Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-07-11
The Position, Before PetersburT
what IL Being Done-The Artii-
Iery Lost by Wilson and KANT
SI'he .paded Troopers.

S@ Sunday, July 3, 1884. ) 4
The past week has brought about no
striking changes in the situation OF the ar
my before Petersburg position OF the
respective corps being about the same that
1t was ten days since. Our lines stretch
from the AppomattoX river In south Dy
east course, almost to the Weldon. and Pc
tersburg Railroad-a route Of communica--
tion which is commanded by our guns, ana
so rendered as useless to Che enemy as
though our piekets stood upon the track
The Eighteenth corps still holds the ex-
treme right of the line, connecting with the
Ninth, which, in turn, forms Junction
with the Fifth, and that joins forces Win
the Second while the Sixth is again III po,,
sition on the extreme left, having returned
from a successful sally down to Reames'
Station, on the Petersburg and Weldon
Railroad, where, as you know, the enemy
dealt few hard blows TO Wilson's cavalry
expedition on Wednesday last. ataTI
The impatient public must not suppose,
however, for q single moment, that this
week OF comparative inactivity atgurs 4
dead halt in the campaign. Far from IT,
| The time has been spent in preparation-in
compacting forces and material for impend-
ing work; and the respite from hard march
ing and hard fighting was absolutely re-
auired by the tired troops, whose energies
must have been more than mortal could
they have longer sustained the constant
strain and tax which this colossal campaign
has necessarily imposed upon them. But
| If the troops were as fresh and strong as
they could possibly be, and, instead OF the
torrid heat, which has made even quiel
lifein camp almost intolerable, the weathel
of the past week had been as delightful as
any that ever blest mankind, there would
still have been this period of repose. The
| fact is, that the grand army has been wait
ing, while its cooperating columns do the
work which has been planned for them, IN
severing the railroad connections north
south, east and west of the rebel capital
From these auxiliary forces-Sheridan,
Hunter, Averill and Wilson-the best re-
| ports have come and now, that the process
| of isolating Richmond from the outside
world. and combining the rebel army to the
narrow limits in which it finds itself is al
most complete, it surely will not be long
time before Grant once more moves ior-
ward the grand, faithful, much-endurlne
| Army of the Potomac, compact and IRE
| sistible, to crown itself with immortal VIC
tory. so much by way Of encouragement
| to the weak-hearted. Now, let me break
the Sabbath-day, at this early hour of the
NSlA " ClONh j JuoO Aoh6 Si'ONNssh -
string together a few fragmentary facts
which find in my notebook. -.
MEM-The statement sent yesterday that
the artillery abandoned by Wilson and
Kautz last Wednesday had been recovered
| and brought back by the Sixth corps, proves
to have been unfounded. The guns were
stuck i'm marsh, and inextricable either
| by the rebels or ourselves. More than this
| they were spiked and dismounted, and can't
be an acquisition to the enemy, even If they
are loss to us. The Sixth corps brought
off several of the caissons, which deceived
my informant into saying that they had
brought away the guns. The loss OF the
corps in its sortie to Reames' Station was one
man killed and one officer wounded.
| MEM. No. 2.--A large number OF kautz's
cavalry--stragglers-came IN yesterday,
and went into camp at Jones' Neck. More
| iaded TROOPERS and horses were never seen
| The men were grotesque in their misery
| Some had lost their forage caps, and had re-
placed them by wOmen's bonnets and teath-
ers, and other odds and ends of female ap-
parel, which gave them most astonishing
| look Some had the legs of their trowsers
torn completely off; others had theirs split
into ribbons. Many were shoeless, all coat
less. Their faces were perfect study, Il
one desired to tell their race or color. Ne
groes were white in comparison to them
! So thick was the pasty deposit of mud and
perspiration upon them that they were nc
\ longer troopers of flesh and blood, but hat
! resolved themselves into the primitive ele-
ments of that dust from which they sprung
and to which they had returned before theil
time. Odd enough they looked, as they
winked and blinked, with eyelids heavy
with sleep, and still heavier with the vii;
/ lainous compound" which had accumulated
upon them during their ten days raid.
J The horses were pictures of wretchednes'
and detection. Their heads dropped unit
their noses touched the road. Each anima
shrunk his tail between his legs like whip,
ped cur. Flies settled upon them and feast
ed without the slightest chance of being
disturbed. Some of the poor things were
so completely used up that the men had to
lead them and urge them forward by blows
with the fiat of their sabres. Fill up the
picture from these outlines, and you viii
get an idea of the exhaustive character o
a cavalry raid.