, 1864-06-23
From our Regular CorroFpondentl
WA.Uty1r1x lime En J2s

,HA4u1S4IUSs LUQE 45o3+
THE POTOMAC AnMI-TuH SITUATION.
As expected and stated in my last, the
news Of the capture Of Petersburg was
premature. anticipated that the rebels
would be apt to, throw body Of men into
the place, and knew Ut being forti6ed) that
they would hold it for soRo time, at
least, if they were able to do 30. Late news
Indicate that there has been moro desperate
fighting at the place, and that We have lost .
number of prominent officers, but none
above the rank Of Colonel. It also appears
that Gen. Butler was unable to hold the Pc.
tersburg Railroad, to which he had advanced
his troops, after the enemy had fallen back
from his front, as find that, as late As the
18th, Leo was dispatcbIng troops along the
road to Petersburg, and that trains wcra ar-
riviDg from and departing to Richmond from
that place. 81
/, We must expect soma desperate fighting
at Petersburg and on the line Of the Peters-
burg and Richmond Railroad, Leo will be
any further advance to the westward, II pos.
eible, because every post that General Grant
makes in that direction be endangcrs the
main communications of Richmond with the
South. The DanTflle road is but thirty pilcs
from Petersburg, and is consequently alwaya
| ~
At that place. This last road is the principal
communication OF the rebal capital with the
Southwest. It Is trAe the rebels have also
railroad running from Lynchburg to Gordons-
willie, and thence to Richmond by the Virginia
Central and Fredericksburg road, very
can be used in case of necessity. But Hun
ter aud Sheridan threaten this line, aud the
| latter has already destroyed portion Of it.
Now that General Grant, however, has retir
ed altogethher from the north side Of the
city, Lee will doubtless hurry up reinforce
ments to Imboden, who has command Of the
troops opposed to General Hunter, and he
will cndeavor, If General Hunter has psss-
| cd up the valley beyond staunton, to throw
a column OF troops between him and his
base It was to prevent such movement As
this, no doubt, that Sheridan made hfs late
| raid in the direction Of Gordonsvi11e. At that
| place he found Pickett's division Of troops,
| which had been with Lee but few days pre-
yiously.' These troops are doubtless sent to
| reinforce lmbodeD, 30 a. to enable him to
| enter the field otfenaively against Hunter.
The lntter's position 10, to my mind, a some
cd any considerable distance beyond staun-
ton to the South, for Lee must take care OF
this portion OF his line OF defense, If he means
| to preserve the rebel capital, and he will di-
since dispatch from Lee to 1mbodon VIA
intercepted, in which he begged of the latter
to hold out as long as possible, and that he
would send him Ill the reinforcements he
needed Hook with much anxiety to news
from our forces IN that quarter, II General
inflict irzeparable damage on the enemy. On
the other hand, If he Is ovcrpoWered BY num-
bers his defeat must necessarily be q very
disastrous one. The main difficulty in re-
gard to General Hunters position Is Its dis
lance from Ills base, and the difficulty OF CON-
~, %Ant 1oo he t..
formed Of the danger is the position Of our
Gen Sheridan at last accounts had not
been able to prosecute hia raid any further
towards Gordonsvllle aud the valley. Ae
could not obtain forage for his horses. He
dispatched In expeditions to the south side OF
Richmond, which must prove Of great use In
cutting off the supplies Of tha rebel capital
from the South and Southwest.
have seen and conEcrscd with gentlemen
who nre familiar with the charaster Of the
They all unite IN saying that between
that place and the. Appomattox river
tt is very heavily timbered and much
cut up by Tavines and hills, and that cavalry
cannot bo used to good advantage except to
the westward toward the Danville railroad.
keep our army If possible penned up IN This
wooded region. He will avoid a battle to
the last in the open country, just as he did
when opposing the advance Of our army On
the north side OF the James river. In the
mean time heavy siege material is going for:
it will be found thnt the Siege Of Richmond
will be finally commenced by . regular In
vrstment Of Fort Darling and It's siega b.
regular approaches, the iron clads taking {
hand In the bombardmcnt. The place, how
! ever, Is said to be unassailable from th
river even BY iron clads, and that Its veal
;" spot is on the land side.
CONGRESSIONAL.
Congress IL hurrJipg up business as fast =
possible, Il is thought thar the House vii
, be ready to adjourn this week, but that th
Senate will not get through before the latte
end Of next
think you may set it down as a fixed fac
:; that the $500 exemption clause in the Cor
scriptlon Act will not be repealed, for til
reason have heretofore given. The Demo
! crats'are all opposed to the. repeal as wei
'as many Republicans. Several modes 9
repeal, (such as enlistments for sir monthe
one yenr, and even ono hundred days) Or
proposed, Some Of them will probably b
, adopted, with the hope Of filling up the arm
!, iee In the meantime one hundred thousRn
] more troops for the Investment Of Richmon
8 would not come at al amtss to Genera
Grant. The question is asked, win Congres
l enable the Administration to furnish them
, Be it remembered that the time OF thre
! years regiments is daily expiring, and tn
i Of the ono hundred day regiments Is ais
8 swiftly psssipg away. These regiments a.
7 now many Of Them doing Important serTie
!, ID the Army OF the Potomac, while others
. them are taking the places of veteran reg
Q ments In manning our tortidcatoh
! poets, &c. .......----
- 7ns DEMOCRACY AND yALLASD1oHAN.
i The Coppe1heads are terribly pgt; out ov!
# the return Of Vallandgham. The pen
!. wing, are, however, chuckling. with deltsh
y The bogus war wing on the other hand, q
nounce him Is being in league with ~
Abe" to break up the party. These latt'
, fellows arc the most dishonest and mean
u u the party, aud want to run In = peace cand
~ ~ date under the guise Of = Major-Genefas,,
10 10 shoulder.strnps. The peace men, on Il
= = other h,nd believe In sticking to the PEini;;
= pies ot the party to the bitter end II Il
~ var peace men 1t Chicago do not LOOK o.
=: tbe genuine peace men will fly the track al
r. run candidate Of their own. They swe
~ ~ they will not follow the lead Of the 'l.sks
ee 60 Of The Administration" as Fernando Wo
calls them.
mr. TuR CANADA Observation-Disclosures.
%An% &ha~a ara hafwaAn two a