Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-06-25


just before closing this lie ter. | received a tel
egrap1ic dispatch from All OH er IN Grants army
forwarded from Washington to-day. Ii Is dated
near Petersburg, YESTERDAY. aud CONVEYS the as
surance that, although Petersburg has not fallen
Yet Grants d-positons are such. aud the forces
al Dis disposal 80 numerous. that The ultimate
capture OF the place may be certainly looked tor
nave AFRO learned from al officer, who p,rtici-
pAted IN the attacks ON the works before Peer
burg on the 10Th, l7th aud 18Th some particu-
lars IA regard to these actions which AN almost
tempted to communicate u you, although The
nam facts will be sent by your army cOrtespOh-
dents With these particulars before me how
ever couhl ming in every respect the statement
below no one can doubt that the attack on Pc
tersburg WIS for-een by Lee. ard that tie had
provided the means TOR the stubborn defense
which the place has made and il making and II
will also be seen that this deiens~ prOtracied as
LIE intended that il should be, has enabled him
/ To carry into effect certain other measures for
the defense OF Richmond, which will greatly re-
tard Grants operations, even alter he has taken
rsburg. aud il ready to cross the Appomattax
/ he substance of what follows Is derived from
the same source az my last letter.
WHY GENERAL LEE WISHED GRANT TO CROSS the
JAMES RIVER
1t il claimed by the rebel leader that the ma
neuvers Ut Gen Lee on the l2th and 18th. aud
the disposition oil his forces on the 18th aud l4th,
"a de-cthed m that letter. prevented Gen. Grant
from advancing Oh Ric moud bl the roads on the
north side OF the James river. IL your readers
will ex ,mlne good military map. they will see
some OF the reasons why Gen. Lee was nppfe-
heusive that our army would advance Oh .rh
mould toy that route II j. he route which Gen.
Mcclellan would have taken from II ,rrson' :
I q l..l
! the first OF July. Ii Gen Grants army. instead
OF moving toward the james river on the IL h
/ instant, hid taken po Session OF Malvern hills
aud the Quaker road On that day, they wOu Il
! have hem M n lar mOte favorable position tor
taking Richmond th an they are b, day: aud lhev
would have doue. too. the very thug that Gen.
! Lee was anxious IN Il they should not do Their
/ lett. all the way up 90 Fort Darling would have
been protected hy our lrun-cmd teet The White
/ Ok swamp would have afforded their right Il .uk
ample protection The only obst ,cle between
them aud X chmnnd would ave been the rebel
| army; an army not over mnet, thousand strong,
while Gen Griut's must have b., en- very much
larger Gen Lee rould not look To- the result OF
a btttle fought upon that ground, and under
those chromosomes. with any degree OF conf
dence Gen. Grants movement to the Jane.
river therefore. not only relieved Gen. Lee OF
these apprehenSions but IL also enabled him to
put iuto execution certain plans directed against
/ Gen Hunter which he hid not been able To DO
hitherto His first step in that direction was "a
send Gen Pockets division To Gordonsvle. aud
10 see that the railroad between that place and
Richmond was put in perfect order This road
il will he seen affords him another route by
which To receive his Supplies at Richmond, from
/ Lynchburg by way OF Charlottesville Whether
I Gen. Sheridan vas defeated or not. il j. Certau
that the measures taken by Gen Lee prevented
him from relching Charlottesville. aud have Sc
cured the safety of that railroad for the present
TIE pEFENsEs PETERSBURG.
When Lee ascertaiued that the Union army
was crossing the James river at Windmill Point
! he knew that their destination Petersburg
No immediate danger then Threatened the Tebe
capital
An attack on Petersburg had been anticipated
rs long ago as when the campaign first began
| AMI ample provision had been IN lde even then TO
repel il Petersburg had been fortified at that
time in accordance with plan furnished by Gen.
Beturegard Whit kind of Notifications they
are viii h defend Petersburg, can he imagined by
the results of the attacks that have been made
upon them by the whole strength OF Grants
army tor four successive days. The full details
OF those battles have not yet been made public
When they are fully known, it will be seen that
in those bat,les our loss his been quite as great
as il would have been il Grant had made de
termned advance on Richmond by the New Mar
ket and Quaker rOnOs The obstacles that lie
heiu cen me Quaker road and Richmnnd accor
ding rebel authority. are ne greater than those
between CITY Puint and Petersburg Al all
events the biitles OF the tour DAYS be ore Peters
burg have Inflicted on a heavy loss in men and
valuable officers Many colonies commanding
brsades, and majors comm inding regiments,
have been killed ami permanently disabled 10y
wounds in these actions. AMI their places will he
hard to ill The fighting on the 18th j. said TO
have been the most desperate and s;nguiniry of
all, aud vet the principal lie OF the enemy :
works stl remain in their possession IL was
only the outworks, the interior AMI weaker lines
Of which Mr. Dana said:
These woi k were OF the strongest kind
more difficult to take than Missionary Ridge
was "
GLNkRAL LEES MEASURES FOR THE DEFENSE OF
PErkR,BUkG
Such vas PETERSBURG; aud such General Lee
knew il To be hen il be anne evident to him that
that was the destination of the Uuion army
The events of the siege of Petersburg show he
Judged correctly of is ppwerS ct resistance The
reinforcement of the troops there by he rebel
forces that hat been posted ia front at Bntler.
between Bermuda Hundred and the rairo al j.
/ his intrenchment- in or,ier that he might he cap
rured and his forces cut off The rairO,d from
/ Richmond Ia within u short distance OF Peters
bury. nave been in tull pos-e--ipn ct the rebels
for the last two weeks. Notwithstanding all at
! Butler'S boasts To the contrary Petersburg WAS
not reinforced from Lees army, however. until
the 18th On that diy the main body OF the re-
! bel army had arrived the west sde oi the Al
ppmtttox, rnd some brisade> crossed over into
! Petersburg
IL was supposed AT Richmnnd that Gen Lees
intention w. 10 hold The federal army AT b'y as
/ long as possible At Petersburg aud then To IN ,ke
no.her stand at "a position which ha@ been fOr'i-
/ fed ON the west side OF the river IL was be-
/ lieved that thee two positions could be maiu-
tanned for many days yet
RECENT MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL LEES ARMY
The m ,iu bod, of General Lees army crossed
over TO the south side OF the james river al
/ Richmond, and between that city aud Drew, S
/ Bluff. on The 10th The detachment which
moved out westward from Redmond. and which
crossed at the Arsenal ferry l. said To have taken
the car. ON the ID nyilie railroad and were tu
have been sent 10 LynchLurg Ii l. believed
! thai General Lee has taken measures which are
understood % have in view operations against
/ Generals Hunter, Crook and Pope. the success OF
i failure of which will have a very important bear
4 ing on the cimprgn against Richmond SO lar
~ the Dlnvile railroad Is concerned. IL J. said
/ that its salety j. positively secured tor the pre
+ sent AT least aud that certain dispositions OF
/ troops which General Lee has maize will secure
/ its safety AZ least until Richmond IL closely IN
/ vested which l. looked upon AT the reOel capital