The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-05-17
FROM GEAfaal LEES ARMY.
lrnox oun.o coEnEsrospnsr.I
ARMY or NoRTnFRN VIRGINIA,
Bpotsylvania G. H., May 10, 1864.

bpOtsylvanta q. h.s May ~, lS0k
{ have written yen regularly siase my arrival At
the headquarters Of the army, but tear that some
ofmy letters have not reached you. The Federal
cavalry have been in our rear, and may have cap.
,ured some Of our mall carriers But little Ia
known here Of the operations Of the faidiag party
that passed down the telegram road towards
Beaver Dam Station, on the Cent1Nl railway; we
have heard that they destroyed the houses at ths
station and large quantity Of army supplies, and
that they recap,ured 900 prisoners aud few hun
dsed muskets on the way to Richmond II IL
matter Of surprise here that the paFiy.was able to
pass 10 the rear without the knowledge Of our own
cavalry.
We have had more bloody work to day, and
again, as at the wilderness, our losees are mracu=
iously small. 1t has been singular battle, not
only in Its results, but especially IN regard TO the
manner In which 1t was delivered by the Federal
commander. The greater part OF the forenoon was
consumed by him In an attempt % make Gen Lee
develope his plans and position Artillery was
nsed freely, and skirmisheTs ana shaTpshopters
were pushed forward along the lhsasnnA vigorous
efforts made IN provoke Lee 10 unmask his hattie
lies and show his hand. AT length Grant seemed
tO grow weary Of this kind Of work. and ordered sn
work in handsome style, and yet they seemed 10
have TO stomach for the fight for three separate
assaults upon Anderson's corps ale LongstTeet's)
repnlsed by his skirmishefs and sharpshooters
alone. The result was not dissimiiar In front Of
EWell. The heavy masses Of the enemy were
pushed back with The ease with which one puts a
! drunken man away from him. The COnfelerates
fought behind field works thrown up htrriedy, and
they appeared to relish the fun amazingly. The
last assault made upon AndefsOn's position was
late in The afternoon. and was headed by Tegt-
uiant OF the old United States army. The enemy
IaAP ulof inf
angle, oceuRied am told by Ureggs Texan brigade;
bHt of all who cleared the entertainments not one
lived to return they were all either killed or taken
they met with temporary success also In front OF
| kodes's division, Ew4lis corps, where they cap
tured poron 1t not all, the guns belonging to the
| 1hird company Richmond lloWitzers, of Gen Alex
andet's artillery comnar't. The guns were sooa
recovered, however, and the asaailanis beaten of
with heavy loss
Towards noon II was ascert lined that the enemy
were moving upon our left and centre with cavalry
aud Infantry Early was sent with Heth's division
TO drive thsm oil and rePOssess us Of the bridge
over The 20, OGe of the branches OF the MauapOny.
lie accomplished the object OF his mission in his
| own gallant manner. Heth g men were glad Of AN
opportunity to prove to all that the pOrary
fusion into which they were thrown at The Wilder.
ness was The result Of accident rather than Of a
lack of spirit. The enemy were we'll punished
and driven entirely from that part Of the deid.
have spoken OF our casualties to day AS Mirac-
n0usly small. They were iess than one thou sand
(, and including The loss resulting iron the heavy
diminishing yesterday, they "iil not exceed .200.
The eRemy's loas ON the contrary, since our sifi.
val here, Is estimated high 600 and al The
iderne-3 as high as 10000, including pfis0nets.
These figures are probably too large, though they
reject the opinion which obtsins in high Official
circles here. The calculation rests upon the num-
ber oftee enemy whom we have hured-", I'D
and the ,0Cn prisoners who fell into our hands,
1t IL proper 10 add that papers have been captured
since the battle oil the Wilderness which admit a
loss there of 2a 000. These papers contain a con-
fession also that Grant was beetea badly on his
right, Jour LEFT where Ewell commanded, and that
Goidon in his7isht attack inflicted heavy loss but
they claim that he successful on his left, lou
right) The first is tue, but the latter Is not Our
victory was complete Oh every part Oi tie field
II Is reported that Grant, just before opening the
battle this morning, issued an order In which he
announced to bis troops that Butler had taken
| Petersburg, and was then investing Richmond,
with every prospcct Of reducing it at an early day
! also, that Johnston had been defeated at Dalton,
| leaving Eis dead and Wounled in the hands OF
Sherman. we have Got heard from Dalton for some
days. b,A we know that the Order utters fasehood
when 1t claims that Butler has occupied Peters.
burg and invested Richmond. the courage OF
Gront's army, however, like that of the man In the
play, Is O0zng out at their fngeTs' ends, and II
quircs to be stimulated
WEDNESDAY. May ll,h.
Unbroken quiet has relgned to-day. The two
armies still confront each other, lasing their eides
engage In mortal combat. report prevailed In
high quarters this afternoon that Grant was re
tirfng in the direction OF Fredericksburg and Ger
manha Ford, but 1t Is probably without founda-
tlon. He Is not the man to yield Sd easily. Some
things that have come to my knowledge to day
satisfy me that he did not mean to offer battle yes
terlay> but rather sought to feel OF our iines and
'aSceSialn their direction and strength, with a
view 10 q real attack TO morrow or next day, and
that the great battle ts still to be fought. There
can haniy be any doubt hut that he has made up
his miad to fight ns here. The chief danger to be
) apprehended srises from the impaired morale o
oft In mfr
: at the Wilderness, and which occupy the weakest
part Of our line Of entrenchmen.s, embracing the
salient angle that was lost temporarily yesterday
1t has been Gen Lees opinion for the last two
days that the real attack will be made the r gh
: wing, and all Grants manHuvers and dsmOnstIa
tions the left have failed TO create any diversion
! froM the right.
! ig Gen H II Walker, Of this State, command.
ing brigade In Wiicox's div sion, received pain
| iui wound in the foot yesterday. SALLUsT.