Maysville weekly bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1864-1866, 1864-06-09
ROSS & RossER, Publishers.
From The Detroit Free Press.
The Sources of War News.


In the DAYS of Napoleon the Great. gov
arnn,snt, so often saw fit to place before the
neople distorted news from the theatres OF
m ilitary operation, that the expression. fa:sa
os a war bulletin, became proverbial. In
the recent war between England and China,
tbs nrooress OF the British was scarcely i'm
noded and the Chinese were invariably,
and with little difficulty, rePulsed. yet
tha Chinese war bulletins sent to
Pekin. ALWAYS spoke OF driving the bar
barians,, into the sea with immense
sIanobter. The history Of our civil war
strikingly illustrates this tendency TO ON
ciaI exaggerstion on the part OF both Fed
eral and Confederate authorities. or oehoer'
ate attempts to deceive the people as 10 the
trpe military situation. We purpose devo-
,;no brief space to a consideration OF the
sonIces of our war news, that our readers
NAV estim ate it at its true value. 1t should
constantly be borne in mind that these
,snecialsi whose statements, and even spec
nations and conjectures are continually
teleoraphed over the whole country, are
rencrallv from professional and hireling
n.,s-nonoers. most Of them hangers on
obort Washington; and that even those OF
tben who are with the armv, are Obliged to
write under fear and frequently to suppress
the truth and publish falsehooh. ASd the
matter is often made worse by the selection
! of had unreliable sources OF intelligence =
| Mapy Of our telegrams are copied from the
Washington Republican. a mere eaten PEN
nv concern in Washington, not even as re-
s1octable as Doug Walack's Evening Star
! Inflammation or pretended news from this
sor,ce always needs confirmation. great
,r,bsr of spec:als' are from the the Phil
aJeIrbia Iuauirer and Bulletin, papers
wboiIv unreliable as to their news, aud no.
,or;n,,slv eddic, ed To sensational IA lse hoods.
Little. il any attention, need be pald 10
news from these sources unless tuiiy con-
| frme in other quarters
We regret that even the so-called 'oth-
cial. ioiorma ration is so often little better
| ,ban that from the sources already lndlca-
tod II is notorious that Secretary Stanton
has fr, oueptly revamped the stories OF the
.enscisis, and sent them forth to the people,
with the insnuatiOn that they came from
the commanding Generals in the held. VI
late he has not seen fit TO give US the ON
cil REPORTS Of the commanders OF DEPART
ments with whom be Is IN constant com :
rnrnicatiou. but Cat the suggestion. It is said
of h;s new assistant, MIR. Dino, a we'll
iknown abolition editor) he takes the offi :
ci.I dispatcbes and writes out whatever he
r1aases rom them. together with hints
from newspaper correspondents. and SENDS
:, ont over his own name to the country -
The neople are not to be trusted with any
,binG hut Stanton sees fit, in his wisdom to
I'll fbem The Secretary evidently ha,
arsat reliance on the guilibiIty OF mankind
ard thinks no one will question that tc
wbich he aives his sanction. Let us tes
some of his official dispatches while we
are in the m DIST Of the pause which ne an =
, nouuces as to continue Tor several days
1 | h,si nj
First Nav 9Th, he telegraphed, Grant
disnatches are not fully. .deciphered yet, hu
Sa i nm 10 Richmond The rebels are in FIJI
T .strsot for Richmond on the direct road
0nr headouarters at noon yesterday were
t,s.,,t,, miles south Of the battlefield. U,
10 fsi,h in this 20 mile official talsehood
aId fan for a few hours TO 50 Now ther
vas not word Of truth in any part OF II
n - ,,os not in retreat, but having force
Cent tn change his base,' was moving I
ooooro noo,tate himself TO the new situation
Gront was not 'on 10 Richmond and b
headouarters were not twenty miles sou
e. of the battlefield nor three miles: Inc
~ had been in the Wilderness west oil Cnan
cellorsville, and six or seven miles south
e, tbe Rapidan. and were then several mll'
east of Chanccllorsville, between SpottsyI
70 ia Court House and Fredericksburg ar
cti
he drawn from the Rapdan.
Caoo,d on the 10Th, Stanton telegraph
n The name of B. F. Butler, that Geni.
II ailI. had been whipped at Petersou'
,bot Reauresard was cut of below that CIT
- tbat Grant would not be troubled WI
ry further reintorcements to Lee tro
'n' po,rrogard,s forces And soon after he a
ronnced that Butter was besieeing n
de- Daring and had carried the two cutter III
of works and all was satisfactory"
Now it is very we'll known that Bnt
~ never whipped any body (except In
NY OrIeapsI and never cut tho direct line
ro;lro,d betweeu Richmond and Petershu
ond that "Beaursgard's forces" passed up
the latter place without Interruption al
Buffers advance
Third, On the 18th, Stanton telegraph
- that Butler bad been attacked by the rem
:" hnt had repulsed all assaults, and &
Siaisnrely retired to his intrenchments
Now. il was we'll kr owa to Stanton
e: Rn,ler had been driven back to Bermr
cks; urn6red six or eight miles, and will
Lucy Ioss of from 5000 to 1000 men IN XII
wonnded and prisoners. There he mas
over since. 10 what is nearly equlVaien
a state of siege.
Fourth Stanton telegraphed that I
Sheridan had made grand RAID aro'
Lees rear, done immense damage.
sum- the first line of intrenchments at hion m'
, and Joined But,sr With the loss OF s, ous q
lg, horses and only 35O men. It now transI
the damage done by Gen. Sheridan wa:
pafred within forty eight hours. and tha
, old lost large number of horses and ne
,nse- one thousand men killed, wounded
missing.
pbt. Fifth, On the 18th Stanton telegraph
bt. Goreat victory thousands of prisoners,
enns taken, Lee in full retreat. and Ora
men. hot pursuit. The whole country no'0 k
that no victory was gained at that time,