Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-08-24
ANOTHER INVASION OF MARYLAND
fCorrespondence Of the New York News
NJ .surSnTox AuOnef

Correspondence OF the New York News.
WASHINGTON, August H.
The great expedition of Gen. Sheridan down
the Shenandoah Valley, has come 10 sudden
and inglorous terminston and one, too, entirely
unlocked for and unexpected. Ii may seem 10
credible to your rsaders, but assure you IL is a
sober fact that Gen Sheridan has under his or
dsrs over eighty thousand troops on the line OF
the Potomac The various bodies OF troops
composing this immense force, are enumerated
In my letter OF August True they are not
all in this expedition; but they are oil under
Gen. Sheridan's orders, and he can concentrate
them all when aud where he pleascs.
With this great army Sheridan was expected
TO sweep the valley clean Of rebels. from one end
10 the other: to force Early 10 fight. aud defeat
him: and even To advance TO Lynchburg, and
take possession of and hold the place Indeed.
the people of the North were positively assured
that such would bc his achievements within two
weeks following the 9Th OF August. And more
than all that. the public were assured that even
Gen Grant. who had been up TO Harper's Ferry
himself. and had not left there until he had put
all the ..achinory for the campaign In the valley
In full operation, had assured Mr., Carrot, the
President of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad,
that he might 40 on now and make the fepaira
of his road aud bridges Ia the most substantial
and durable manner, for that he would take care
that the road should never again be approached
by n hostile force.
Well. the two weeks have not elapsed yet. aud
yea all these assurances, except tho last, have
already been iasihed. Gen. Sheridan advanced
down the valley with great flourish Of ,rumpcte
With n column oi veteran troops certainly ~.
ooedlng 20, 900 men, and probably amounting to
over 10000 The rebel General Early, the
country was informed, day after day, WIS flying
before him. our army had passed Winchester,
had entered SuaHbufR, and had even advanced
some distance south Of that pnec.-when sud
denly the scene changes Strange fumofs OF
heavy reiniorcemcnts having reached Early be
gan 10 prevail here, but We are quickly informed
that Early has made stand. aud offered battle,
and that General sheridan has not only dseon
tnued the pursuit but that no has turned around
has changed the direction OF his mafehl has 10
tired 10 Winchester, Ia fuflyng hmaelf there,
and will act on the defensive
On tho defensiyei Against whOmT One
would think against tho whole rebel army A
General with 000o troops abandoning the pur
suy OF beggslly 1900 (for II ID said on good
authority Ia, that II all the effective troops that
Gen Early has, before that pursuit has we'll be.
gun. retiring 10 a safe position, and acting oil the
defensive o, this Is Indeed glorious way OF
making war Why, even Fighting Joe" would
have done better than that, Come now. lot US
know exactly how many troops Gen, Early has.
that he has been able thus 10 throw 80 900 Union
troops on the defensive Ii Is said that he has
been heavily 10 nioreed from Lees army. What
evidence Is there OF that iactf Not particle,
Gen Grant found none, when he crossed over to
the north side OF the James river and endeavored
20 move toward Richmond from Deep Bottom.
lie had with him the Elite OF the army, the 2d
and 10Th corps,
Yet he was repulsed, aud repulsed, too. with a
loss of 1000 men Could this have been done,
and Petersburg held. and Hood reinforced (for
this has been done) If strong reniorcements had
been sent to Early besidesY The supposition is
absurd
The truth is, however as | learn from an un
doubted source. that Early has been reinforced,
but only TO moderate extent. The facts about
his reinforcement and about the present where
abouts of Lees army are correctly stated in nv
letter of August i6 Early's reinforcemcnts
only amount to two divisions of infantry, 10, 900
men, and one or two small squadrons of cavalry
His own force consisted of four divisions of in
fantry, each Averaging 1000 men, and about
1000 cavalry, so that he has now body Of not
over 80 900 troops at the utmost. If you hear
that our troops have retired from Winchester to
Martinsburg, or that another invasion of Mary
land is threatened, il Is these troops alone that
will cause this withdrawal. or that will threaten
the invasion.
Please observe that the public are now calmly
informed that the object OF Sheridan's expedition
is accomplished and that il was only to ascertain
Early's position and strength Indeed And
why, then, was the country led to believe that
Early was to be made to fight? He seems will
ling enough to fight. Why was the country
told, too, that Sheridan was going to LynchburgI
The truth is. there is too much reason to believe
that the Confederates will now be able TO hold
the Shenandoah Valley until the campaign at
Atlanta is decided, aud then make it the base of
extensive offensive operations agaius, the North
MALCOLM