Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1864-08-31
wAREEws.

wAsfEws.
Ths following from the Petersburg Nsprs.. Of
Monday gives us some interesting particulars Of the
resent fighting around Petersburg:
The Battle ef Er;day-Aors Fighting Yssterday
-Cdptuse Of Prisonsrs-The Enemy still hold
the Wsldea Road-DsatA Of Gen. 8arndsrs :.
The Engagement Of Friday afternoon on the line
Of the Weldon Railrosd was . severe one, but re.
suited IN no material advantage to u.s. rs far a po.
sition was concerned The enemy having advanced
his lines to sone three quarters Of mile from the
position occupied BY them on Thursday, were at.
tackled and driven bssk. On Friday night there
fore. the. position of the Yankee army was ,un.
changed on the immediate line of the Railroad.
n the engagement however, the enemy was &C.
vesely ehastised, losing two thousand two hundred
prisoners. and large plumber of killed and wound
ed9 Their loss in killed and wounded is represent
eto have heen very hsasy, and to hsve thickly
esversd the ground ever which our troops charged
and fought Vast quantities Of knapsacks, OIL
cloths, small arms and plumber of all kinds were
thrown away by the Yankees, much Of which fell
into the hands Of our men.
Our own loss was not inconsiderable We lost
some prisoners and number of wounded, but
small proportion killed We are gratifed to state
that the large majority of the wounded are only
slightly injured, and will be able to return to their
commands in . few days. We noticed many who
had received only Sigh: flesh wounds. :.
On Friday night our forces again fell back on the
line of the Railroad and the enemy as soon as they
discovered our withdrawal threw forward their lines
of skrmishers, and again occupied the fields beyond
Davis house. east and west Of the road. They at
once threw up their breastworks, and at the same
time continued to strengthen their main line Of
works on the bills beyond Davis farm.
Saturday passed without any fighting between
the armies-save little shelling and picket firing,
but it was generally thought that yesterday would
be an eventfal day, and everybody was prepared to
hear the opening thunders Of battle at early dawn
heavy fght did occur, but the battle for the pos
session Of the railroad is yet to be fought and the
signs are that it will be bloody one
EARLY in the forenoon yesterday, our line Of bat
tie was formed east and west of the railroad and an
advance ordered The troops, IS Confederate troops
always do when going into battle, moved forward in
beautiful order, and the finest spirits to the work
before them. Over ground on which they had t#ice
fought BEFORE they fought again and with like sue.
cess driving the enemy out Of their front lines Of
breastWorks back upon their main lire, aud captu-
ring three hundred prisoners The enemy did not
retire without giving battle, and the ground was
hotly contested for the space of hour or two be-
fore they were forced back. In the meantime, the
enemys artillery was throwing she'll and canister
at our ranks and our batteries in the rear were
plying We regret to learn that number of our
troops were killed and wounded by our own bate
ries On portion Of the line. The enemy's main
works on the railroad were adjudged too strong to
attack, and our troops therefore, hold their second
line of entrenchments.
In the meantime, . more important movement
was started towards the enemy's extreme left
about one mile west of the railroad. 4 body of our
troops acting In conjunction with Others was sent
down on the Vaughan Road, some three or four
miles from the city, to -econnoitre the enemys po-
hot rfo;n
there, with view to further movements.
The expedition was entrusted to . most skillful
and gallant officer, with men upon whom he could
depend It WAS discovered that the Yankees had
extended their lines west to the Vaughan Road, in
the direction Of Poplar Springs church, and were
rapidly fortifying. An effort, we learn, was made
to turn their flank and dislodge them, which did
ried but the inner were found to be Of such great
strength, and SO heavily armed With artillery to
render their capture q matter Of doubt without
great loss of life. Some advantages were gained,
We learn, at considerable cost in killed, wounded
and missing, which were subsequently yielded
The less at this poins will probably reach several
hundred.
The brave Gen. John G. G. Saunders, of Alabama,
was killed here while leading his men in charge.
my, and has been conspicuous for his gallantry on
The position of the enemy, as nearly as We are
able to Judge is about this Their centre rests up
on the Weldon railroad about three miles from the
city, their right extending the wooded couu-
try to the Jerusalem Plank Road on the east, and
their left to the Vaughan Road on the west. Along
this whole lipe they have strongly fortified them
selves and works of great strength have sprung up
like magic In their rear, on the line of the rail
road aad on both sides, they have thrown up heavy
works to provide against flank movements. AT the
Yellow Tavern, and the Gurley House, heavy bat.
teres of guns are planted. At every point open to
attack, they are strongly fortified.
Warreu's corps which first occupied the railroad
have been heavily reinforced within the last two
nights Hancock's (second) and Bnrnside's (nlnth
corps have reached the road and now confront oul
troops numbering in the aggregate full thirty thou
sand men.
The Yankees have been busy in DESTROYING thu
railroad, and reports say that the track is torn u,
to and beyond Ream's Station distance of tel
miles from the city. Parties from the rear, VII,
arrived in town yesterday, state that the Yanke
cavalry under the notorious Speer, were engage.
in destroying the track one mile beyond Ream'
yesterday morning. .#t
We learn that in addition to the strong characte
Of the fortifcations on the enemys left, which wer
assaulted by our hanking column. one Of the mali
causes of the repulse was the giving way at a YER
critical moment Of one Of our brigades, which
considerable confusion and gave the enemy q gre,
advantage. Our troops were compelled to retir
after capturing line Of the enemy's skirnisher
and reaching their strongest works. Col. Lama,
Of Florida, was mortally wounded
Demonstration ON the Left.
About IL o'clock yesterday morning the enern
made strong demonstration on our lett, on III
City Point road with view TO ascertain the strengt
at hat mini friO