The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-07-20

'Is
tn" enemy had sgra' officers upon every hill
ArOu, d u.s. and knew all our movemens g. Ewcl's
corps WIS rot rCsnWrhed from Richmond until
its pre-. nee az lynchburg was needed. Had We
been tht re two Gays earlier EwCIs CORPS would
fay, b, IN dcsTach in time to meet us. had
W been there six days earlier the result wO I'D
"a. been the amc. We were fifteen da, ST. mar
I ON our regular bases of supplies. and were Ib-
sitting unOn the CnCmy's country, Will
G my, by means Of the railroad from Lynch.
burg 10 Richmond had Gt any time the po yer Of
G 'rc ntratinR against us just as many n )Ops IS
General Lee could spare from the splendid army
OF North, m Virginia.
RETIRING by the kunawha valley, it was conf
dently expected hat we would meet abundant
supplies OF cCmmissary and quartermastcr stores
~ Meadows BluU about five OF six days march
from LyrChburg. More than a million raions,
about five on SIX days previous, had been LETT
there hy Generals Crook and Averill, under
charge Of two regiments Of Ohio militia, sworn
into he service for one hundred days. With
{. csc ratiOus taocu up our command could then
await its ammunition train uuder General ahl,
and con ipuC 70 threaten Lynchburg, none then
knowing or suspeCiing that the two Ohio militia
regiments had been stampeded by force of about
sew MY eighty gucrillas under Captain Mcneil,
and tHot they had retired in confusion towards
l1up reek and Cheverston, burning about one
hIif ~ stores LEFT in their charge, and carrying
TIE remainder with them in such transportation
they had on hand
OF the difficulties encountered aud surmountcd
by General Hunter in this march from near
Lynchburr 10 Loup creek 70 is not proposed 10
speak. A. Liberty the enemy in force were hand
sUmely repul,ed, and again near Salem Our
men bad no food but the beef and sheep they
drove before them or collected on the way. Our
march was over Wild and abrupt mountains,
iorcst.C clad preCpees yawning beneath us on one
side Of the road, while fOreSt-Clad mountains
lowered thousands of feet above us on the other.
The disappointment In not receiving the expected
supplies at Meadows Bluff was severe; but never
thelcss the command held on, in good heart and
hCglth, until it nearCd Gauley bridge, where the
! supply trains ordered up by General Hunter
| began 10 meet rs.
With the exception Of six guns, which had
/ been rendered unseryiCcable by a sudden attack
| Of the enemy on this side of Salem, and which
| had therefore TO he destroyed by ourselves, We
! lost nothing Of baggage or the material of our
! army in this raid. Our infantry reached LOup
| creek in better health than they started with
| but were sorely In want Of food, ammunition,
| and new outfit. Most Of the cavalry horses
were played out from the want of forage; but
| taking il for all and ALL no raid of the war has
| yet inflicted so much loss of vital kind upon the
enemy, at so little sacrifice of men and material.
| For two hundred and forty miles up the Sheuan-
doah Valley, we had destroyed every public
work intended for the benefit Of the enemy's
army.
Furnaces, foundrics for shot and shell, gunstoclx
! factories cloth mills tan yards, railroads fac
tories of all kinds, &c, our line of marcd being
/ marked by a pillar of smoke by day, and u
! pillar Of fire by night, formed from the confla-
| grafton OF the public buildings of the cnemy's
| Government OF private property nothing was
! injured with the exception of Governor Letchcr's
| house, he having the day previous issued pro-
| Clamation against us, nCiting the inhabitants Of
| the country to guerilla warfare.
Ii was not until General Hunter, in advance of
his command, reached Parkersburg, IN Western
| Virginia, that we heard q syllable of the Rebel
| raid into Maryland. All that could then be done
| to hurry forward our troops was at once ener-
| getically undertaken; but there were not over
| twenty or twenty-thTce inches Of water In the
| Ohio, and the railroad from Cumberland TO Har-
| peT's Ferry had been pretty well crippled by the
| enemy, though not one-finieth part so ehectually
as we had destroyed their railroads in the vicinity
| of Staunton and Lynchburg. In the task of re-
cquipping and hurrying forward our troops to-
wards Mary land Generul Hunter laborcd with
his usual tireless zeal and conscientious fidelity,
being nobly seconded by the efforts of Brigadier-
| General Kelly, who was in command at Cum
| beTland.
For the disgracefu stampede which had driven
| General Sigel back from Martnsburg TO Mary
| land Heights without contest, IL is not easy to
| see how General Hunter can be held responsible.
| He had left under General Sigel a total Of over
| ten thousand men, and yet this force retired
before an uudeyeloped enemy, having lost, SO far
| as can beasCeItained, somewhat less than thirty
! five men, all told, "killed, wounded, and miss
| ing" This was the extent Of the gallant and
| stubborn resistance" by which General Sigel
"sayed bis Invaluable train, and sent it into
| Baltimore. But can General Hunter be held
| responsible for the misconduct of this officer,
| when we recollect that he had been ordered, on
| assuming command, 10 "rctain General Sige in
emplOymcnt'-Ge Sigel's rank giving him
| no option but 70 offer to that officer the next
| highest command TO his own.
As for the rest, the success of the Rebel raid
into Maryland is clearly due to the want Of fore
| sight and adequate preparations in other than
| General Hunters headquarters. General Hun
| ter's location was thoroughly well known TO the
| war authorities, who arc understood to have sent
| him warm acknowledgements for the brilliant
| achievements of his raid and the successful
| manner In which he had drawn off his command
| uninlurCd from that hazardous service. With
| Scarcely any water in the Ohio, and the railroad
| between Cumberland and Iarper's Ferry broken
| in more than dozen places, i was physical
! impOssibiliy for any portion of Hunters army TO
have reached Maryland in time to repe the
| Rebel invasion; but, owing TO General Hunters
| personal eXertons and unceasing lRbors, more
| than ten thousand of his men were within
striking distance Of the retreatng enemy two
| days ago.
To talk of pursuit, however, from the north OF
trains going SOUTH and guarded by so large a
force as Generals Early, Ransom, and Breckin-
ridge have under them, Is the sheerest nonsense,
But as the supreme command of this pursuing
force, such as 1t is-aud it is very formidable
has been given, by order of the President, 20
| MajoT-Genera Wright, Of the 9th Army Corps,
we hope that The best results may be expected.
This assignment relieves General Hunter from
all appearances OF responsibility In a matter he
never really had any connection with and for
The success or failure of General Wrights opera
tions, that officer and the War Department will
alone be responsible before the country.
IL is well understood here, and therefore can
he no violation of military confidence to say, that
| General Iluner has asked to be relieved from
| command Of this Department in consequence OF
the action Of the War Department in ordering all
| his available troops 10 report 70 Major. General
| W ight. So much for the late raid towards
| Lynchhurg, aud Tor General Hunters alleged re-
| sVonsbity in connection with the Maryland in.
| yasion.-N. !. UeraR.