The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1863-11-10


s The amy carvssponaeMe of ,he .tha,le..o.
csvtw Ktves Mat pApsr very mn econ (, of ne
asAt h Leykoss Valley, which -, s cha..ed ,he
.ses . me situation as c'asssseosa. We give
sosAe exsracss atpn DE ie,,es.
I sns essay wets sevesal miles dlstans, and he
Mo.s q shetr hivosac Area rsssihe ehovs shs tses
~ InAacased halt. Subsequently shs column
ussMca lts saoetoa, ~ dSstne lhe aftersnou sk~
scak dasa, 0see1 tbke ltaes Of snsops Recsc visl-
q: ss"ws ~sss. ~. way e me d.recss:a q
slna llse singular speciarie- eesp siissl which
sMes1csa - custaae c00ifAAa alDe beawttes af "a
sse sss see ashaevenrnis af ari--ihe b,esstag. II
nsaes, Loslssrees, aad othefs, to whom this bold
veeseN q NE enemy 0pened at once new sistas
81 soouaht end aciion. Infantry, artillery, and
tassacissS In panorAa until among III the sss,n
A0WnIsumptnonsp pictmres, ;, which siowed aso,,nd
~, there was MOI one like that Of the great itesi
thoa~and twinkling lights, It's groups Of men and
animals, AVID its lines Of white topped wagons.
now strung like necklace of pearls around the
bosom OF The NILS. The Federals had succeeded
In efccttng junction with the Army 0f Ci,Atta
noogs.
The question which naturally arises Is, why did
MT Gen. Braeg throw hss army In front of The al.
vancins columns and chcck the movement The
answer 10 IN tbs shape OF of those stoiid facts
which even strategy cannot always STIR. On Mon
day night Gen. Thomas-or perhaps Grant, t7,r he
II now IN Chatean0oga-csosseda . force Of 5000
men, Afst ovrs the Tennessee the edge Of town,
then over the neck Of land known a. the Moe
casin, and finally over the river again n Browns
Ferry N rear of,Chattanoogs, where, after brief
session OF the hifis and coin.nenced ikc work or
t0SHncati0n. simultaneously with this movement
column at Bridgeport, consisting of the llth
corps, Ten. Howard, and 18th corps, Gen. Slocum,
the whole under command of. Gen Joe Hooker,
staited up the valley.
Under these circumstances, an fnteYpositIon Of
our forces across the valley would In the first
place have requIIed the transfer of n considerable
portion Of army from the east to the west side
Of Lookout Mountain, thereby weakening our
line In front OF Chattanooga, while the enemy re-
served his strength; secondly, It w0uld have ne
cessltated fight In both our from, and rear, with
the tanks Of the FesaFas protected by the tnoun-
tains; and finally, had we been successful, vie
tory would only have demoraiized two corps OF the
Yankee army without at alt influencing the direct
issue Involved In the present investment of Chat
tan0Oga.
Gen. l.Ongstreef, however, who from the peak
had carefully watched the march Of the lth corps,
determined 10 make an attack for another purpose
namely, to capture, if pOssible, large park df'
wagons and It's escort, numbering, as was sup
posed, from fifteen hundred tc two thousand men,
who still remained I'm the rear. II subsequently,
appeared, although II was nos known at the time,
that the advaAce guard of the 18th corps had
moved up after dark and taken position in the same
locality. To Hoods, or rather Gen. Jenkins's di-
vision-he being the ranking Brigadier-was as
signed the hOnOr Of making the attack, but owing
to the rugged nature Of the road the troops could
not be marched TO their respective places until u
late hour In the night probably between twelve
and one O'Clock.
The situation at this time was as follows: The
enemy were In the neighb0rh0od Of Browns Fer
ry, on line Of hills parallel with the river: Gen
Laws Alubamians and Robertson . Te xans on the
same range Of heights, one mile and half this
side, and nearer 10 Lookout Mountain, while Cen
Benning, with his Georgians, had position on
the left OF the two brigades last named being In
tended as 4 support to Col Brati0n, commanding
the brigade of Gen. Jenkins.
These commands covered az it were the bridges
On which they had crossed Lookout Creek, at the
same time that they threatened the line of the
enemy at Browns Ferry, TO prevent movement
from that direction. Col. Bratton, with his six
regiments Of south CarOiinians, CONSISTING of the
First, Col Fitzpatrick, Second, Col. Thompson,
Fifth, Col. Coward, Sixth. Lieni Cot. Steadman
Palmetto Sharp shooters, Col. Walker, and llamp
ton Legion, Col. NJ. w. Gary. now moved down
the valley mile more to the left to attack the
supposed rear guard and capture the much envied
wagon train.
