Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-03-15

liIb NNN - 80
t';c Southwest 1T Q single blow. Thc con
Sitior Of tho army on i,s arrival a Tupelc
wasn0t such astJ encourage The slightest h =.
that .ucl p ,ravr.ncnt could be successfully re-
sisted. Over 1Cn thousand mcA having heor
Strr2l, down in the rctcn- battle, and more
than twenty ;housard beside dcstr.gtd ~
.c,derei hr The time s,irr uai, fr service
i,v ,hc frightful diseases w.tcN daily vested
The ranks ~ Cori4th. 'cSs ;!ian thirty ti""sand
electives cou,d d. rol;cd upJa IN any crler-
s.ncy. With this small force General Bragg
determined OF to await The appraach "f thc
caemv. hut ~ strike 4 blow tfr IN" recovery
OF thu imme0se territory .r'rh bad already
been lost md the campaign ~ kantucsJ
was the rcSu,t-;le most Iu ing, ana. in some
Il il. as-crrs, the most brilliant cGrpaign Of
tho war. For this purpose, lie sent h!s arhl
i.ry, wagona and horses aero Tac country tc
Chattanooga. while his troJrs, with wonderful
raaiiitv. were wki'lod s:onnd, Ella Mobile,
ever nearly q thousand miles Of railroad, to
the same point. Arriving ut Chattanooga. ne
found the rsemy's picaciS Immediately a1rcs-
tao ri7er, ard Ruoil, with the main body Ct hin
nm over Forty Thousand strc"S, only twenty,
eight miles distant, at Bri 'gapolt ard Steven.
sol. Bodily crossing the r.'cr, he pushed or
70 the interior &c tennessee, turning the enc
nT's LETT ilaak and threatening big Inc 9!
COMMUNICATION: ard thence Continued his
march 70 Contra! kentackf, t. sapport the
ii:tlc army which, by his crd -. had preccdod
him, under General Kirby Sni;h. from East
Tennessee. Disappointed pn .eachiog there
in Tho argc>rcirforcenrnts expected, a"c
pressed ~ nearly heb,c MS vwn numbcrs. his
situation soon became most critical. UnGer
these circumstances Tie battle Of Ptrryville,
was fought, which, II it had been commenced
st daylight, as positively ordered. would pro
BAIL have enabled him. after thus develop
i,c he Situation OF the nam body Of tho ere
my, to have concentrated his entire Free up n
tarir isolated columns and driven them he
yGnd the Ohio river. Under this view Of the
case. the uapardonablc lcs,o Of six hour, urovei
the loss Of Kentucky, the responsible y of
which must fall upon the General Officer in
command Of that division Of the army.
Bat notwithstanding our inability 10 hold
Kentucky, the campaign was fruitful il re
sulss. Not 70 meati II tde many ,h0u:a1d
prisoners taken at Mineordsriilc, R:chinou9
and P+rrr7ille, and the many Thousand stand
If small arms, the Immense quantities II pro-
Visions and clothing. har-es ard wag ns. d
Ngrth Alabama and Middle Tennessee were
relieved Of tho rreserc2 Of tho cucmyGnI the
resources # this largo territory piAcei At o%r
disposal for twelve months 10 ono
Leaving kentucky, ty Wv "f Cumhel.ni
Gap. General Bclgg rapidly wheeled his ar;ny
Middle Tennessee, To confront the cacm:
A. Nashville. and taking NJ his position nj
Murfrnosboro', hid defiance 10 his foes. Had
", however. had he cccuri,d tho country.
II . 100, l.tos.I e. - .-a.
Of by far It's ~lar-cst division 10 Nicks'rrg,
leaving less than $1,000 muFke's opposed =
ncarlv double that number. With this ,.raa:
DISPARITY If numbers he fought and Sun tbs
harrIo IF Murirccsboro', and although. after
holding tie battle Il Id fnr three ceys, he w@s
compelled TO retire To Z S'rcnre- position.
