, 1864-06-28
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENCE,

WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENCE.
The Potomac Army-The Situation.
Veteran Troops Before AIrhnond-
Newspaper CorFespoudenIs-r "
Ihrce A1ndreA BoI1ar ulause-The
kew Lo.4-Cartou. speech Of Nr.
GaIss.,s1s Getsrsnsr,Tho Co1serhead h N net!sasl
Faction.
lcArrcspsudenes Chicago rr1buns.]
WAaHxa7oN. Friday JuueH
9HE POTOMAC ARMX--TnE SITUATION.
There Is no use cencealins from the COIN
t1J the gravity Of the situation or the mag.
nitude OF the obstacles which present them
selves before the Army of the Potomac In its
present position near Richmond They are
indeed such as require tho very highest mill.
tarJ skill and ability, and an amount of pluck
and endurance ~hish would do credit to the
most razlile nation on ths face Of the globe.
The siege Of Richmond presents someHhat
similar features just now to that Of s-bas.
tapool, when the allies abandoned the line Of
their original advance and took up their po.
sition on this Southeaat side OF that plaza.
They had their. wxr vessels oars
tbs Black Sea, and no have on
On the James. Theirs were wooden, ours
are iron clad vessels. They bomb4rded the
: forts without success We did the same,
some time since, With Fort Darling, with the
same result Ne have our lron-clsds now,
and some blame Admiral Lee for not making
an attack. lst Us See with what justice
All will rcco11ect the attack of the iron-clads
in Charleston harbor, on Fort Gregg, Fort
Wagner and Fort Sumter. Their concentrn-
ted tire proved Of no avail to reduce those
works. It had to be effected In the end By
the land forca under Gen. Gilmore, as re-
spects Wagner aud Gregg,. and sumter Is.
still in The enemy's possession. Now, In the )!
cRse Of Fort Darling, The river being narrow,
the iron-clads cannot concentrate their fire |
in the sazae degree that they can in an open |
rondstend Or harbor. And then again, Fort |
Darling II on an elevation, which enables ita |
gubs 10 rake our vessels decks with plung- |
lug and glancing shot The decks being the |
"weak spot" In the monitors, they actually |
very little better prospects of suceess than
wooden ships. The rebels, in the case Of
our first attack on this fort. had guns mount
ed which threw conical rl1e balla. 0na Of
these balls has been known TO penetrate the
Monitor pilot houses, md Others Of them to
tnrrct and deck interscct. The et-
feet Of course Tas to prevent the
turret from revolving. thus placing thu Tes-
eel at tho mercy Of the enemy In an open
harbor this might be be"remedied, but with
come di1hculty. b swinging the ship. But
Then there are the distractions in the river.
The monitors might run By the rebel fort,
but for these. But, As It IL now, these OBJ
s11uctions must be removed under fire, \ feat
| physically Impossible to be performed In
uetd, Admiral Lee, it appears, has sunk ves-
sels in the channel himself, TO prevent the
! rebel iron clads passing doHn the river. We
| must suppose he has good reasons 1or SO
| doing, nUS \ outstanding that 1t would appeal
| to Ole at this distance from the eceno, \
very strange sort Of proceeding. Fort Dar-
| ling, then, 1t is almost certain, must be ra-
duced By regular siege from the land side.
| There appear to me to be three modes By
which Gen. Grant can continue his present
advance on Richnond. First, the reduction
| Of Fort Darling, and advance up the river By
the iron -clAds, which could thus protect the
right or lett hauk Of the army, accordingly
~ it advanced up BY the nortn or esuth bank
Of the river Second, an advance to the west
ward from Bermuda Hundred, thus 6ercriny
the enem5's communication win Peters-
burg. This would, however, be hazardous
undertaking, even after 1t was executed, az
the enemy coMd 1T any. tins demonstrate
against the line Of communication from Two
fortified pssiuons, Lot over ten miles apart.
Third, an advance By turning Petersburg
and then crossing the Appomatto1 river and
| marching towards the .Danvllle R&ilroad.
