Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-08-04

VII bedisplayed upon the Leader Dur
letin Board, or issued in Extras.
The Failure at 'eler,-burGh.-Tiie I'e-
sitiOn OF Affairs.
The failure Of one corps of Grants
army to capture the second line of the reb-
q inuenchments after the explosion under
the first line, has already worked species
Of comment from the Copperhead Press
which was tohave been anticipated. !
The object Of a large party at the pres |
.ent time is to dwarf and disparage ali mil |
fary operations as much as possible in or
der to convey the impression that the con-
test isutterly hopeless, either as managed
at the present time or as it ma be here
after, They therefore talk of the close Of
the summers campaign, of the defensive
position Of General Sherman, Of the heces-
sity ofdefending the Meth against rebel
invasion, and Of other matters calculated
to discourage the people and unnerve the
. effectiveness Of the army. In the mean
time the negro soldiers come in for their
periodical abuse by the Copperhead Pres.
What are the facts in theease} in front
of Burnside's corps a mine was tunneled
under the first line Of rebel fortifcationl'
An explosion took place on Saturday morn
ing last but at an hour considerably later
than was intended, owing to the failure
of the fuses to burn. When the ex-
plosion took place, it was nearly morning
so that the assault, which was to have
been made during the darkness, did not
come on until broad day light. By the
explosion, an extent of intrenchments 400
yards long WAS blown up, thus opening
the way for an assault. In the FIRST IN
stanoS, the position agns assaulted By '7hite
troops, In order to carry the next line or
some adjacent works commanding the pO-
sition. 49,
The position to be taken was Cemetery
Hill. ats crest frowing with guns, is not
more than 600 yards distant from our ad-
vanced works, and its gently sloping sides
are welted with long rows Of earthwOrks,
nitted with redoubts and redans, and
r;dged with serried salients and curtains,
and all the defences known to skillful
military engineers Thesetroops failing
a division of negro regiments was pushed
forward through the horrid breach Their
losses while exposed to murderous fire
Of canister and enGlading musketry at
test the heroisn Of the black soldiers Ii
is asserted by one Copperhead paper that
che work of storIaing was committed tc
the negro troops because General Gram
believed the task to be an easy one. Or
the contrary, there is every reason to be.
Teva that General Grant, knowing with
what splendid vnlor they charged upor
4bo enemv's works before, committed the
Great work to these black men.
But even admitting, as some correspond
snce implies, that the negro troops did be
have badly. Those who do SO charge them
might well ask, ,gouIa rp1ite men do any bet
ter if they knew that in the event Of being
t,keu prisoners they would be either e.,
fased or nqurdeTsd9 3
There Is not, moreover, such cause 70
,sco1ragement as is alleged. All ther
,vas of the attack on Saturday, lastc,
mt several hours. The Ninth corps onl,
was engaged. There was no stunning de
fastn of the army of the Potomac what
aver General Grants operations vii
still 90 on. and he will not relax his grasl
.h,Tb the rebel marauders do invad
Pennsylvania.
How Is 1t with General Sherman2 No
,ntbe defensive at all, as certain Copper
beads declare. Rebel dispatches ndmi
that our shells are thrown into the city {
Ansnta We have lost, in front Of Al
i.nts. report d officially, ten cannon an
900 men. The rebel loss in killed la
been three thousand nine hundred an
i-r afty-ave; in prisoners, three thOusan
two hundred. Our troops have burie
three thousand two hundred and ffty-fv
rebels. Their wounded cannot numb,
ls.s than fifteen thousand; making th
to+.l rebel loss since Hood assumed con
rnand is more than twenty thousand, ,whic
ve have reason to believe, is fully on
third Of his command
General Stoneman is operating in tt
rear of Hoods army, and has already d
stroyed ali railroad communications OF A
lanta with the South. Indeed the prob
bilities are, that Hoods army will be ei
tirely destroyed if. it remains muC
longer.
Neither tho position Of Grant nor
Sherman is SO odiscOuraging as the Cope
heads would like to have it. The Peop
have sense enough to see ii, and patien'
to wait
Convenfug the Legi~IatuFe Of PennsJ