The New York herald., 1865-01-07
THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
What q British Ofacer Says Of
That Army.
HIS DESCRIPTION OF GENERAL GRANT.
TAeNorth e ~Inexhaustfble i'm Men
and Money"

TIE North e ssInexhanstfble i'm Men
and Money"
Sc, SC, &c.
the Potomac.
From the London Star, Dtc -
me foso.sing letter addressed 70 % msDsr q sah.
recently visited the Army Of The Potom.s wilies found
contain some u-se and many assrsst
..ss nsroSae.on ss a.ssiasson wSs the ss..s
ns stsefences which oonssa nsisy q sslsn so,
connected by q line Of riae pits The lines ap-
- very asoa ns a ~00 sn,os saus sv
be sr useful 20 the enemy 40 she defenders; for
Ne forts are closed all round and mo-. Liable 70
vsapd the Lincoln Hospital constructed for twenty ave
Aasdsed patients Tho sEsag stNk
ksstsr~ running rails The washing sdons BY Steam,
- the drying by cenfr1iaesa mson Sisers o. cnsry
reside in the hospital attending the siok, and especially
took the steamer at Baiti.sre for FORTRESS Monroe,
route for the headquarters Of General Grant az City
sss In Hampton Roads City Point ts beautiful spot at
che confluence Of the Appcuataox and James rivera
Z struck me as very strange Ahat, being the ter
rsainus Of the railway from Petersburg, 1t should
have been left undefended ~ the Confedsrates
snd Appeared 20 contain every essential for an army
From hence Meades Army OF The Potomac ssqpped by
railway Trains three unaes dag, stopping oppo-
se each corps ot division, wuc mule wagons receive
and take the supplies to batteries, regments &c They
oss miles Of the old railway from City Point 70
Petersburg and they ave made several miles more In
southerly- direction Every man saw appeared well
On presenting myself At heaAqsarsers and delivering
ny hotter of introduction for tho COmmandernC Chief
~ssSsss sas % sd delay Sy General Grant who gave
No most cordial welcome, assigned me .
can. next. 70 his own. and asked 81 .s - % hive with M
silting IL number the whole party, with the
exception OF myself belonging 70 the sta The
general s taciturn which gives the cue TO his party He
must certainly have enough has mind 10 occupy his
thoughts though hs does not asow any signs q .cear In
psrson he avery strong likeness to the late Lord
Charles Wellesley. with whom l was personally ac
quained Indeed, coming out Of my tent next morn
s and m s ~ss a
countenance figure, and appearance, thu had /!
not known that. the second son Of the Duke Of
Wellington is longer living I could have almost
sworn he stood before me. General Grant Is about
forywo years OF age and was regularly educated for
he quilted the army aud had been for Ave years engaged
M private pursuits when the civil war broke out After
ted freely Here had an opportunity OF witnessing the
display Of his rery rcmarhub6 tdcststy for te de-
his position from being overwhelmed We were nces-
ssntly interrupted by messengers bringing letters mes
sages, &c Without being la the eas. dsconcerted he
attended to the mator before him, wrote the ne
cessary Instructions and hen resumed his conversation
Twice leave him. but he begged me to be seated
bound tell him that must be very much in his
way and that hoped he would not consider IL neces
sAry do more than hand me over to stall officer and
afford facilities for seeing the armies lines &c
The night was cold and frequently awoke by the
airing of guns, and concluded that sheling was going
en- The next morning after breakfast the weather be-
ing most beautiful the General offered to send me- &C
companied by an aiddecamp, 70 see, he hnes oP-
posite Petersburg Accordingly Colonel - and !,
and orderes with four horses started by the tran
and passed about mile and halt from Petersburg,
where occasionally train is tired at TO prevent which,
IN the exposed places small mounds have bcon,
thrown up I observed passed along circular
work driven by movable steam engine. BY this
Iaeens ioar men were crung anu plhg Up wova a. Al
In labor saving contrvanccs or all the duty TO
which are subjected that OF cutting wood is.
about the most dstaslefu and venture to say that
whole regiment would not perform the work which TINS
little engine was doing.