This plan, however, involves q long line OF
communication, to be guarded ut all points,
and which at Petersburg Is always thrsaten.
ed, to say nothing ot attacks from thc South,
which would doubtless be made at all times
during day and night. The ammunition,
subsistence and the siege material Of the ar
ny could scarcely be transported in safety
over this route. But there II still another
line Of advance-that proposed by General
Mcclellan, from Malvern Hill, and which
ling. It seems to me, however, that this l1ue
| Is not now 4 feasible one, whatever 1t might
have been III far1ncr times. The plan, then,
involving the reduction Of Fort Darling,
es ish h tn.s T.s attack shs on sPpsatope sPsa q
except 1hat they had no fort on their left as
We have to obstruct our passage, appears to
| me, now, to be the must FEASIBLE one for tue
reduction OF Richnbnd. To be snre It In
wolves time and great labor. These are Its
drawbacks. But at the same tims 1t takes
less men Thus poi ton If the Immense
| army now before Richmond could be en-
plol ed elsewhere, at least until the tipe for
using them to advantage, in the progress Of
the siege, had arrived. -.
In The meantime tho greater part Of tho
army In comparatively at rest, awaiting the
Lew movement, which has been officially an-
pounced Is In progress. To be snre General
1iulter's column IL Ut work, but ne really
know little or nothing OF Its whereabouts or
doinxs, except ~ coming to us from rebel
sourc.s. Thtrs Is news, apparently well au-
ttrnticated, that nine brigades ofE-ell's
corps have been sent TO intercept Hunter. II
1h!s 10 go We may expect bloody encounter
between the two armies, Curs fighting ut a
great dead nntsge; for Gen. Hunter Ia at
J lcuss one hundred aAu fifty miles from his
base, in an snetny's ccuctr5, and dependent
l hn nj 1fafrt hmm IA a fnr
subsistence. 1mostanxiouslg look for nows
from that quarter.
!; 1t appears that Hampton, after the retrest
Of Sheridan from Gordonsvil1e, followed
him, and made an attack on tho White
Uouse, but was repu1sed; but the fact sho MS
force to spare from the - Valley" and thas
| TO Hampton has been assigned the duty Of
projecting the rebel communications with
It, By way Of Gordonsville, Culpepper, ETC.
Lee viii tndeavor, II possible, TO secure the
line Of the CentIui Virginia Railroad to Cor
| uoussi1Ie, aud SO OIL to the rich country west
| Of thele. .
WESTERN TROOPS BEFORE RICHMOND.
Tie Westcrn troops In the Potomac army
have n usual covered themselves with glory.
Among other regiments, It may not be fn-
yidi0ns to mention the 39th Illinois yates
Phalan1(, Col. Osborne. THIS regiment
fought most calamity under Gen. Butler,
|
in killed and wounded. Col Osborne ~as
shot through the arm, the bail breaking the
bone. At last accounts 1t was thought the
limb might be saved. The Colonel had been
| quite III previously, and it Was feared tha
wound would fully test the strength OF q
naturally good constitution. The 37th Wis
consin also made itself reputation before
Petersburg, excel1cd by no other regiment.
Its Colonel {DOolittle), son Of the senator
Of thnt name, is spoken Of as having LED hls
men to the very muzzles of the enemy Z
guns, with va1or and determination " w1ich
are praised by all, officers and prirates. BE
vas wounded, but not fatally, By fragment
7 OF a she'll Many hundreds Of our. noble
fellows died the death Of the brave in the
desperate ASSAULTS ut that place on Friday
and Saturday last The loss Of life il spoken
: Of as very great indeed, and some blame il
ATTACHED to one of the Generals, who, 1t II
j alleged, gave an untinely order to advance.
NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS:
The newspaper correspondents with the
, amy laarn are having hard time OF It
. Their status, indeed, ut present, is none oi
! the most desirable or pleasant. You have
heard Of the fate of Mr. Cropsey. It hal