, .sczfee, under Providence to the
spirit Of exalted patriotism that animated
them. and = consclousueAa that they Nere
fighting In righteous cause.
All hope Of defeating our army and secur:
irg what Gen. Lee calls tfthe valuable resalts''
OF such an achievement having vanished, ho
thought only Of reacning from destruction the
remains OF biz shattered forces- In Killed,
,.esf a1 aad Il .soat It ST.
mrn, rather more than third of the army
which he is eupposed to have hso1ght with
him into Pennsylvania. PercelVing that h15
only ssfety was In rapid retreat, he commenc-
ed Withdrawing his troops at day break On the
4ts, thFnytng up fleld rorks IN fro front It OF our
position, were intended probably to protect
the rear Of his army in their retreat. That
day-Ead celebration Of the 18th Of July for N
army OF Anerlcans-Waa passed bJ Elm II
hu1yipE OF hin trains. The matn army Wal
in full 1etreat Oh the Cashto"n and Fairfield
cipitatton That, short IS the nights were, BY
Daylight the, following mornlrg, not4lth-
standing heavy rain, the rear guard had left
it, position. The struggle Of the two Last days
resenb1ed Ii many respects the battle OF Wa
General Meade, Ike the Duke Of wellington,
had had the assistance ct powerful an1tl1sry
army to take up the pu7suit. the rout Of the
rebels wonld have been as complete as that OF
Napoleon
Owing to the circumstances above named
the intentions Of The enemy were not appa1-
ent on the 4th. The moment his retreat
ms discovered the following morning, he
wsA pursued by our cavalry on thc CashtoNn
road and in the Emmetgburg and Monterey
paesee, and by Sedgwick's corps on the Fair :,
field road. Bis rear guard Ha1 briskly a.
tackled st Fairfield; great number Of Wag.
cIs and ambulances were captured in the
passes Of the mountains the country swarm
I'd with his strrgglers, and his wounded Werc
literally emptied from the vehicles contain
ing them, into the farm houses on the road.
Gen. Lee, in bis report, makes repeated men-
tion Of the Union prisoners whom he con.
Keyed into Virginia, some What oVerstating
their number He states also that "anch Of
his wounded ~ were In condition to be re-
moved" Nere forwarded to Willfamsport.
He does net mention that the number Of his
Ian care Of the victors, was 7,54o, not one Of
whom failed of any attention which 1t WAS
possible, under the circumstances Of the caae,
to afford thern-not one of them, certaluly,
has been pnt upon Libby prison fare-ltnger-
ing death by starvation: Heaven forbid,
the exercise Of common humanity.
Under the protection Of the mountain ridge,
Whoae parroW passes are easily held, even by
aretteatiug army, General Lee reached Will
Transport II safety, and tsokup po.iton op-
'poslte to that place. General Meade neces-
movement through MiddletoWn, Turner'S
Pass having been secured by General French.
Passing through the South mountain, the
Union army cana up with that Of tho rebels
on the 18th, and found 1t securely posted on
the heights Of Massh's Run; His position
m attack on tho 18th. The depth Of the river,
swollen by the recent rains, authorized tho ex-
pectatIon that ho would be brought to an en-
| gagement the following day. An advance
Waa accordingly made BY General Meade on
the 18th; but it was aoon found that the reb-
els had escaped during the night, with such
haste that Ewelps corps foided The river where
| the water WAS breast high. The cavalry, which
| had rendered the most Important services dur
| ing the three days, and III harrasting tho enc.
| my's retreat, Was now lent In pursuit, aud
| captured two guns and q large number Of
Falling Waters, General Pettigrew Was NOR
| tally wounded. Central Meade, In further
| pursuit. Of the enemy, crossed tbs Potomac at
| Berlin. Thus again covering the approaches
| to Washington, he compelled the enemy to
pass the Blue Ridge at one Of the upper g ps,
and In about SIX weeks from tho comm ence:
ment of the campaign, General Lee found
himeelf again on the Eonth side Of the Kappa
hammock With the loss of one third of. bis
| army.
