New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-09-01
Fnom CEN. GRANTS ARMY
A hide to the Extreme Lefs-Tho oap'"''
or the weldon Bsiiresd-No'e' ~ inc

In FRONT OF PETERSBURG VA
wednesday, August a. 1864
rh.vs inst returned from three days leis-
~. r;as to the extreme left, and up and down
A. Walden Railroad. And oh! such wagon
,oadsI But | will not stop to describe these
srvt allow me TO refer to all that has ever been
written and said about bad roads-about new
military roads through timbered land, IN wet
xeather-and say that ali is mot equal to the
occasion" and have done. l understand that
our &C. A. p" and II. j. W., of The Times,
have inst gone down that way, with the inten-
tiou of going to the extreme LETT. Good pye'
newsnaper correspondents! know the bright
snticinations that lure you on. Alas! know
the fate that awaits you. Yen may return
again IN interest and amuse the readers OF your
,ssneotive journals, but more likely you will
onlv survive as interesting fossils for the speca.
ttions of future BIOLOGISTS. Adeu, knights OF
the Quill! Roqu,escatgS IN pace. However, IL
yop should turn up again, VIC viii Try to have
little commissary'' and hard tack, and IN oat
or two about, in case you should como BACK THIS
way.
iHB CAPTURE or THE WELDON RAILROAD.
For some time past the rebels had been using
the Weldon Railroad only spalnodlcally-that
"a, they would accumulate loaded trans at q
ssfe distance down the road, III the neiShoor-
hood OF Hcksford and Weldon, foE week or
two. and then put an extra guard on the ROAD
and rup the trains through to Petersburg and
Riehmond, all at once. One OF these OCCASIONS
Il may occur to the reader, would have been
good time " have bounced upon the road, out
treat military operations Of course cannot pe
Governed By smaller considerations.
The object Of the movement on the NORM
slde of James River was two-fold-nrstiy, 10
secure what dysntages could easily NC gaiheu
IN that quarter, and, secondly tand primarily,
IN mportance), to open the way l0r the easy
capture of the Weldon Railroad. New advan-
taces have been secured on the north SIDE OF the
DIVER, and the Railroad has been permanently
captured, the advantages Of which latter accom-
phsbment can plainly be seen by reference 10
cly Railroad map Of the United States. The
new position and heightened line are beng nm
pregnably fortified, aud We confidently await
the next bold stroke Of The strategy and proves
that have never yet faPd Us. New movement ;
ore already on foot, aud there is no telling VIII
other Railroad, or somethingelse Rebellion, may
not "go up" at any moment. The Lieutenant
General is evidently determined not 10 iooi away
his time, or compromise the lauIeis oi LIS 'e.'
Grams, BY waiting for any five hundred Ilou'
sEnd.
NOTES BY TIKI WAY.
Gorduroy roads, lined with broken-leggec
horses snd mules, dead and bloatei, marking
the way to the new front, f0undering teams
and Roundering wagons, climbing tumDiing
worrying and agoniyng over alternate patches
Iof eordnrov road and mud, unObStructed save
by zig.zag stumps and bottOmless ruts, and new
encampings Of weary army corps, and ponder,
Gus army operations in muddy forests, have al
been 80 often described and illustrated that
viii not worry the reader with repetition o
their unpleasantness will mention only yer!
few of the most striking thoughts that occurred
70 me on the way.
FIRST, then, is that of desolated Southern
homes, for such, indeed, they are. The frs
thought on approaching one Of these, OF any
magnitude, is Of its gloomy associations. I'm
like the free and CHEEKY Northern home, where
ali are free and equal, and all indulge alike in
pleasures of mind and body,-in present enjoy
fpents and bright snticipations of the FUTURE
Ali free to work out lives independent and excel
nor. here dwelt a cold, isolated family, con-
ecious of living at ease Ola the unrequited toll OF
poor, unfortunate. enslaved beings, and nightly
Aeeping in dread Of the natural vengeance Of
their miquity. But the stately, spacious, old
the " great house,") frowning, caste-ke and
usster.ike, upon the sgualid huts around it.,
tells the whole tale of the difference between
those who earned the comforts and lu1uries OF
tho place and those who enjoyed them
AS we draw near the mansion, with its Dume-
rous comforts and conveniences, We think what
Q beautiful aud happy home it might have been,
Ia this genial fertile land, under a proper do
nestic and legislative system not resulting In
the insanity of treason and rebellion. When We
zee the Union soldiers stripping the garden fence
of its palngs to boil their kettles with, and their
horses trampling down the flower beds and rose
bushes carefully trained by fair hands, and
gnawing the bark OH fresh young apple and
peach-trees just beginning 10 bear, and the SOL
6ers with chunks of charcoal disfguring the
walls Of the old mansion, inside and out, and
breaking up costly furniture, from marble man.
tells, sde-boards, and pianos, down 10 the small
est articles of vertu and usefulness, ell out Of
mere wantonness, We think what pity that
such desolation must be; but the only cOnsola-
ton We cen gather. as public economists, is the
thought that 1t cannot be helped, and that the
Iascals (the owners) might have behaved them
selves, with the hope that under the smiles Of
permanent peace all will some day come right
again, with lesson that will never suffer O
repetition Of the desolation. When new man
sions and appurtenances shall take the place Of
the old, and new orchards and gardens bloom
perenially, in land Of Freedom, Equality, and
Progress, that shall know the rayages of war
no more Tor ever.
How in dissonance with the war storm. and
remindful OF the days of peace, are the birds and
flowers along the wsyside. When alone with
these we almost forget the iron spell of war that
enthrals us, and long TO be in communion with
them and their associates again. altogether To
illustrate the dreariness of the war-path, will
simply mention that the first swine Of the cam
paign, met with on this trip. Wescarcely ever