After y fcw months rest ani rarTperati)n
it was again deemed necessary /, reinforce the
army in Misaissipri. Promptly and wi.aau'
, murmur he answered the call, and ser: 81
Of his Eve divisions. although he knew
full vel that g soou ag the fact became kn0Tn
70 Tho enemy. the latter would cnmp2i him to
re ire hrVOrd th5 mountain. This rcsilt CO..
CARED only = lew weeks aCterwaTd. ana with
lcGr,a the soldiers turned ,5fir backs
. rj2h and beautiful country. which they
we're tJJ weak to defend.
OF General Bragg's subsequent movements.
including the battle Of Chickamauga, in which
i:is ciaat skill as 4 strategist aad military chic
were ia l. developed. space will not Inrm:t
-~GficieEt detail to do him ~ius'irc, ri Rough il
is hoped that ere long his report, clilo1 for and
presented 10 Congress several weeks bsfore IT,
adjournment, will be given to rhc public. 1t
,nnv b" stated, however. that by hiR na'mG-
he at ono time STOOD concentrated directly
n IRON; VI The crcmy's centre, whoic illnk5n:
the time. according TO Il ~Recrans' report.
Just published, we're ,f(ly-serem mics
apart ana but for the disohcdi.:ncc Of
ono Of his general officers, in when he. had
good reason to place the highest confidence.
the Army Il the Cumberland would on that
lay have virtually ceased TO exist. We refer
- the affair in McLem1re's Cove. for which
In: officer III command was subsequently, ar
-as.ei. And again, ON tho following day,
when he attempted to destroy one Of these
CORDS, a like failure upon the part Of
The sane officer who commanded ut Perryville
was the sad result.
His hopesa of destroying tho enemy in de-
having thus been dashed. he determined
70 hurl his sraali, but invincible arInY, upon
he now rani0l7 concentrating hosts in front
# him, enc FOR this purpose commenced q
increment toward their left flank on t5ebanks
IF the C~hieliamauoa. HIS ARMY At thjs time
consisted O! $4,000 riuakats, to which 5000
were were nd led dufirg the movement by re-
FROM Virginia. The great battle
fought on the 10Th and 20th of Septem-
Der. At tbesclose of the fr-t day, imp,rtan.
advantages were gained, which il only re.
;nired pr2mptand vigorous action the follow
ng morning to'convert into = victory. tt &c
this result, tho commander of the right
;ing was ordered to make the attack bydsy-
igi,t, and the rest of TIE limo to take it M in
uccession. Again this officer filled TO obey
lis orders until iate in the day, and the victory
Which should have been ours ut noon vas not
until afser nightfall,, when it was
mp ss;blo to know whether the foe was ii
Gu, IT had fallen back only q few hundred
Indeed, it could not be, and wa4 not
i1own until the next morning, that the enemy
.ad retired from our front, when it was ascer-
aired that during tho. night be had withdrawn
o his ent'enchaneH2s aud forts around Chat
anocgs. 1t was Tot deemed advisable - as
auls him IN this position; but by closely in
'esting the J zee G>n. Bra * fels convinced.
ne wan!d soon compel him ~ decanp lor
rant OF supplies, sas he was restricted 70 nay
afu n'"uhfSlLuu* roaCs. mere than s!yty
niles in length, IN the nGfth side Of Il e .ver.
Is day after Aav rolled by. and undJubfed re-
orts were brought in Of tho RAPIDLY iuyend-
ng starvation, Whist was the astorishmcn. Ct
one morning to learn that a pom
,on bridge had been thrown across the river
under the nose Of tia commander of
Ne left wing, aud that the enemy were forti-
ing the adjacent hills on the south side tfI
10 river. To permit this point to pass out Of
IT hands was to give up al the great advSn>
ges Of our position, and the. cpmmarder in
.estion was, alerefora, ordered at or,cs TO RS
the loss sustained by his. want CT yigi-
nee even at the hazard of his whole COM
and. Failing to obey the orders at the