The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-05-16
FROM GENERAL LEES AaMY.
FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.
ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.
Anntp VI ~ Mac q SaA


the most interesting ehnracfer. tA@ Saturday af
tern0an, the 7th inat., the date Of my last letter
the cavalry feporlei that Grant, while keeping up
Threatening attitude III o'ir front, was preparing
10 move still further TO our righ, and In the direc
ton OF Spoiayisan,a Court House ana Richmond
Having fotdfed his posi,ioa, especially oa the
plank road and tutopike. he hoped that smaIl
tOfce would be able to hold IT, while the main
body OF his army was being moved TO this place,
the possessioh u which was a matter Of the gieat
est consequence u Giant. The road from Ger
mamma Ford, OF The Hapidan, by which he ad-
vahced, leads directly 10 his point, and thence 10
Richmond. Other important roads, Including one
tium Ffederekshug, inlets-ct here, aud render 10
place oi no little slrategtc value Ia the present
campaign against the Confederate capital lis con.
sequence can hardly be Oveffatad.
Upon the reception Of the Intelligence alluded 10
above, Orders were uiejialt issued by Gen Lee
for Lohgstteet's cOips (Of And.Iaon'a AS / shall
fesf .hate II hefeaft-rl TO move At ii O'Clock that
night rapidly 10 Spotsyvahia Count House, and. If
possible, head of the Federal army then belle we'd
10 be marching ior the same destination. Outca
airy had behaved v-iy well. aud hat beaten back
the eheny's cavalry ior two days Late Saturday
evening and eaily sunday morning, however, II
was asceuatned that the cavalry were Supported
by infantry, aud that The latter were advancing In
considerable force. THEFT march Was delayed As
much as possible, In order 10 give Anderson time
10 yet up but they succeeded in occupying the
CouH House, and w~fe In possession early Suu
dag morning when keTshaw's division uOrH,.iiy
McLaws's,) arrived. Win BTysn'3 and WoffOrd q
bfiRaaes kusdhaW Immediately advanced against
the enemy holding the village his old brigade and
Humphreys were sout tSider Humphreys against
the forces then appfo8chihg down the road ilym
the battle field ot th- Wilderness, pushihg OuJ Cav
ally b~iOfe thrni kefshaW ciea I'd the Wild ye ia
few inmates and made his dispositions 10 hold IL
humphreys placed his command brhiad a rnce
and some tiatl UbstIucttohs which the cavalry had
previously prepared The enemy advanced with
great confidence being ighoiant Of the presence 0t
Confederate infantry and Surprising the tf00ps be
hind the iiae OF fence and brush were dismOunIrd
cavalry. Humphreys reserved his fire until they
got v lthin ftw PAGES, and then gave them 4 vol
leg which covered the ground with their dead ana
wounded. a sharp COMBAT ensuet, the result 0i
which was lha rapid feuedt OF thr enemy, whu
lett many dead ana wounded In our hands, includ
ing 4 bIixatier saenefai, who was noftatg wound
ed. Our own loss was Insignificant. f.eldss di
viaion came UP soon afterwards, aud portion OF
it law's hrigsde,l engaged ihe enemy Ater In the
day, repn stag him as usual The. t"fces disposed
OF in This summary manner by Anderson Sas the
nth army corps which Ewell had beaten 90 hand
ssomely three das. bctofc 10 the Wilderness. some
two hundred prison'fs and i've or SIX hundred
small arms fell into 0uf hhads.
Ewe,i's corps moved sion the battle. field early
Yesterday (juntay) morning, and ,ii's corps suh-
day Gght, the jOsmer got ihto po.itioa last even
log, ana the latter this HioSnihg
Thus has Cen Lee succeeded i'll throwing MIS-
whole army tis6t the path OF his sniay 00ist
Had the ground baeh moIe fly6iatie 10 military
ationa, 0. had the eItrmy delayed his attach On
the second day al hOut longer, dhtil Lohkstreet
could get in position our victory at the Widefhens
wouid have b-rn decisive aud crushing Ae II MAS,
Gen iepai=-i ali 0,ant's assaults with heavy
loss, and held him th-fe ua.iI he could throw his
army ib front OF him and betWeek him and the cap
irai. This was mastery performance, and tenders
II necessary l0t Grant 10 give uS battle here Of ma he
further delout to tue light Ihetr Is but one road
on the right between SrOtsyvahis Coufr House and
ihe MattapOni hy which he Can nvVe that is
knbwn the Telegraph road, aud leads directly
flbm Fredericksburg to kichmond, crossing the
N0Ilh Anna, south Anna, and Little river, few
mites above the point where they u0tr and form
A4he Pamunkey. East OF The Mau. .poni IS another
Apad WI hich passes through Rowling Green, but Ii
Giant should move by that he would hRd II neces-
sa1 TO cross three Considerable streams, the Mat
tapo6\, Pamunkey, and Chickahominy The I'm
porlanN 0f these observations ~iu he apparent 10
the really upon the Inspection OF good map. The
distance ffpia the Court House 10 the Telegraph
rOadI abont eight mites, and Id ffrdeteks ksbutg /,
is eleven miles.
IL must be confessed that Grant has shown a
good DIAL OF cieverness In one respect, and that
was 10 avoiding the route by Fredericksburg Z
which proved 50 disastrous to Burnside. At The
lime Burnside moved down the north bank of the
RsppahannOck and attempted to ci0ss al trede-
Icksbufg, u is known that Hooker pointed out the
route by which Giant has advanced an the better
Ot the Two, and II viii be remembered When ne
succeeded Ia th- command Of thu army, then 0ecu-
pytng the heights Of Siaffhfd he adopted hts
original plan in part and In getting as faI
as Chahc elorsville. The thing which We hsve
chiefly regret Ia the loss of devoted town OF
Ire defic ksbure, which has passed. temPofaiiy al
iraat iato the hands Of the Invader We hear that
GraTt bsougfl twenty Two days npplies with
hin, the mea carving seveE days on theif backs
sHd the remainder being transported In WAGONS, OF
which there are 500 10 each carps- IL WAS evil
IDENTITY his purpose to make a rapid march upon th1
capital, Just as Sherman did ue9Q Meridian from
vtcksburg From Information derived from pfts =
oners, is led 10 believe that BE- expected when
he crossed ihe kapitan Oh Lee 3 right, that the
la,let would fall back BY dofiohaville towards
Richmond.
The two armies nov confront each other On the
north side Of thr Co1It- House, and a battle may
take place al any time. Thtf- has bsen c00sid-
erable skirMishing and mahtuvcIihE all day
Twenty iout nou's will dectde whether Grant will
deliver battle he,e. Seek To turn our position
again.
Lieut. Gen Hiii Is sick. and N u Gen Early has
been assigned 10 the cOmmhhd oi hts corps, Sud
B,ta Gen Gordon iaAes EaTiy's division. Brig
Gen Malone commands Anderson divisi0n stacs
the assignment Of the latter 10 G,e command OF
L Looastreet's corps Col DuBOse, OF the Fifteenth
Gr0feta succeeds 10 the cummshd vi hehning's Z
hraa0e bALfU6Ts