, 1864-06-15

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while, a. afterwards discovered. th,
enemy had coneeiycd the notion Of attempt
Ing to turn our left, which, asa natural con
sequence, brought Oh an engagement at uud
In the: neIghborhood of Poff Republic, a
place somewhat famous to Union command.
ers in 'iIgfnta, who have always experienced
more or less difficulty in approaching or re-
leating IRON. or manguvring around this
point. 1t will be seen that Port Republic is
situated on the line of Middle river, q l,oiiF
Of water emptJing into the Sbena I'D oa1
river: Before the place there i, consldez bic
Width TO the river, besides .slaa OF various
sizes. Fort Republic is we'll Situated Tor de-
river, which empties into Middle river, and
On the other By the riverfof the latter pame
about the same time the left column was
aeEohs1!EftEG agaiEst the rebel position
an fort Republic the column to the right
IN Tue direction OF Mount Crawford, got .nto
OF cannon both night and left was made eyi-
Qent 70 our hearing, NC knew the plan was
Working we'll and the work of defeating the
; reoeis near at hand. While We were moving
up the valley the enemy made preparation
70 make stand at the points named, and to
that end brought down from Staunton some
u !ue mhttta forces, With all the regularly
enlisted rebels that could be mustered for
Inc occasion The left OF the rebel line was
entrusted to the command Of General Jones
ard INC right to 1mboden, SO famous for par
tlsan Warfare and petty raids. Our advance
on the rebel position was conducted with
much gallantry. Both men aud officers Of
lne thfee branches Of the service behaved
edmarably. Line after line Of infantry was
advanced steadily and to good purpose. AL
FIRE from field ordnance and 1uusEetry. N5ny
o. .those who fought against us were mere
ooJs, Who had broken through the crust Of q
mlntafy education at some one Of the various
military institutes Of Virginia And here
1ney "efe-boys who had but attempted to
team the art OF War-beibg, not drilled in a
comfortably fitted up, well aired school-room
nut practiced in the face Of an enemy, an 90.
| posing army, and engaged In the full glory Of
aclnal warfare. In return for the hot fifa which
sae enemy opened from his artillery, direct
compliment that had a very good effect for
the interests Of our side. Ii made the rcbe1s
more more Than once give way, and no doubt they
had not been for the personal bra 7crY Of their |
officers, who exposed themselves and en-
joined their men to remain firm to the last.
But still, Of what avail could It be for any
force to remain firm when an enemy kent
ssteaoiiy aavancing his lines and pouring In
heavier and heavier fire, as nc did and kent
doing for over three hours. Mnch to tie
grattiicat1on Of al1 concerned, we could see
at this time that our steady efforts were nre.
Solling. BESIDES, the firing at aud in the d.
fecoon r. Of Port Republic was also noticed to
re- Ge growing lese $, iierce o. r,pd. No doubt
activity. He had intended to execute 2 flanE
Increment on our LETT, and based the success
Of Ills plans on the tnlflment OF sucb n d.
sign. IN being defeated in Its execution be
vas vas entirely outgeneraled- The point Of sue
succeeded in driving the enemy back from the
line ct the North Rlyer and placing force on
the other side. With commendabIe nct,yitv 4
We Kept pushing our forces over until egot
1;. sninelent @ force together to continue the Of
drive back the enemy's left, which Ne did
very ably. This placed 1mboden, who is re-
ported to have been in command Of the rebel
r1ehs, IN very precarious position. We
were were gettlng IN q position to cut him of
this We did. On our driving back the rebs1
lett the rebel force at Fort Republic had to
give way. and retreat with rnptdity, Jones'
command subsequently made tYo OF three
efforts to check our advance on ,Staunton:
@ ~! tag attemp1s were nippsd even in the
bud. We we're too sharp ID Intellect and too
strong IN numbers for rebel perseverance.
On and after the commencement Of the rehei
rctreat We commenced to take mauy prison
ers and to get quite a number Of dcsertera
In short time after the two columns were .
another advance.
While our men are resting for brief be. ]
I'od, and getting bridge over North River I
in readiness, the readers attention ia asked | !
to another part Of the country, where Gems. !
ing and cooperating with US. /
At about the time Gen. Hunter moved from |
Cedar creek, In the Shenandoah valley. mo.
ther column, commanded by Gen. Crook.
proceeded from LewIsburg, In Greenhrier
county, forward towards 5tauuton to make
Junction with Gtn. Hunter. In this move
nasn1 Ecu Gen. Grook, aud Ayerili's command,
which ts under him, had to encounter eome
diminishing and enter into one or two
serious fights. In all of these they were en- !
tife}y successful IN driving the enemy on l
thereby being enabled to mako their marches
on ths line originally agreed upon. They !
into the belief that the line of the Virginia ! t
aud tennessee 1ailrood Was again in danger
from their prnpenslties for Taiding in that ! t
direction. Hasing accomplished their OBJ
Kockbridgc county, vhcro Is located a mill e
tary institute, at which Tere being educated b
s0ne VI the very young men who were prac- c
ucailg IN ar1hs against them. Under these
circumstances It became q necessity to de- =
DESTROYED. q
By rapid marches both Crook aud Ayeriu :
reached the nci1hbornopd Of Staunton IN :
as TO be threatening and advancing m # !
about the time General Hunter waS enr,- =
gfDg Jones and lmhoden ut Port Republic +
ant on the line Of North River, near Hount !
CsnXford.
This now brings me to the particular a
point in this account where we aud Hunter +
on Etaupton directly from Har- -
r1sopburg, and Crook and Averill adyancjns -
o. on NJ same position on two roads from i
The rcar Here 1t was that the rebels dis | +
covered the whole "rascality" ct our pro- =
ceedings, and sa~ that our design was nf =
Full fcathercd ''bagging" character. q
As soon as it became known that our two
columns were crowding on Staunton from | II
he positions namtd, and that We had gained u
complete success ut North River, or In the t.
Moun1 Crawford region, tee rebel lines com b
neuced a rapfd retreat. The militia force, e.
hat were 90 valiantly TO defend Staunton 10 a
he last extremity, and, if necessary. to stnnd Al
. siege, sEedaddled out of town, re,a:d:css 81
j. hind. =,
On discovering that the rebels were rap,dtv E
allipg back towards the Blue kiugc and thc G.
,Eps Of that line of mountains, ne n, ,i1e ~ ri
~ effort to intercept them. In thus doing.
nd IN the CELEBRITY OF our movements, w di
,nined great advantages, capturing u,,nr &C
prisoners, arms and four pieces OF artilIrrv n
FWo other pieces are reported to have hrs, ia
taken, and said to be all Of one y
'1ttely. 4
Had not the rebels retreated as hastily rs pl
hey did from Staunton, we would have I'm. d.
ured the whole rebel command lctt to garri- nj
Ga IT, glance at the map will suffice to tn
Low tint We were on three sides Of them. er
nd any hesltancy on their part would haye ne
9fnred their capture bT cirins rs an oppor- "
owa1ds the mountain gaps. 81
IN sTAuHToN- CAPTURES, ETC. -
On entering Stanton We found tbe n1oca xy
n wild Et1tR nf r0nfnE5cn =,