Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-07-03

silver spoons OF q private eltlEen Is slHPlS
thief. The vessels which are burned at sea
by tho Alabama or the Tacony. those & char
a., tered libertines" whom Mr.. Welles makes
! free of the Atlantic, are the property. by the
laws of war, of those who burn them. ana
carried into neutral port. But it would he
the right of cavalry colonel to chop up'sil-
yer salvers with an axe in order 10 cram them
into his holsters, or which would conycv 10 Il
negro corporal the fec-smpIc Of the liouses
which he burns over the heads of women and
children by the order of his white-faccd but
black-hearted commander.
When we find General Lee rctaliating upon
the farmers of Pennsylvania all that Hunter
has inflicted upon the planters of Georgia and
Carolina when rapine and arson set up IN the
captured towns of the North the same infer
nal carnival to which they have been invited
in the South, then. and not till tlcn we may
call upOn the world to witness IT, at the officers
and soldiers of the Shareholders rebellion are
really is reckless Of humanity and Of dccencE
Us the officers and soldiers Of liberty and The
Union ! In the meantime il is the soicmn duty
of every man who respects himself and his
country, its present honor and it, future fame.
to protest with I'LL the power that God has
given him against Il course Of policy which
saps the foundation Of our hopes. and makes
our very name IL "hsSing and Il rrproach'
among the nations.
! HOW GRANT DROVE HIS MEN To SLAUGHTER
MERCILESS NEGLECT or HIS WOUNDED.
We ask our readers to carefully poruSc the
following letter of correspondent Of the New
York Times" writing from Grants Head.
quarters before Vicksburg, in which the writer
coolly attempts tojustify Grant for mcrcilesSly
sacrificing the lives ofao many thousands OF
his 4 in, knowing before hand what the result
w68 bo, viz: only aprcascs the clamors ri
the ignorant masses of the North,
People may be disposed to find
fault because Gen. Grant repeated his assault
against the works at Ficksburg, instead Of IL
orcc proceeding upon the safer plan OF layiu.
siege to the place in form. ! have but little
doubt that General Grant knew vcrr well BE-
fore making the first assault that thu place was
imprcgnable to everything save regular ap-
proaches but Yet public opinion. in ii meas
ure.. compelled him to make the attack in the
precise manner that hc did. Hal hr placed
formal investment, week would not hav.
Of the press of the North would have been
Igvowlng at this understandable delay. and
have been well assured that the rebel force be-
fore him was hai-starycd and feeble in num-
bcr, that the works were of no strength, the
guns were all wooden. and thousand other
things of the kind usual under similar III
lcuustanccs.
| Gen. Grant probably forcSlw this, anil de-
termincd to put IL qulcns upon it at the very
beginning. He knew that the sane people
and the same journals that have been stating
that Eirksburg was of no strength in front
that its garrison was ,rmoralizcd. and it,
monster guns 81 sham. and who had prrSiStcmt-
~ urged his removal because he did no: ut once
land his forces in front Of the town and Scrur.
tue place, would renew their clamor the VERY
instant they found he had determined upon Il
formal Investment Of Nickshurg-Nic ksbrrg
was weak in front. and, Of course. it would DC
Of no account i'll the rcar-Grant was timid,
not equal to the position-awav with him
Grant took the only possible course left him
TO forestal this >cnsclcss clamor. lie moved
ut once upon the cncmy's works and was re-
pulsed hut as, from some misunderstanding.
only y portion Of his force had participated in
the attack he knew the country would not hr
satisfied, and 80 he tried i; again This time
a column twelve miles in length. and humber
ing thousands by the score. was prcrpirutcd
jagainst the Gibraltar dnicnrrs in from u
them.
As was expected, it met with Il bloody and
Overwhelming rcpulSc, and the rountry, after
hearing this, and learning that liz the expert
] ncnt we lost from three To five thousand men.
without, in Il single instance. having made the
slightest impression upon tllcrebcl works. will
| be likely to allow the cOmlnandcr-in-cilicr Ia
| rtfs,scr cksburg in his own way. Our.ileavy
l KS, .aesrl wo unsuccessful attempts !, carry
| tho rebC! works by Storm, will convince people
that if Eicksburg is very weak in front. it
does not have that dc(c:t in the ref; and,
Furthermore, that the rebel garrison is neither
weak, Gcnoralizcd nor starved, AMI that its
guns, instead Of being "tluakrrs," are vcrita-
Bic Parrots and Col,lnbiads, ut once cGnn-
manding in position and numerous as to
quantity, and which ut any moment are able
10 fill the mir with tempest of death in,u
which no storrning party can enter and i've
From this time onward the people will liz will
ing to wait with greater than usual patience
the slow process Of reducing this place.
The wounded, or many Of them and the
killed of last Thursday. were not brought III
the fold till the afternoon OF the Succeeding
Monday. 1t is scarcely necessary to add that
when our parties went over the field the pro-
portion of the living to the dead was terribly
FssmaI. In this hot climate few men will lie
under q scorching sun, withnut food, water
and medical attendance, and survive IL wound
three days. For this reason very few Of those
found were alive; but few. if any. will recover.
Why they were no: brought away sooner, |
cannot tell. After the first assault the rebels
not only allowed our mon to come unoa thr
ground and carry o!i the wounded. but they
assisted us by rendering in person many uttcil-
tons to those whofcll close to their work. After
the second assault however. thcv refused IL
allow any one tocunlc upon thciicld. Surgeons
who approached with white flags in their
hands, were fired upon. until finally, tie ut.
tempt had to he abandoned The rebels can
not be blamed for this. not firing upon the
surgeons who approached with white fiags
for this rcason--that during these times our
lines did not cease their bcligcrcnt operations,
but kept up constantly fire from the battcrie:
and sharpshoo,crs.
Finally it was determined to ask for Tic
privilege of caring for our men, which. unilcl
tho rapid operation Of red tape. WAS agree,
upon for u space Of four and II half hours
commencing at i o'clock OH the afternoon o
Monday, and our men and the rebels came
together and mingled freely with each othc,
during the time. and chatted us joriYlIv ant
socially with each other as if they Were com
panions-in-arms, instead of deadly enemies
and they showed formidable average az t,
numbers. and seem to be- in respect To ssarva
ton and decentralization, quite Us lirtlc ct!ectc,
Sc nllI own troops.
[ Tho rebels are indetatigable in their effort
to strengthen their works. Every mornin.
reveals the erection uf 4 new work. the r.
pairing of an old one, or the planting Of bat
tcries in new positions. Yesterday mornn.
they astonishcd our forces on the RIGHT b,
opening upon them with two new guns-onc
O smooth "a, and the other. rifle :32-pounder
E:a,., Ill tl,,,;