, 1864-02-16

Whoie 1nm1fy OF refugees, occurred on the
Chattanooga Railroad, near Nashville, BY rea-,
detained till nearly s o'clock,~ Of. the same
dry. We arrived 1T Chattanooga at 8 o'clock
next morning-distance Isl miles. The last
few miles of road are cut into the base of tho
prccipitious Lookout Mountain, which at
this point forms the south bank Of the river.
ALI bridges, CROSSINGS, culYerts, tunnels and
exposed positions On tho. road are carefully
guarded By detachments Of troops, aud pro-
tected by stockndes and other means Of de-
fence, similar to those on the Louisville and
Chattanooga has the appearance of vast
brickyatd surrounded BY low hills Of reddish
color, intersected by disjointed pieces of
Street, t,h-studded With chubby churches,
long sheds, spacious dcpots and warehouses
and struggling buildings Of el& kinds: 1t is
m uninTitinS and bare-looking place. hoins
unre1ieved by. single tree. The whole. ia
nearly enclosed BY cetaceous {"very like a
whale y looking mountains, with their bold
bluffy heads towards the river and their rid!yy
In this vicinity was fought the most. decisive
battles OF the war; and sLookout Mountaiu''i
and *tMission RIDGE, will be as, prominent
IN the pages Of history as in the landscape Of
this romantic region. ''s '''
ia. The reports Of 'tlesertions from the rebel
been The usual number; while the most re-.
cent daily arrivals were respectfully one h,tR-
dYed and eighty and f,ro hundred. They, are
sent forward to Nashville and other points
bcyond. The utter Aope1essncss Of tile rebel
cause, Is admitted BY everybody and on every
hand. 4 good portion OF the 4th Army Corps
lis stationed her, ,tl1e remainder being scatter
cd a1opg the river nearly as fur as Knoxville,
The commanding officer, Gen Sheridan, has
lis headquarters at Loud0n. Coal mines,
saw mills, grist mills, &C., arc here in .fnli
operation under the Government, and pre-
tpa5atfone arc being made for the reception of.
g1nhoats and transport vessels with vlew
to the. accumulation Of great amount Of
stores. A substantial bridge across the river
will be ready at the end Of this MONTH, Hea-
" wooden cribs filed and sunk with rocks
constitute the plers, and details Of soldiers
are engaged :. with E, fiat bouts has
tcning forward the. work, which will be
vast expensive energies Of the military row:
er are seen everywhere; and there is no pro-
fesston, trade or occupation which Is not cali.
cd into request By this gigantic undertaking
Neither private freight, nor passenger, sol
'dier, or civilian Ii allowed to 60 up the
river without a special permit from MaJor-
ea5ausate use Of the two boats ia required for
the conveyance Of subsistence: stores to the
halfBthrved troops above. Three more boata
are however On the stocks, two ut this place.
and one at Kingston. 'G> sf'> ~
:. On board our fatbottomed stern-whce1ers
Stores, from the. Sanitary Commission, &C
Madison street Chicago This reminds me
of the Sanitary Commission at Chattanooga;
where In addition to the ordinary arrange
mcnls, q reading room aud writing desk arc
free to all soldiers, and prayer meeting
takes Ilace at one o'clock every day. Who
ha tel he Sa = ef geSa dSas b. BY this is
ancicnt en- modern times !? Like the wonder
fu1 works of: God it 49, - ::
"Epreads undivided, ,-opcrates unspe1t.''
Tho Angel Of Mercy follows In the track of
the Angel Of: Destruction, and :scatters balm
and flowers over the blighted land!
An undertaken and m emba1mber of the
dead here tick. out their respective shingles.
The latter .advestises to prepare bodies for
home obsoqules," !" and calls Intention to Ills
be. There seems to he no intention TO send
any troops up the river At piesent- Loudon
and points above, including; Knoxville, are
better supplied with troops than with provl-
slons. In coutBe of time. when stores begin
to accumulate, and Knoxville aud Chatta-
forward movements. In tho meantime,
Montgomery, Ala, and Dalton, Ga, will re-
,ceiye immediate attention. Our conmupi-
cations nre, well connected into Northern Ala
bama, md we have troops ut every available
point along the lines! There are, however,
well grounded apprehen6ions that the aban~
donment Of this territory by the rebels indl-
Gates strong reinforcemcnts. to Longstreet's
army, and IN carly, attack on Knoxville,
which Is defended only by the 9th and o2::,d
army corps. Cen: Foster; Who'is not yet re-
lived, ID .distrusted by many Of his interior
officers, and there seems to bc un Impression
that he is not adequate to the emergency.
Our forces und,thosu Of the enemy arc on the
south side Of the Ho1ston-thc rebels occu-
pying Strawberry Plains Tie transportation
OF the 23d army corps has been sent over the
mountains that the animals, fifteen hundred
in number, nay be foraged In Kentucky.
Brig. Gen. Manson, and portion of his per-
sonal staff, have just Left on leave ofabscnce.
Brig. Gen. Judah again llas command Of the
I'd division 23d 4. c., Gate under Brig. Gen.
White, now sick in Chicago.)
Loudon is quite m important post Gen.
Sheridan has his headquarters here Sup
plies are shipped hence to Knoxville, distance
thirty miles. The steamboat Lookout has
Just unloaded, and I must close to be in time.
The mail now comes through Nashville and
Chattanooga to London and Knoxville.
.: 80 .,... , ". Fl. B.
r. s.-eenerai Foster Ia sending rebel wo-
men and children out Of Knoxville. They
leave London by the boats md will enter the
enemy's lines in Georgia.