General Gibbon Joined the train opposite his division,
and we all together till stopped General
Neale's headquarters. The General received me most
Hospitality and kindly mounted his horse, and, attended
by bis aids decamp escort &c, accompanied me TO va
riOus points Of interest M#.5Ns- +
General Warren also joined US, and pointed ont the
scenes battles which took place two months ago
Tue country was wooded, with the exception OF large
Geld Of Indian corn which, being eight feet high gave
conceament TO thousands of Confederaes The lighting
here lasted about three days. but excepting the rapcd
state Of the ground and the carcasses Of couple of
horses there was nothing 70 Indicate 10 lsariu,
down, 10 allow OF the space being commanded
BY cannon Il Is marvel to me how troops
uaayo at all In this thickly wooded country IL
s lmposblato employ artillery; and cavalry are use
les In any mass serving merely as scouts foragng par
ties SC Then danger the mounted officers from the
ambrscadcs TO which they exposed and the deadly
character u the de precision in use Is great
taat Is wonderful how any Of them escape Just before
my arrival here a gallant Massachusetts officer Col
Lowell killed at Cedar creek, who In the course OF
his arecr had lad twelve horses shot under him We
crossed the Weldon Railroad where i've gucriilas IN
federal uniform stealing horses had been killed two
day previously The generals now dispensed with their
escorts and we rode along 10 the pickets until
A was time To return towards the train which TO
carry back to City Point Several regimsnis
pased bu; did not ride close enough TO Judge their
appearance. understood II was day for regimental
Inspection, apd so they canced TO be under arms and
paid. the usual compliment think the men are not
troubled with much drill Indeed, II would be out OF
place In the presence OF an enemy
Before starting BY train on my return 70 Oity Point
bad time 10 vist The divisional hospital which found
very clean and comfogtaby arranged The system ap-
peared 10 be that IL n wounded man was likely TO be
n Cor duty In three weeks he was treated In tho
camp hospitals IL seriously wounded, he was
moved by ambulance end train 10 the James river
Washington. or Baltimore. The health OF the army
was said TO be excellent, and certainly nothing
the time Of my visit But suspect there IL another
account for this Satisfactory sanitary report
was given TO understand that the men got no spirits
whatever either recy from government or by pur.
chase suffers and that consequently the condnc of
the army very good This, although convenient for
commanding officers struck as specimen OF high
handed discipine which we shs aid never dream OF en-
forcing towards onr troops 50 rgIdly s the rule ear
Red here that told that n suor is detected
selling spirits all his goods are 10. feitcd.
The following day, OF the ost lovely mornings
bchcld and just the weather for exercises Good
breeze witt sun-I proceeded 20 visit General
Buffers army and lines of the James river Accompa.
sied by cap.ain @ Az - camp 70 General a
I embarked in large steamer and proceeded up
tn river passing Bor49uta Hundret where observed
monitors NJ anchor These queer little vessels,
showing ouly iew inches above water, pcket.d on
lookout dlty atdicert JRis Of the iincs river, and
waa t,d that changes ake place occasionally, for that
IKE salmon, they require % be removed from salt 70
he-h wafer passed ~ Malvern Hill and Strawberry
Pains near where fclcllans struggle FOR seven days
N ls0g occurrtc 0r seamcr pfssed thnsugh two pom
bon bridges and diacnhrked arseves and horses at
AN Is Landing below tko DutcA Gap, not above IT, N
Ia tle maps A. we approached the working party On
sagad IN this huge excavation found that <hey were
b ing shohed by the enrmys batteries We therefore
W.T. our orderlirs and hurrf AZ distance, aid
Captain - nnd crpL. along the rpar's bank, and