Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1863-09-18
For the / indicator.
Mr.. EaIToR

have found whilst
corning up the Valley and since at
this III zee, that there are many. rtl-
naofs sssssl a general opinion pervadlng
The community, in relation to lateioI-
era.inns Of the present command IN
the Valley, that 90 il injustice, and
are calculated 70 rrs.iuaiee popular
opiIiain against it art It's commander,
silunlv because Of an ignorance of the
iae3S connected with those movements.
hasa IN his command and feel that
whatever If oslinGl is fixed on any
hasfy Of troops attaches itselfsmore or
less 70 each meI,lhef Of tiist body and
for t''l;sitalsan | wish to correct some
Of these statements in circulation.
I is stated everywhere that Gen.
Imbodcn moved on afoorfel.l, oceu-
pied by $50 Of the enemy, with a brg-i
AIDE and was driven away without e.
feetlug their capture and that he re-
treated to the Valley. The facts are
as follows
Gen. Imboden moved across the
Shenandoah mountain to occupy a
point East Of Beverly to intercept the
retreat Of 'Averills cavalry, who sue
ceedcl in making his escape over an
other road and the Valley Brigade re-
turned through Pcndieton and Hardy
counties TO IFS original position. Hav-
ing sent his train and disabled horses,
"a large part Of the whole nnmber)
thro' Brooks Gap, the General I'M
dertook with the remainder tocaptnre
the Moorfeld force and cross lower
down. Three hundred men alone re-.
NAMED available for this purpose,
who drove the enemy'sa pickets and
skirlnishers to their cntrenched posi-
ton, when information from prisoners
captured, and from citizens, convinced
every one that reinforcements from
Ronlney and Petersburg had increased
their force to at least twice and per-
haps three times our force, IN addition
to which they were using a section Of
artillery ON us, when to have attacked
such odds, with many Of our men
armed only with pistols, would have
been extremely foolish, and would
have eyinced weakness on the part Of
the Gen. ordering it. The command
having exhausted four hours in feel
ing the enemy and failing to get ac-
information was ordered to re-
tire ard return to The Valley then in.
an exposed condition Subsequent in
formation proved that the reported
reinforcements had not arrived, yet
the enemy's entrenched position could
only hare been carried with heavy
loss and there could have been no fur
ther advance but the command must
then have returned to its proper de-
partment. This simple statement Of
facts it is hoped will put an end to
the foolish statement Of fright and
precipitate retreat of q brigade of our
troops from an imaginary body Of the
enemy.
On the morning Of the 18th inst,
this camp Of the enemy was successful
~ surprised and routed BY l4O men
under Capts Mcneil, Iaboden and
Hobson, Of Gen Imboden's command
the latter two Of whom were left in
the neighborhood a week before to an
ney their outposts and attack their
trains and were joined by Capt.
Mcneil, on the evening Of the 10th
when the united force moved tlro' the
dark, avoiding two scouting parties,
of $50 and so men respectively, sent
to surprise THEIR camp at daylight,
as we'll as six picket posts and line
of skirmishers posted to guard against
surprise, and stole up to the line Of
tents without q live Yankee showing
himself, when, at a distance Of five
PAGES from the nearest row, all their
ents We're riddled with calbine and
revolver balls, killing and wounding
|25 and scattering the others to the
four winds. One hundred and forty
seven prisoners, (including 8 oficers)
were captured, together with their en-
tire camp equipage, IL wagons, guns,
revolvers, $4,000 rounds of ammuni-
ton, cooking utensils, trunks, medical
stores, blankets, cavalry saddles and
extra horses, which were brought safe
ly off, with the exception Of about 20
horses killed and one ambulance re-
captured in an attempt by the Peters
burg force to rescue the prisoners. II
was here that the sFarpest fighting oc-
Cured and we lost Lieut. Welton and
three men wounded, and three or four
captured in the two actions. The loss
Of horses was occasioned by a party
ambuscading the train to block the
road. Altogether the surprise was
complete and successful and to night
Capts. Mcneil, Imboden and IIobson,
have their prisoners in Staunton.
A MEMBER OF N. w. BRIGADE.
STAuNToN, Sept. 18th 1863.
LARGE SHEEP.
Mr. Fl B. Bryan, agent for the Cen
elal Hospital at Stanton, purchased