Skirmishers being thrown out, the Federal pick
cts were soon encountered, and these falling back.
the enemy were found in line Of battle. Instead
Of being surprised. they instantly opened with
heavs voilles, and II required but a short time to
reveal the fact thar instead Of patry body Of men
one brigade was fighting whole division beiOpg-
Ing TO the 18th Army Corps of Virginia.
The battle commenced about one O'Clock and
for two hours -tlo brigade faced an unknown and
unseen Zoe, guided only IN their move ments by the
dim light of o shadOwed moon and the. iaslas OF
the enenly's guns. As ting engagement progressed
Col. BratiOn, discovering weakness on the right
Of the Federal line, ordered Col. Walker, Of the
SharpshOoters, to attack vigorously at that point.
Sweeping his regiment afonnd so as to form near
~ perpendicular with our line OF battle, he
poured his fast succeeding volleys into the ranks
OF the en- ,my, who began to fall back ont of range
Of It's fury, silencng n the same time the Federal
battery
Meanwhile, Col.> NJ. w. Gary, of the Hampton
Legion, being ordered to the right of Col. Coward,
esn.a
sibiiity of making flank or ''Jac ksOn' movement
on the Federal left, and by sklll(ui man9uvra,
marked by his usual dssi, succeeded In precipitat
ing his regiment fairly upon the coveted spote
Pushing impetIDusly forward at charge his men
Yelling and pouring In destructive fire they ad
vanecd, the Yankee iiae vas speedily btoken.-
The legion now pressed on, taking prisoners by the
way, passed through the wagon camps, lelt these
and large amount Of spoils In their rear and pre-
pared 10 charge the battery which had been com
PEELED to retire in the early par: OF the actio and
from its new position was playing, though with
little effect, upon our line. In ten minutes more
the guns wOald have been ours, and Gary only
waited 10 form hisffOnt and receive the co -op-
eratlOn of Col. Coward.
At this juncture, in consequence Of the pres
encc OF the enemy from the direction Of Browns
Ferry, hereafter explained, peremptory order was
received from Gen. Jenkins, through Col Bratton,
to retire TO the bridges. The tdngs could scarcely
be believed. Caly, in his characteristic manner,
took the courier To fire light to ascertain whether
he was not ''demOraized," hut the courier, cool
and collected, told his name and the company, and
repeated the order TO stall back" Victory was
already in our hand the enemy whipped beyond
peradventure, and the fruits OF success in 0mr pos
session yet there was other than to
obey the command of the chief Officers and men
alike participated In the general feeling Of reluc-
tance, and the discipline of the brigade, always ad-
mirable, never was put TO severe{ test. The
movement rearwaFd, however, was slowly made,
Cofnneis Walker aud Coward forming fresh line
of battle at various fntelvas, and the Hampton
Legion shooting the horses and mules, which, be-
ting embarrassed, prevented the removal of the
wagons. Twenty more prisoners were also
drought away by Colonel Gary, together with n
captured Aag
Ferry, consisting of SIocum's corps and Granger's
corps of the Western army, numbering probably
between 1900 and IL QUO, seeing the attack Of COL
Bratton, rapidly marched up the valiey,One column
aiming 70 intersect the long interval between Jen
klns's brigade and that Of Gen. Bennng, and there
by cut the former of from the bridge, and the other
column moving to attack the line of Gems. i,aw
and Robertson. The two latter soon became en-
gagged along their front, during which the Federais
huvsing the bank Of the river, sought ID turn the
right OF Laws brigado and pass around in thar di
rection towards the bridge, which Il was now
matter Of life aud death 10 US should be siubborny
held.
Instantly. divfning the intention Of the enemy
Grn Jenkins ordered Law to maintain his position
at every hazard, and al the same time Instructed
Bratt0n to fall promptly back upon the creek The
FedeFals had reached the right Of Benning's bri-
gade, and We're now within three hundred yafis Vi
the road BY which BrattOn was to pass to the rear
Lieut. Col. Logan, Of the Hampton Legion, with
fourteen companies which 1e had relieved nom
picket and hurried f0rvard 70 the field, had Area
dy arrived, and occupying position frst
the len; and subsequently on the right OF Ben
nlpg-6lilng the gap between the latter and Robert
the enemy now received. still the situation was
critical one, aud nothing hut able geueralshsp,