Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-07-01

lump over a wall When he had arrived al the
wall lie found himself so much weakened that
be could not Jump At all Gen Grant eudeavored
TO take Petersburg because be did not think il
prudent To- leave rebel position 80 strongly for
tilted, in bis rear But be attacked Il as he at
tackled the rebel positions az SDottsylvania and
Coal Harbor. intending to carry it. he did not
attack Petersburg merely to find out whether or
not he could nke IL He attaked il because he
thought it, capture essential to the success
OF his operations against Richmond But have
ascertaned that il is the opinion OF the best engi
neer officers in the army that al the good effects
that can possibly result from the capture of
Petersburg could have been attained without the
capture. What was most 10 be dreaded in leav-
ing Petersburg in the HANDS Of the enemy was,
that through it. additional troops could be
brought from the south and west &c operate
against Gen Grants rear. while be was besieping
Richmond 1t seems to have been forgotten that
there IL now no such troops that can be brought
Gen. Lee has at Richmond every regiment
that he can have.
WAY THE REBELS ARE So MUCH PLEASED WITH
GRANTS ATTACK on PETERSBURG.
The engineer officers to whom have alluded,
think that if Grant had made Bermuda Hundred
the base OF his last operations, instead of City
Point. and had advanced with bis whole army
from Buffers entertainments to the point where
Butler tried - destroy the railroad on the 10Th,
near Chesterfield Junction. that he could have
accomplished. by doing so, all that the possess
sion of Petersburg would have given him. Ex-
tensve and strong entertainments could have
been thrown up in single night which would
have given us position on the railroad between
Richmond and Petersburg, from which we could
not have been dislodged. There were then some
troops at Petersburg but they would hBve been
{ s..frE II IN
ment. There are no troops at the South or West
that could be sent to them-not a single regi-
ment. Thep could not have been reinforced
from Richmond. for whole army would have
been right in the path of any such reinforcement
Cut of IN that manner, il might have been pos
sible even to capture Petersburg, if its capture
was still desirable; for it is evident now that it
is not the Notifications of the place but the
troops that have been thrown into il BY Lee from
Richmond. since the 18th inst, that have pre-
vented its capture But il is clear that If Gen
Smiths corps. which landed at Bermuda Hun
dred on the 18th had advanced mt once to Ches-
terfed Junction only ten miles distant on that
day OF the next, and been Immediately followed
| by the other corps, we would now be as near to
Richmond as We are to Petersburg
THE MOVEMENT on PETERSBURG HAS FAILED TO IN
/ TERRUPT TAE RAILROAD COMMUNICATIONS oE THE
! REBELS.
There is another highly important point that
could have been secured by the movement to
| Chesterfield junction above indicated The count
/ ry has been led TO believe that the main object
which Gen Grant had in view in passing over to
the south side of the James river and commence
ing operations against Richmond on that side,
was to enable him to DESTROY the railroad com
municatiOns of Richmond. The measures taken
by Gen. Lee, detailed at length in former letters
measures directed against Hunter. Butler. and
Sheridan-have been successful in this, that they
have enabled the rebels to keep in constant Oper
alton the railroads running from Richmond to
Petersburg direct to Petersburg by way of
Danville; to Lynchburg direct, by way of Burke
| Vile; to GOrdonsvile and Charlottesville bv way
| of Hanover junction and Trevalian. and TO lynch
burg by the circuitous route of Gordonsville and
| Charlottesville Whether Hunter was defeated
or repulsed at Lynchburg, il done bv troops
sent from Richmond Gordonsville and Treval-
| in The successful defense of Petersburg is ow
ing to the presence there of large detachments of
Lees army sent from Richmond; and JEFF Davis
himself Petersburg only sew days ago.
HOW THE RAILROAD COMMUNICATIONS or RICHMOND
CAN RE SEVERED
This would not have been so had Grant put
| Petersburg in his rear at once. With his army
| ut Chesterfield Junction he would have been in a
position to DESTROY or at least, TO render utterly
/ vaueless to the Confederates all the railroads
connecting Richmond with the South and West
| The small garrison of Petersburg would have
| been like rats in their hole and would not have
| dared 10 venture out He would have been Sc
cure from annOvances from that quarter. He had
| only to extend his line eight miles to the north
west and his left wing would have rested on the
Danville railroad at a point only seven miles
from Richmond. while his right would be just
below Fort Darling. Thus the direct communi-
cation with Lynchburg would have been not only
cut but in Grants absolute possession There
would only remain one single line of railroad
leading out of Richmond. namely. the one to
Hanover Junction, Gordonsville and Charlottes-
| vile IT, with Lees army confronted face to
| face at Richmond with such Il peril-if Hunter
and Sheridan could not then have rendered val
ueless that single road, what are they good for!
WHERE WAS GENERAL LEES ARMY At THAT
The movement above described could have
been executed without the slightest molestation
from Gen Lee Gen Smiths troops arrived at
! Bermuda Hundred on the 18th Gen Grant was
| there himself In person, at 3 p NJ On the 18th
| the main body of the army had crossed the James
river. and on the 18th they all might have been
at Chesterfield junction.
Gen Lees army remained east of Richmond
/ till the 18th Some troops under Gen. Deaure-
gard crossed over near Drury's Bluff on the 10Th.
and marched to Petersburg but the main body of
Gen Lees army remained in and near Rich
mond till the 18th. On that day Gen. Lee re-
paired the little damage that Butler bad done to
the Petersburg railroad on the 10th. aud it was
not until the 18th that any large detachments
from Gen Lees army arrived at Petersburg from
Richmond The fighting on that dav, the most
severe and terrible of all the four davs and on
which dav even Gen. Grant SAYS our loss was
heavy. was done on the rebel side by these fresh
troops from Gen. Lees army Drum