Such, most iaadequate1y reconnted. is tho
history Of the ever-memorable three days and
Of the events Immediately preceding and fol-
loving. 1thas been pretended, In order to
| dimirlsh the magnitude OF this disaster to the
| rebel cauee, that it mas merely the repulse Of
40 attack en- strongly defended position.
| The tremendous losses on bob siaes are q
| sufficient ansHer 10 this Misrepresentation,
aud attest the courage and obstlnacy NTH
| which the three daysf battle Was waged. FeN
| Of the great cohtllcta Of modern times have
cost vlctQrs ard yan4uishea - great sactf-
| fee. On the Union side there fell in the
Weed AID zook; and wounded Generals Bar.
| low, Barnes, Bntterdeld, Doubleday, Gibbou,
Graham, Hancock, sick1es and Warren !;
! while Ct officers below the rank Of General
and men, there we're 1854 killed, l3;709
wounded, and 6 .G43 missing. On the Confe-
mortal1y wounded General Armistead, B1.ks-
dale, Gsrnett, Fender, Petttgrew and ssmmes,
| and wounded Heth, HOOD, Johnsou, KEN
! per, Kimbau and Timbls- OF officers beloH
the rank Of General and men, there Were
taken tS1 prisoners, including ths x9anded -,
:! wounded in a condition to be removed ofthe
Killed and the missing, the enemy has made
no return. They are estlmated from the best
data, which the nature Of the case admits, at
5000. Gen: Meade also captured three csn'
| mons and forty one AtandardB.
I must leaye to others, who can do It from
! personal observation, to describe the mourn.
| fal spectacle presented by these hill.sides and
| plains at the close OF the terrible conflict. It
was saying OF the Duke of Wellington, that
next to i defeat, the saadest thing Is q Iicto'
r.. The horrors Of the battle field, atter the
contest Is oyer-the s1ghts and sounds Of woe
let me throw pail over the scene, which
no words can adequately depict to those WAo
have not Witnessed 1t; on which no one who
has Witnessed 1t, and. who has heart in
| 1t hans +1F IA -
balm alone, one drop Of heavenly, Hfs.giYine
balm-mingles in this bitter cup OF nliaery,
| Scarcely h&o the cAnnen cessod to roar, when
the brethren and sisters Of Christian beHeyo
1euce, ministers Of comparison, angels Of pity
haatea to the field and thn hospital, to mois
ten the pa1ched tonguea, to bind the ghastly
vounaR, to soothe the parting agonies, alike
Of friend and foe, aad to catch the last whts
| pered messages Of lore from dying lips
s'Ca1rY this miniature back to my dear. wife
gone" 'Tell my little sister not to griev'
for me. am willing to die for my country
s'Oh, that my mother were here" Whel
since Aaron stood between the living and tht
dead was there ever ministry like this7 L
has been said that It il character1sttc .
difference mot .paid to them il - m:
other country. Twill not undertake to sa1
whether this Is 60, but I will say that sine
this terrible war has been waged, the womel
Of the loyal States, II never before, have en
titled themselves to our highest admiration
and gratitude, alike those Who at home, ofssl
with fingers unused to toll, often bowed be
neath their own domestic Cares, hare PER
formed an amount Of daily labor not less thai
hers who works for her daily bread, aud thos
who, in the hospital and the tent Of the Sanl
taEy Commission, have. rendered service
which millions could not buy. Happily; til
labor and The service are their oWn reward
Il Thousands of xuAtrons aud thousands Of maid
ems have experienced delight 10 these home
y tolls and services, compared with whic
the pleasure Of the ball room and the opera
earth, is reward enough, but richer Is !
: store for them- Yes.. brothers. Sisters Il
charity, while you bind up the wounds OF th
rpor sufereIs-the hnmb1est perhaps thu
; have shed their blood for the country, forge
not who It is that wil1 hereafter say to you
!, s'Ipaemuch as you have done 1t unto one {
the least Of these, my brethren, ye haye don
{ it unto me-"
; WHO Is REsross1BLE?-
And now friends, fellow. citizens,. as Y
stand among these honored graves, the m<
nentous question presents itself, which {
.. the two parties to the war il responsible fd
. all this su1feriDg-for this dreadful sacridc
Of ltfe-the lawful and constitutional Coz
. eminent ut the United S.ates, or the Amh
. tious men who have rebe11ed against 1t sa
strebelied' against It, although Earl Russell
| tie British Secretary Of State for Foreign 4
). fairs, in bis recent temperate and conelIiatt
5 ~ speech In Scotland, seems to Intimate tn:
: no prejudice ought to attach to that word, u
t agalnRt CHARLES l. and james H., and OF
' | American fathers rebelled against George II
1 These certainly are venerable precedents, ,br
y they move only that 1t is inst and proper