The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-03-25

uetAchment OF lnta4 "a posted 4etfsna
earthworks, with tlfee pieces Of aftif.
lery..Tha Eth. Cavalry, Rader Dazina.
and Cook, charged the position, sup
poylsd By the Secoad Ma schnse< a
oapthfitg & f.lIh5sf eff erionefs 8 j
the thee guns The onlyt Rlan-
killed on-our side was a scout, and
there were only three wounded.
Cust 81 The shEae ME- moved to
ward Ashland Station. On the-road
Early tgEHs Up qgaips Qas Fqga9sdr 70 Of
theE eith New VY6ski had Tie fight,
and exchanged shots with a detsch-
ment Of about one hundred and fifty
.msns iThiea EsRfeFag as spoaG -. 3he
Eighth began 70 make preparations TO
.use the sabre. Prl45ifeFs captured at
this and deserteEs, sad all the cavalry
north of the.P Potomac. would be concern
tratea "a St5seahd sq h5sisfl Bfiaigky
Iaeross the South Anna as this was on
the road IN Ashland Constant vigi-
lance was kept up TO obtain informa>
ton and &c. PEesep hsHsPase- Il was
while doing this that Custer received
Information that Eariy was just ahead
of him Wi;h chest % eiIunshs9 Sand IF
t. men. Lieut. Co. Nhittsker was I'M
mediately ordered uoadvance,as rapidly
.esPostieig 9Th de,EoAf1snss fseq. tee
First 'Conhetticut and Second OhfO. As
the men galloped past Custer he an
inouneeds ttat .the man WAC captRted
Early AZ & tlie confii 81 def 81 bis com
pany should Feeeiwe-thiFty days fur
Tough. The boys. pushed on with. 8
leiIeef, snd every STAFF officer ssxed and
oteaIhdd pernfks itovSoin IN the
caakeeg 2 he chase cistnlAe heest wheh
with 5rsabtab six mikes OF strouEEi SOafirs.
lrabbFisige ,sadlso nnexpssbsds RasntlIai
'appseseil easHs troops in tAstsdiEeetioa
. s1saIlys sgts be- vas sigh ted aud his
icoRlmand togseas 70 sdisperse for. safety,
when within two miles Of the bridge.
ll'his Movement caused coffespohding
movement on the part of our men, and
each Separate detsehfient was followed
Through ths' sdenss pine woods; over
Streams an "a 1fnarsa mes al4t 4 Asiats shoari
sin the. sn1ghk1 CapA- Barton, ef THE.
staff haFias the fastaat hossef at aane
ltllmeaTdegsd EsTlys .AAajiaLani- isRsral
10 sQrEendeF, .unaeE the. sqppQsition
that he was lhe Gepersl hlmself Early
was ia three yardsof the Adjutsnt st
the time rBortoii lbeifig ATONE the fe-a
lnsffd TO- saIfe1t4er was respond TO
10y shot which wounded HiB horse,
caStsiflg hiHl 70 E,lls fahtsllins she Cap
tain by one, leg 80 thsa gr0tnda s This.
l0Ppextflne moment vas. improved a.
Early and he.agaln plugged INTO miEe
and plneS,. this time closely pursued by,
z Captain H9zleton, OF tile tIrst Vermont.
Eafly was finaily forced to ford the
South Anna, two miles below the bridge,
gti q point WHERE, under different cir
cumstzaees no man would have ventur-
ed to cTOsss Here, too, he was so close
u followed that 10 distract his pursuers,
he, divided his companions into three
parties, and made his escape on foot,
accompanied only by an orderly. The
pursuit was kept up, however, for ten
miles further, but night coming on the
hero Of the Valley, by the merest &C
eideHt eseapied. Perhaps this was the
flank movement referred to in the dis
patch 70 JEFF Davis.
Col Whitaker kept the main road to
Richmond and struck the Frederieks
burg railroad near Kelly's Station, and
then followed it up TO Ashland, where
the Second New York was met. and
both parties returned to camp
By this time it was known in Rich>
mond that the northern defences of the
city were threatened, and troops were
hastily brought back from Lynchburg
and Charlottesville Charlottesville AMI
a-,L.-4 T,,,-I u or,oaz ouI T..,..-
Courthouse and the South Anna, and
between Chesterfield Station and the
Chickahominy river, every bridge, near
ly every culvert, and scores of miles Of
the rail itself have been completely de
stroved. One of these bridges was
1000 feet, another 100 feet, another 420
feet in length, and quite a number be-
tween 100 and 200 The structures were
made in Alexandra, and no duplicates
are on hand TO replace them.
Longstrest, with the whole of Pick.
etts division, and some other troops,
moved up 10 within FIVE miles Of Ash-
land On the following morning, when
a detachment Of the Fifteenth New
York entered Ashland as an advance
guard, the advance of Longstreet's
column was encountered and driven
back. Several officers entering the
place at the same time, succeeded in
cutting off Adiutant Auguste, of the
Ninth Virginia infantry.
Custer Immediately prepared for &C.
ton, so as to compel Longstreet TO
show his face. The Second New York,
Col. Fitzhugh, was thrown out toward
the Brook Pike, and the First Connec-
ticut, Col Whitaker, was moved down
the railroad During the day the Sec
ond drove the enemy's line back upon
the reserve, and in turn was forced to
retire with the loss Of one man named
James Swateman, killed, and three
wounded. Whitaker with the First
Connecticut, not being pressed on his
front obtained permission to 20 out on
a reconnaissance. He pressed forward
for four miles when he struck the enc
cay in force at Kilby's Bridge and was
compelled to fall back In the skir-
mish that took place ! regret to say
that First Lieutenant John ". Clark
was killed. At nightfall the whole
command crossed the south and north
arms, the Eighth New York, destroying
the bridge over the fret named stream
as the last Of the columns advanced.
The enemy did not press the rear
guard.
On Thursday last General Sheridan
moved eastward, crossing the Fred
ericksburg Railroad at Chesterfield Sta
lion, aud encamped at Mongahick
Church Longstreet, on the same night,
encamped &C Hanoyertown, both armies
picketting the Psmuuky
The real value OF the work done by
Gen Sheridan's command during the
nineteen ndays cannot be estimated in
dollars and cents, and yet the money
value, when accurately computed,
amounts to such a fabulous sum that
person with no personal knowledge Of
the facts would hardly credit the state
ment when I say that two millions of
dollars worth Of property and materi-
ais of war were destroyed by one little
command in one day. This IS no ex-
aggeration, and the same work was re-
peated at different points. The Ka-
nawha and James River Canal could
not be repaired in the next two years,
provided the facilities, materials and |
workmen were at hand The banks |
were not only cut aud levels drained, !
bus this was done frequently at points /
where, owing TO the recent rains, rapid 4
streams wash in and wash out the very |
bed OF the canal itself At one point /
near Scottsrille the bed, before our
troons leff had bean washed ont n thu
depths of at least ten feet, and a pow 4
sriul mountain feeder was making It
deeper every hour. From Duguildsville