The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-09-21

UlnnDllseS. sfavps
carriages, buggies and wagons were soon on the
road to Pennsylvania, all loaded town with live
freight In almost less time than it takes to- write
this paragraph the town was left in possession of !,
few Union eavalrymen and several newspaper cor
respondents.
GRANTS EARTHwoRKs AROUND PETERSBURG
A correspondent Of the Springfield tMassaclu-
settel Republican gives the following description OF
the works constructed by Grants army around
Petersburg:
After all the descriptions given Of this battle
centre there ale probably few at the North who
have CORRECT idea Of the position it Ii Even
old soldiers, familiar with siege operations coming
here from other points, have been surprised at what
they saw and what they did not see. The
extent OF ground occupied is enormous. On
this, the excavations and emtankments fall
systematic ana correct to the : eye of the expe-
riencci engineer) have the appearance, to a
casual observer, of Incompetence and confused ir-
re8ullrlty There Is no well-defined chain OF works
with finished front, as at Bermuda Hundred to be
seen from any point along the parapet, stretching
away In either direction far a5 the eye reach
There is no succession Of parallels and saps clearly
tending to q prominent object of attack, as on the
Morris island sand waste.
Tho whole country for miles about seems dug up
and shovelled over, with no other purpose than TO
make as many heaps and as many holes as are pos
sible IN given space. Thore is long line Of low
riiie-pits for advanced vdettes Back of these,
there is stronger line of embankments before a
Wlte trench for the picket reserve There are bomb
proofS-huge hemispherical heaps of earth and logs
like New England potato-ceaT- T-in the outer line
Tor the ydettes to crawl into when shelled by the
enemy. There are bonb-proofs i'll the second line
Tor the pcket5. There Is large bomb proof for the
picket headquarters; | write from that. There are
covered ways-long trenches to protect passing
soldiers from rifle bullets-tr0m the yidette-ps to
the reserve, and from the reserve to the rear
Along these covered ways are small bomp-proCf
dodging-holes III the side walls, like bank swallows
nests.
Then there are graves. Away at the front single
grave Oh Il barren sand hill two or three graves
under solitary tree half dozen graves in row
on the plain low mounds of yellow clay with head
ana foot boards OF ammunition or cracler-bo
covers, ludely marked with the name and regiment
OF the fallen soldier and the date Of his death.
strange place for burial No rest even III death
The roar of artillery and the rattle OF mIsketly
shake continually the dead soldier3's marrow bed
AT times, even his clayey covering itself torn from
above hun, rs though he had no right to sleep while
the war went on. Since sat writing here, q rebel
shell has struck and exploded III the very Cente u
a Pennsylvania soldiers grave, but few yards TO
my front and right and opened it anew If to call
It's inmate AGAIN to arms.
The lines of vldettepits ana Of picket trenches
are 81 crooked and complex that 1t requires careful
observation to decide which is for friend and which
ior iOe. They seem to run Ill all ways, right and
left forward and back, over ole hl around another
through favlne now almost touching the works
where the rebel cannon and Tie Tetei flag,
and again widely uIvergiug therefrom, \ battery
itttS tIIia NbS-ILIII The cltNlyS y DittIKy '
faces the other way-that Is ours. Yet, they look
II both were IL the same entrenched line. Other
batteries seen at night and left; still others IL
the rear. Covered ways run from one line to the
other, Asvm one battery 10 the next, from one COW
cred WY to covered way again. Bonib-proois an
everywhere, and 80 are the soldiers gTayesa oius
ter here and another just beyond The brave tel
lows were buried where they fell
SEIZURE Oh ARMS Al PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAIPsHIRE
FuI time past efforts have been making ~
ti.e police ii Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to dis
cover certain arms which, 1t War alleged, had beel
received by individuals i'll that city with the ihten
ton Of having them distributed among parties i'll
imicai to lincoln ana to his measures FOL the prose
Is given Ill the Chronicle OF the 5tL instant, which
adds
"Tle discovery Of these concealed weapons vii
perhaps open the eyes of some to the real inten
tlons eli our pretended peaee-loylng friends. Ii il
stated that eighteen hundred OF two thousand En-
fields have been distributed about New Hamp1AlrI
for the Use ot these precious peace-inakers.'
The GoLD MAEKET.
The Herald gives tL- following about The golt
market ..s
The gold market to-day showed symptoms ot that
weakening which will DC mole fully apparent hes
week The opening quotation was 22c, from WihCl
IT declined TO 22it aud then recovered = prepara
tory to drop to 2231 at which it stood At twenty
five minutes past z. NJ. The old bull - clique
composed OF 4 dozen or so OF Germans and French
men, have been and are still doing their best Il
keep up the premium. So long were without
achievements i'll the field, and the public mind wa
despondent, these ShyoCkS of the community were
enabled to exercise great control over the gold mar
ket, and fleece the majority OF outside operators
pretty much as they desired; but the effect Of the
Frightening aspect of the military situation upon
the popular mind cannot be resisted, and the rti-
fetal props which before proved sufficient to sustain
geld at premium of from 2iG to $50 are no loncal
strong enough to check reverse Its natural tea
denoy, anI therefore, il must continue 10 sink st
towards its true value IL relation ~ the cur
rency.
TIE CONFEDERATE OFFICERS UNprE FIRE AT 1EoRRIi
ISLAND.
"A letter from Morris island, dated the l5th give
description Of the encampment OF six huf.iie.
Confederate officers under fire there, and says:
Ii the firing Is maintained as hotly as it has :eeI
between the James island and own batteries
some of the prisoners are likely to be hurt Already
several fragments vi shells have Aurtled within tht
enclosures, but one has Yet been injured \ mum
Der OF shell have fallen Just outside the palisades
kicked up a duel, but none within The rctels tax,
great pleasure III watching the fight oi the mortar
shells at night, and seem to eyce but little fear VI
them Some damage might be done their person,
should an eight or ten-iiieh bomb explode among
them, The sentries are entirely exposed, but The
guard have SPLINTER PROOF 10 protect telii against
shells Before placing the prisoners Iii their new
quarters, General Foster communicated his design
to General Jones' So that there should be no isno-
rance pleaded ot their whereabouts.
CONFEDERATE INVASION or MISSOURI.
A telegram, dated at st. Louis Oh the 10th N
slant, says
Reliable information has been received here
that General Price crossed the Arkansas river al
Dardanee, about half way between Little Roob
and Fort Smith, the Sth instant, with five thou
sand cavalry evidently destined for Missouri
Shelby'6 movements III Northeast Arkansas and
Southeast Missouri seemed to be aimed at Cape Gira-
deau while Price will probably strike at Spring.
field Both places well fortified, and have gar
risous strong enough to repei any attack
General A. j. Smiths advance arrived at Sulphur
Springs. about twenty miles below here, to-day
where they go into camp, probably to await the de-
velopments of the enemy
Shalby's advance is III Southeast Missouri, but
nothing definite is known III regard to his designs.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The New York Democratic State Cpnvention on
the 18th, nominated Governor Seymour and Lieu
tenant Governor Jones for reelection, and adopted
Il platform fully endorsing Mcclellan, Of which the
Herald says:
Tie platform is better wordcd than usual, and ii
is the first Democratic Convention that has ASSEM-
bled i'll the State since the commencement ot the
explicitly, "We opposed TO the rebellion" They
have heretofore expressed 1t III ambiguous language
The new Mozart organization did not return To the
convention TannlaIy and one of the German or
carnations represented New Yoik city alone 1t is
argued by Seymour's friends that his nomination