Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-07-30
mARTINsBURG.


/ sraal-IS r.U -. ,t4a.s1 EDS --rrl
Some Particulars Concerning The .EIght'Eg
near Winchester, on Saturday, Sunday and
Monday, lie 23d, 24th and '25h atstS.
From a Letter in the New York Herald
i. II. BE-. MAETlssRURe, July 25-Noon.
Again the Sheuaudoah Valley becomes
the scene of conflict, and this time OF nm
engagement gilmore than mere passing i'm :
IportSnce--ani engagement, fought with
great obstinaoy and galIanry on both
sides, lasting over daV and hall, and
ending only in the retirement of the Union
forces only in consequence of 1.-The over
whelmiDg strength of the enemy opposed
to them, and not from any lack of courage
OF disciplihe.H OBJ :. n-mr4l i=saoH
DRIVING BREcKISRIDeE. " L"H
It is not the object Of your correspon-
dent to go back and into the details of the
manner in which General Ayerill success
fully drove Gen. Disadvantages command
into Winchester; but'in order to give this
account some degree of completeness, II is
necessary to refer briefly to the subject.
Many have seemingly wondered why Gen
Ayerill did not continue TO drive Breckin
ridge Up the Valley when he had SO, sue
cessfuliy driven him to the once comforta-
BILE and aristocratic, but now truly nnfoF
| tunate and uninyitng town of Winches-
| ter. The peculiar and interesting secret
| OF the movement does not seem TO have yet
been published The truth OF the matter
ia simply this: General AyerIll advanced up
the Valley, and by fortunate and Well
executed movement wrought considerable
| trouble for the rebel Commander in the
capture Of no small number Of his man and
some of his artillery; Alter this, Bteck-
inridge'5 command slowly retired before
our closely foIloYing-up forces, and all'ati
once suddenly disappeared, but Only TO he
discovered il ''martial array" behind the
Notifications ofWinchester, the very ones
we had erected with much care and atten-
ton TO keep the rebels rout.1 Under the
circumstances now presented to the=Uniou
commander, he found it impossible to do
anything particularly effective against the
rebel position. This the rebels seemed
fully to appreciate, for they very Coolly
maintained their position land manifested
no particular desire to know where we
were, what we were doing, or whatmight
be- our "belligerentp intentions. This was
the state of military affairs for, some time.
THE REBELS REINFORCED AND AGAIN AID.
....-... 80 ~. yAScISG. 'i.'' % ,"'n'
.s AT length the spell of silence and mac
tiVity was broken, Rumors circulated that
the rebels had been reintoFced,t Ths in
formation came through scouts, refugees
aud deaerters. At first the strength was
stated as being "a great many" then a
division, and fnally corps. In connec-
ton with these reports came others stating
that readvanCe was intended, and that
Hongstreet would command the whole
rebel column of the Shenandoah, At no
time was there disregard manifested on
the part of our commanders to these re-
ports, and in fact it was but q short time
before they were partially confirmed by
the readVauce. of -EArly's- forces upon our
own, and from behind their intrenehed
position at Winchester, ,,t ,t.i!a .,,sny..
lp"v "aGEN. ac2ooKFAKKs zCoMMAND.pals I'd
In the Interim, while Breckenridge W as
remaining tolerably quiet at Winchester,
Averill was reinforced by c1valry under
command of Brigadier GeneralfDufie, and
infantry under Gen. Crook, lCnow brevet
major gcneral), the latter officer assuming
1.-THE direction of the operations of the
whole command d" .h'la37' 900 saisas'. .
'-4 e. sKIRM1sHiss on sATuRDkY.. i4a !.
On Saturday, the 23d,. the rebels mani
tested decidedly .'unfriendlyn or inquis.-
! tive spirit, by advancing upon our lines,
apparently for the purpose OF seeing where
we were and what we were doing, We
returned the enemy's adyapcfs by few
/ yolleys, and subsequently, by. a regular
\ skirmish. Nothing daunted with such a
reception the persevering rebel continued
to epress his suit eventually compelling
us to seek another biYouackiug, ground.-
On Saturday, in consequence of the man!
ner (by force of superior ppmbers) in
which the rebels threatened an attack, our
cavalry fell back upon the main army and
prepared for action, 81 ,is-t, t,s .,.In 81
| sUHDAY's oHs-CoMNEHCENENT OF
l ,ss Doe .grts TIE BATTLB. s,,,,,., ,,.,a
In the early part of Suuday morning the
hitherto stiffness of the day was broken by
sounds attendent on the rapid discharge
OF. small arms. This, Of course, announced
to. US that the rebels were sgain, advancing:
and accordingly avery teg moments saf-
feed to get The whole command in couHi-
ton TO repel an attack, s.,ii 40 s.sdtI
The first DEMONSTRATION of the rebels
was closely followed up by their causing
| q sharp conflict between our own and the
rebel cavalry, Soon affer this the rebels
uncovered their iutautry and brought itiup
in line of battle for "a general engagement.
We also formed lines of battle. ~
The movements at that time were being
lconduoteG at a point situated about two
miles from Banker Hill. toward Wiuches.
ter, nj ..5ii...i i,,sti Ea. 4.ri.t.
.= eds ..-s4ssa.,.'T THE BATTLE. l,.,i. -s.,,s
The battle which was fought at this
place lasted all day. that is the engage
ment which was here commenced was con-
tinued until dark, the enemy. in the mean
time haying by force of numbers driven
our men 10 within six miles Of Martins
burg. aas ,ns. 5,f...i aas.sas i.-as. gi.s.Iti
Soon. after the opening Of lhei engage.
ment, as it promised to be a serious one,
the commanding general made. every pos
sible preparation to make a stand and fight
it out on the spot. Bot that was found to
be impracticabIe, because no sooner had
we formed our lines than the enemy's SUI
periority in numbers gave him the very
easy advantage of outHsnking us. &"
As We from time to time changed posi-