Delaware State journal and statesman., 1863-09-18

! erh bahk ant at the same time many hundred
thousands Of cartridges and other stores which
had lust been landed at the western end of the
same ferry.
vigorous blockade has been maintained al
Charleston, aud although fast steamers, Of light
draught aud painted with obscure ,coors
occasionally succeed in slipping through
the blockading squadron in the morn
ing and evening twilight, many are des.
lroycd and more are captured An attack
by the heet, made on the 9Th day Of April last
upon the forts mud batteries which defend the
harbOr, failed because the rope distractions in
Tue channel iouled the screws of the iron. clad,
aud compelled them to retire after passing
through the fire of the batteries. Those vessels
bore the fire of the forts, although some defec. g
oi construction were revealed by the injuries
they received The crews passed through gu
nue11mpled oannonade with singular mpunity.
Not one life was lost on board of monitor. -
The defects disclosed have been remedied, and
an ailnck Is now in progress, with good prospect
OF ultimate success hnviug for its object the re-
ductl0n oil the forts in the hntb0r by combined
sea aud land forces We occupy more than half
OF Morris lslanl with land forces, which, aided
by batteries ailoat aud batteries ashore, are
pushing siege works up to Fort Wagner, a
strong oarihwork which has been twice assaulted
with great gallDntry, but without success On
|
garded by the insurgents as their most formida-
BILE iron-cad vessel, left Savannah, aud camo
down the Wilmington river. The national iron
clads WeehaHken, Captain john Rodgers, aud
NahanI, Commander John Downs, were in readi.
ness to meet her AT 4 o'clock 54 minutes the
Atlanta fired rifle shot across the stern Of the
| Weehnwken, which struck near the Nahant. At
O:l5 the Weehawken, at a range of 300 yards,
opened upon the Atlanta, which had then
l arm lal NI,n
toui OF which took effect ON the Atlanta, She
SUR endcred nj $3.50
Our lines have not changed in North Carolina.
All attempts OF the insurgents to recapiure the
towns from which they had been expelled have
hecn repulscd Much damage has been inflicted
upon their Communications nn valuable mill
tary stores have heen destroyed by expeditions
into the interior. North Carolina shows some
symptoms of disailection toward the insurgeut
league Similar indications are exhibited in
Mississippi, Aahama, Arkansas, and Texas
The situation on the York aud james Rivers
has remained unchanged since the withdrawal of
the army Of Gen, Mcclellan from the Peninsula
u year ago. Attempts by tue insurgents to re-
take Williamsburg aud Suffolk have bceH defeat
Ell, but the garrison at the latter place bas been
withdrawn for purely military reasons to a more
deleusiblc line.
- now return to the Army of tho Potomac,
which was left resting and reitting after putting
An end To the first insurgent invasion of Mary
land. uen. Mcclellan recrossed tho Potomac
anl entered Virginia in November, aud obliged
the invading forces under Lee to fall
backward TO uordonsyile south of the
Eappnhannock When tho Army of the
Potomac reached WarrentOn it was placed
under command Of Gen. Burnside. lie
marched to Falmouth, hoping to cross the Rap
pahannock at fredericksburg, and to move at
once upon Richmond. Delays, resulting from
various causes, without fault of the General, per.
mitted tue insurgents to occupy the nights of
Fredericksburg, and when, ut length, in Deccm.
her, Gen, Burnside crossed the Rappahannock,
his assault upon Lees well-forlifed position
failed. lie skillfuly recrossed the river without
loss. Gen. Hooker succeeded to the command
and it was not until the beginning of May that
the condition of the river and roads permitted o
renewal of offensive operations. The General
crossed the RnppahaunOck and accepted u battle,
which proved equally sanguinary to both parties
and unsuccessful 10 the Army of the Potomac.
The nights of Fredericksburg were captured by
Gen. Sedgwick's corps, but the whole army was
compelled to return To the north bank of tho
river After this battle Lee, iu the lattei part Of
May anl in June, Withdrew his army from Gen
ilookcr's front, aud ascending the south bank of
the Rnpilan towards the sources of tue Kappa
hammock, entered the Shenandoah Valley, and
once more tempted the fortune Of war by invading
the loyal States A severe cavalry engagement
at Beverly Ford uumasked lhs movement. The
Army Of the Potomac broke up its camps and
marched 10 The encounter. The militia OF Mary
land, Pennsylvania ant Now York flew to arms,
and occupied Baltimore, Harrisburg, and the line
of The Su-quchapua. Tue two armies met at
Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania, aud after u fierce
contest of three dayu' duration, md terrible
slaughter ON both sides, ;he Insurgents rccoiled
from the position held by Gen. Meade, who had
been then only four days in command of the
Army Of the Potomac. On the Fourth of July,
the day Of the surrender of Vicksburg, Lee re-
treated. passing through Chambershurg and
IIagerstowu to Williamsport, where the proper
disposition to attack him was made by General
Meade Deceived concerning the state of the
liver, supposed To he uniOr1able. Gen. Meade,
hourly expecting rcintOrcements delayed the at
tack IL day too long aud the insurgents, partly by
lorlng aud partly by floating bridges. succeeded
IN withdrawing across the river by night, with
their artillery aud "A great part Of their baggage
Much ui this baggage, as we'll as the plunler
which lace had collected was destroyed by cav
airy or thrown out of the wagons to make room
for the wounded whom Lee carried OIL from the
battle field. lie had buried most Of his dead of
the iirst day 5 conflict at Gettysburg. The re
muiuder, together with those who fell on the 30
cond aud third days of the battle, in oil 4 800,
were buried by the victorious army Many thou
rand Insurgents, wounded aud capiives, fell into
the hnud4 Of General Meade 1t is not doubted
that this second unsuccessful invasion cost the
insurgents 1000 men. Our own loss was severe,
for the strife was obstinate aud deadly Gen.
Meade crossed the Potomac. Lee retired again
TO QOrdonsye, where he is now understood to
be in front Of our forces.
While the siirring events which have been re-
| lated were occurring in the East and in the West,
General Rosccrans advanced upon Bragg, who,
with little fighting, hastily abandoned his forti-
fed positions of Shebyville and Tullahoma, in
southern Tennessee. Gen. Rosecrans took, and
he yet holds them, while Bragg, with severe loss
| in n hurried retreat, has fallen bnck to Chatti,-
nooga. II is understood that his army had been
already much weakened by detachmcnts sent
from it to reinforce Johnston, with view to a
raising of the scge Of Vicksburg,
! must not overlook the operations of cavalry.
lrncral Stoneman, in connection with the move
,nent upon Charlottesville, made IL rapid and
effective passage through the lnsurgent country,
Irum the iappahaunock to the York River, which
will he remembered among the striking achieve
inentA of the war. While our forces were opera.
ting against Vicksburg and Port Hudson, Col
Grierson, with force Of 1900 men, left Corinth
on the northern border OF the State of Mississip
pi, and made an expedition, in which he broke
military communications, destroyed stores, and
effected captures through the length nnd breadth
OF tho state, aud finally, without serious loss
joined the army OF Gen. Banks, then engaged il
the siege If Port Hudson.
john Morgan, hitherto the must successful OF
the nsurgcnt partisans, recently passed around
the lines OF Geu, Burnside crossed the States Of
Tennessee aud Kentucky moving nOrlhWard
and avoiding all large bodies OF our troops, h,
reached the Ohio River at Braudenburg below