, 1863-05-06
CHICAGO, WEDNESDAY. MAY 6, 1868.

10. WEDNESDAY,. MA
ing, meet them again on the crest of 4 hill for
another display Of the same style Of fighting.
GEEMAsA roRp AND BRIDGE
At noon Of "Wednesday our advance reached
Ge1mania Ford, where the rebels were
found busily building ! bridge. A private
letter from rebel officer, that fell into our
bands, explains the plan Of Stuart IN this
bridge over the Rapid:n, to have been thus to
secure safe and speedy crossing Of the river
at that point swift and rocky, for tho useo
bis forces, in I contemplated raid On onr
troops. But the bridge was not done, and the
rebels skedaddlcd, except eighty who sE77en-
dcred.
CROSSING ~ z RAr1DAs.
Then came the task Tor the infantry. The
riEtr was up to the arm pits, rapid and rocky.
cartridge boxes werc hoisted OF the muskets.
:R}o1hing was stripped OF, and in they went
Same went down in the current, to be picked |
uI' dozen yards down stream, half drowned; |
but all we're jubilant. aud filled the valley |
with their shouts and Laughter. Af1er dark |
tle scene was magnificent. Huge bonircs |
vere kindied, aud their light danced With the |
.uotaleans among the bayonets AID On the
wafer, and wrought fantastic pictures on the
hi!sidts, while the Long dark colu1nn
strea1ncd down from e wooz:s into the
cleaning currents and up the CORY. beyond.
So.um aud Howard and Williams aud Pleas
au,un were there, with tl.eir aids; artillery,
infantry and cavalry officers swarmed on the
banks, and ever, body pushed forward, eager
to give assistance and pull out the uulucky.
Before morning all were across. It was feared
tlat the ammunition Ct the batteries would
b. damaged; but no such misfortune ,befell
them, aud at daylight the cartridges were
| fnnnd ready for use, L few of tie inf4utry
los; tic contents Of their cartridge boxes; but
The amount WAS insignilicant; but carly in
| tic morning The advance WAS resumed.
LEAVING THE nAF1DA.s BEHIND.
Our force, on Thursday, April S0th, pushed
| on toward Charlottesville. Nothing Of i'm
| portance occurred till ha|f-past twelve p. m.
when, at Wilderness, the enemy fired OIL them
from the woods bordering the road leading to
CulIeprer. It was found to be party ofthe
4tl Virginia cavalry, under Robertson. Tie
a{ia;r WAS very brief one, and the same after
noon, The troops reached Chanccllorsvi!le, the
eremy still retrcat;ng, although hc had thrown
up Il long line Of ri,lc pits In our front. They
| are strongly fortified two miles ahead, on the
| fredericksburg road, where VIC hope to pay
tEcm our respects III the morning. Tie Fifth
CORPS here rejoiued the others by n separate
route by Ely's Ford, from kelly's Ford.
cuAScELLoRsr1LLE.
Charlottesville is made up ofone house,
large brick one; long in use in former years
as Tavern, wlicl. has given it the name. A
family Of Chancel}ors stnl occupy it, but have
given up portion to the Commanding Gen
eral as headquarters. II Is tin miles to Fred
ericksbnrg.
The Sth Pennsylvania cavalry, which led the
advance Of the Fifth from the Rappahannock,
after brisk skirmish drove the enemy from
lis eagthworks ut Charlottesville, and pushed
on towards Fredericksburg, but, meeting two
b1igadcs Of the enemy, With artillery, on a I'LL
shout FIX miles from the city, were compelled
to retire, but without loss. The rebel brig
AIDES Of MaAoncy and Posey fell back upon
Fredericksburg from the fords about 10 a. III.
TIE CROSSING AT o7HlR roRps.
The First, Second and Third divisions left
camp on Tuesday, and moved to the vicinity
Of Banks Ford, taking q circultous route to
keep in the rear of tho range Of hills skirting
the left bank Of tho river. On arriving at
Banks Ford, the enemy WIS found strongly
posted to resist the attempt to cross. Some
little demonstration was therefore made,
when the main body Of the troops moved of
! l1.o x{- ~.
| found In force ct this p3nt, but during the
night dccampcd from the formidable earth.
works which they had constructed. During
the day the 50th New York Engineer regi-
ment) threw a pontoon bridge across ftw
hundred feet below the ford. Upon its COM
lletion, the band of the Engineer brigade
marched orcr it, playing s'In Dixie's Land
TIL Take my Stand" Then passed over one
Of the divisions, which was followed by d
continuous stream Of troops until very late
in the night. What the rebels intended to Dc
was something Of mystery, but the general
impression seemed to bcthat they would mas.
their army at convenient point on thcir left
and give battle outside Of their defcnccs
The above named divisions at once Joined
the others at Charlottesville. The road from
the United Suites Ford to Charlottesville
runs through oak woods. The plank road ani
the old turnpike offered solid track.
THE ESEMY's POSITION
at noon Of the 30:h, as Indicated on the map
i extended On their lett from Spo:tsylyanil
Cont House to Banks Ford, and On thci
right from Fredericksburg to u point bcloE
ahe mouth Of Massaponax Creek. The rout'
- o7,rA E.on1 Ill
Of the Ueitcd States Ford, was very circuit
Gus and Delayed the movements Of troop
| very considerably.
THE SITUATION ON THURSDAY, 50IH.
Our brief resume Of the operations sine
Monday brings the time down to the date 0
, Gen. Hooker's congratulatory order to tn
| Fifth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Divisions, whicl
, in four days time marched slxty-four miles
, # rled or crossed two streams, had two skir
n1ishcs, captured large number Of prisoners
and lost but two men killed and one wound
ed. It seems that the rains larc delayed thi
splendid movement come days, for it was o1
the 18th that orders were received to prepar
; eight days ratlons and be prepared to marcl
at q moments notice. But tWo teams wer
allowed to reg iment, men we're required t.
carry additional ammunition in their knap
> sacks, aud q mule t1oin was to carry stl
further supply in panniers. This WAS the 1igh
Z condition in which the army actually marched
The rebels seemed to regard Hooker's de
signs as being against Gorlonsville and in
polite and likely to result disastrouslY, SAY
:, !. Ing that the Confederatcs arc making Go1
- donsyi1lc stronger than Fredericksburg wa:
and that we will discover it is not the easies
!, way Of getting to Richmond-''
WASHINGTON, May 5.-A son Of E14Senatc
:. A. G. Brown Of Mississippi is among the rcb'
~ prisoners. More than 8 600 are now here.
PHILADELPHIA, May 5.-A passenger wh
ID ar1ired hcrr from Fort Monroe this afternoon
= says when he lett there yesterday there =:
(. lighting going on near Snfrolk. A force I
49, Union troops had been sent against SON
'6 works the rebels were constructing. It vi
understood the rebels had been driven SON
distance, but no particulars given.
Il" New YORK, May 5.-This city is filed Wit
CT rumors, which are undoubtedly founded q
II mere gucss-work, as nothing is yet allowe
h to come over the wires, By the censor
Washington.
S. The Philadelphia Inqninr has dispatc
he | purporting to be from Washington, ytstc
T. t1ay, stating that telegram from Lee
Richmond was intercepted, calling for rel
forcemcnts, and announcing his entire inabi
$, ity to hold out two days longer unless tht
are sent.
NJ Stone1uan's cavalry IS in the rebel rear, I'D
~ l. safa to hare cut the Virginia Central and Il
ne Fredericksburg and Richmond railroads, ne
aff fho, r1S-J3f