Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-07-18

ueleusNe dttlluuti Auu tulS WAS no uOuOt
glory enough!
What the rebels actually accomplished
may be summed up as follows:
/. They established, for a time, a base
of supplies for Lees army in Maryland
There can be no doubt that they have been
only too successful in the capture of
stores, cattle. horses, &c, which they have
made. In this part of their programme
they have probably been as successful as
they could have hoped. If one could look
down the highways of Virginia, he would
see fling adOWn them long trains filed
with the spoIiG opimG of this raiding cam
paign in Maryland.
2. By cutting the railroad communica-
tion leading in Baltimore and Washington
and drawing their forces up impudeLtly
before the defences of the city, they won
the prestige of having for the time being
thrown the Capitol of the nation into
species of siege. The fact of the real hol-
lowAess of this triumph will not prevent
its being taken abroad for very signif
cant DEMONSTRATION of our weakness.
3. By the fact OF the invasion they will
probably gain, furthermore, the credit of
having shown that while we are besieging
the rebel capitol we are unable to protect
our own soil. This also is, of course,
nothing mere than specious, but it will be
accepted as Gospel by our enemies at home
and abroad.
They have produced great scare
throughout all the country covered by their
operations and tar beyond. l should ex-
cept from this Washington City, which has
throughout maintained a certain dignifed
cOmposurei but from Martinsburg, Hagers-
town aud Harper's Ferry to Baltimore, and
oF hot he's hay
ror wherever they or the report of them
has gone. In Baltimore especially, the
expeditions have been pitiful. There is no
evidence that that city has ever been
threatened by anything more than a cav
airy party, and small one at that. And
yet this squad of men has beeu able to
coop up force strong enough to chew up
the rebels, or ten times their number, body
aud boots, while they have devoted them
selves to burning houses in the suburbs,
and have even captured parties of our men
within the limits of the city itself.
3. They have been able to relieve their
lines in front of Petersburg, for brief
period at least, from the pressure of q
goodly number of Grants army.
q. They have given practical demon
] stratiou of Que of the standing dangers of
putting our army out of the position to
| cover Washington, (as it is before Peters
burgh,) namely, that the enemy can, by a
vigorous feint toward the capital, throw
the whole country into alarm respecting its
safety. This is dangerous state of facts,
for it indicates a pressure which it be-
comes difficult for any Executive to with
stand.
vi.
The movements of the rebels from Mo-
nocacy, where they were last Saturday, do
not appear to have been dictated by any
other considerations than those already
enumerated. Gen. Wallace did right in
making a fight at Monoeacy, for it is the
point Of divergence of the roads leading
both to Baltimore and to Washington
Had he been able to hold this point aud
repulse the rebels they never could have
gotten any further, and must have sought
to make their way across the Potomac
But whether from the inadequate quantity,
or the inefficient quality OF his troops, or
for other causes, he was, unfortunately,
not able to do so.
The division of the Sixth corps which
had arrived TO his aid, and which held the
left of the railroad, fought with their usual
style; but Tyler's troops (most one hun
dred days men,) on the right could not be
held, and broke in disorder. This opened
the road to the enemy. The rebels, on
this, seem TO have moved with most of their
force directly towards Washington, avoid
ing Baltimore altogether. They marched
by the straight route to Washington, name
ly, the Georgetown pike, leading from
NouOcacy Junction, through Rockville to
Washington. On Saturday night their ad
vance reached Rockville, fourteen miles
from this point. Here they bivouaoked.-
On Monday morning, a cavalry force under
Col. Lowell was thrown out to feel the
enemy, aud skirmishing followed near
Tennallytown, beyond which. they were
held at bay. This point forms the left of
our line.
During tho forenoon, large clouds of
dust, rising beyond the rebel skirmish
line, gave evidence of the movement of
large body of rebel troops. In confrma-
tion of this, it was soon discovered that
the enemy diEergiug from Rockville were
moving round toward our right. In fact,
at this point of the line, in front of Fort
Stevens, formerly Fort Massachusetts,, a
considerable force of rebel cavalry showed
themselves Monday morning. The point
at which they appeared was ia the neigh
borhood of Silver Springs, old Francis P
| Blair's residence, just over the District line
in Montgomery county, on the seventh
street road and just beyond the lines Of
our IOruncauOns- hert sklrml5nlnB kept
up during the morning. aud at about
o'clock ia the afternoon it became some.
what severe, the rebel sharpshooters, un-
der cover OF the houses in the vicinity,
having advanced to within 80 or 40 rods
of the Fort
In the course of the afternoon the reb-
ell infantry began arriving in front of
Fort Stevens, where they soon showed a
strong line In consequence Of this ma
neuyre on the part of the enemy, the
Sixth Corps, which had just arrived and
had been destined to take position on the
left of our line, were transferred to Fort
Stevens. 1t had been expected, from the
menacing movements of the enemy at
| this noint on Monday evening. that an