Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-08-12

The Government received on Friday a coufr
nation OF the facts concerning the recent disas-
ter 10 Gen St0neman, near Macon, Georgia, on
the 3lst of July. but have, of course withheld
both the facts and their confrnatoH from the
public.
The expedition under Gea StOncman had been
fitted out with unusual care, and embraced over
1000 men The horses. arms, etc. were in
splendid condition. and the most important te
suits were expected to attend the expedition.
which started ont on the 9th Gen Stoneman
himself is one OF the able,t and most expert
enced cavalry officers in the service The ex
petition, however, hot only failed. bat the fail
ure was attended by great disaster. The battle
on the 3lst was Desperately contested. and our
loss in killed aud sounded was very large.
But the rebel force was 80 greatly superior to
ours that General Stoncman's retreat Wa cut or
and he, with seventy five officers and over FIVE
hundred men, were compelled to surrender. \
detachment OF his force escaped. The effect of
this disaster upon General sherman isrreparable
10 quite crippes him for future operations, far
as cayalty b. concerned, unless General Shcrl-
dams cavalry j. sent 10 him from Grants army
~ this g. dome t viii unly bc following the cN-
angle Of General Lee Who, some weeks since.
sent over i've thousand - hi. cavalry under
General Riusom, 20 Atlanta. ! DO not know
that | need any longer % refrain from mentions
it, that there IL strong feeling e disaiiertion
existing among the officers and men OF the Army
of The Potomac IA some OF them have probably
reached NcN \ ork by this time This disaliec-
ton arises from various causes, principally from
The neglect OF the Government IN paying them
many OF them being ftom three Co six months in
arrears. aud from the utter recklcssness OF their
lives which II diiphyel by Grant, Meade aud
Burnside The soldiers say openly that tic Gen
erals that have NAMED have. on many occasions,
nccdlessly sacrificed thousands OF their comrades
! where 10 object Wa to be- gained. and when u
was known beforehand TAFT the assaults would
4 br ftutlcas
The recent assault on Petersburg j. only one
I oi many instances ol the same kind The sol
dics under Gems Hancock, Warren, lItncy.
Griffin, Cutler and Ayfcs would follow those oil
ccfs anywhere, because they have confidence that
under them thcs would not be exposed 60 useless
sacrifice But they say that the utter indillcf-
choe Of Grant, Meade aud Burnside 10 the lives
OF the men has had the very worst effect upon
the minds ot the latter,
The latell intelligence that has reached here la
. regard o. the operations OF the Conicderatcs Ia
Maryland and Pennsylvania, IA TO the effect that
al their operations thus iar have been effected
with cavalry Ia small parties,
IL II probable that Early has been strongly ~
/ iuiorccl. and he and lougstteet have large
body 81 infantry near Mntuasburg, which vii be
called Into Tequlsiton it occasion mly require.
/ iut the plan which DC has adopted up 20 this
time l. foe small and detached parties OF cavalry
10 operated IN different direction, At the same time
These several bodice. mo ing rapidly. can do a
great deal OF damage, and can getoi TO the main
body with their plumber without much danger OF
I pursuit: while our forces are bewildered ard du
I not know Ia What direction 10 pursue
II Is this fact which account. Tor The repeated
+ appearance Of the enemy in large force at 6nany
points widely separated Al reports of :rge
rebel armies moving ia Pennsy lvania. are lab
less up 20 this time, exaggerations, though there
can bc httle doubt that very large Confederate
army IS somewhere near Martin.burg. and will
assume the offensive ia either PenusN lyanil oI
toward this city. AZ 10 distant day. IL Is dis
graceful however. that. Nth the large force MA
der HoOker's orders. over ninety thousand men
he has done nothing toward finding and fight
ing the enemy The worst feature OF the affair
j., that by the occupation Of Hagerstnwu. IN
force the COutedcraies have cut IN TWO the
Union forces. aud iuterposed themselves between
the two parts. Tint u.s. the part 40 CumbcrhnC
and Hancock and west OF these points aud the
part covering ashnctou. and OF the line Of th,
South Mountain ID gen Lee OF Lon gstreei j.
in command OF the Confederates. Il may indicate
"a design O. fall npoa each one ol these points
separately. and defeat eachin detail The situa
ton j. critical a. say the least.
MALCOLM.