Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1878-03-22

Aiei alf Ms bfaest d, FeHldfds 9aahl "a.
hey JOHNSON at Cornish. 81 thia hgHaf-
rendered TIE great Independent oolmaad
Of the Trans-M lssiaalppt Department. and
ell tso plans De had formed Af che aaEe Of
BE VleWs % the best Interests OF -thsir
common country, aud became 3 8ub0fai.
nate Commander Of 40 army corps inseead
Of the oOmmander-ln-ohiaf OF au army. He
hoped 10 reach johnson Ia time fOr the
battle % shiloh, and had be douo 90,
would have giV0a q very dtRereuE result 70
that critical battle. But 5hllnh had been
fought aad our army, under BaauregAfd,
was occupying the WORKS OF CoFiuth VIXEN
Vun DoFH, With the Armg OftAe Weott 10 .
W theotlTes, reached that pOlnt. We lay
nsar C0Ftnth mere than Elk weeks and
three lnes offered battle 10 Halleck, who,
with 10000 men, was cautiously advancing
&c u 70 attack Us. Three times our army,
40,OVO otFsng. marched q OF lie lntronohs
M nts aud advanced IN meet Halleck and
give him battle, but every time be drew
back aud declined II. In every council
Van DOrn's voice was for war. May 30,
bo8, beauregaTd evacuated bic works In q
master y manner, and marched south un-
molested 70 Tupelo, when he halted the
army and held Il reAdy Tor battle. In June
Van Dorm was ordered T. go to Vicksburg,
which was threatened With attack, and
was In poor condition for defense. He
eElnced here great energy and ability. lie
repulsed the enemV's hset, put the place
In 4 good condition Of defense. occupied
Port Hudson, and there erected such
wOrks az enabled US for n year longer to
control the Mississippi river and It's trib.
utAries 60 a. 70 keep open free Intercourse
with the trans. Mississippi, whence largj
supplies for the armies OF this side we're
drawn. He organized an expedition
against Baton Rouge during this time,
which but for the ch Ilera, which swept %
half Of the force, and the untimoly UreRk.
ing down Of the ram Arkansas' engine
when almost within range OF that town.
would have been q brilliant and complete
success.
THE ATTRAPr ON coRINTH.
After this, Van Dorm urged General
Price, who had been left at Tupelo with
the Army Of the West when Bragg moved
70 chattanooga, to unite all their aVaIla-
BILE tIroes 10 Mississippi, carry UOFinth by
assault, and sweep the enemy out OF West
Tenuea zee. This, unfortunately. Price,
under his Instructions, could not then do.
OuF combined lOTCes would then have ex.
ceeded 300 electives, and there IL no
doubt as to the results OF the movement.
Later, after Breckenridge had been d..
taehed with B,O0J men and Price had lost
about 1000 on the luka expedition (maIn.
~ straEgleTSl, the attempt on COrlnIh was
made. Its wOrks had been greatly
strengthened, and lts 4 ,FFlson greatly ia.
creased. Van Dorm attacked with his
uaual vigOr and dash. HE left and center
sIOrmed the town, captured ell the guns
10 their front, and broke ROsecrRna' cen.
ter, The division comprising our right
wing remained inactive, so that the enc.
my, believing our right was merely max.
ing q feInt. detached Stanley with 6.UOC
fresh men { ON his left and drove us out .
the town.
Never was q General more disappointed
than Van born; but no man In all our ar
NY was 80 little shaken In hls courage BY
The result ~ he was. l think his vas the
highest courage | have ever khOwn, II
ros apOVe every disaster, and he neVeI
looked mo @ gallant than when his broken
army ia utter disorder was streaming
through the open w0Ods which then 90.
viToned Corinth and lite formidable de-
fences. However much depression ell o.
Ne sh0wed and lelt, he alone remained un
conquered; aud II he could have gotten BIZ
ioroes together would have tried Ie again
But Seelng that was impossible, be bEongh
LoVelps DIVision, which not having as
saulted was unbr0ken, to cover the rea
and moved back 10 Chewalla, seven mtleG
west OF COrinth, encouraging OMoers SnI
men " reform their broken Organization
~ VI marched along. No sO0ne did b
halt at OheWA IL than he gave orders /
move IN the moFning 10 attack The enem
! At RIOnsI. But the condition Of Two
/ bile three divisions IVA such that the Ger
!, erals advised against attempting any me-
aggressive movement until we could n
: fOrm aud re-At our O0mmande. Ny dlvll
. iOn had marched from LheWalla 70 aetae
OOFinth With 4 ,80muOkots the day bat on
before. We lsft In tho appr0aoheO and th
very central deEsnBes OF COTInth 2O00 Of
: acefs and men killed or wounded; anon
them were many Of my ablest Geld Anl
, company ofaoers. The AlssOurians be-
! l0st almost a. heavily: Lovelps d lsLO
: al0ne, not having attacked the works q
.. all, came oR WITH but . tri1ing loss. |
: was, therefore, decided 20 move down I
, Ripley by the rtute we b Id 90 lately oOm
: over In such brave array and with sue
!, high hopes. But DO ore dawn next morn
= Ing Van Dorm had moved the cavalry an
: pioneers on tue road ~ RienEi, still re-
/; solved 70 capture that place, aud marc
! around Immediately aud attack COrlnt
:, from the opposite direction.
BRILLIANT RETREAT.
The plan was worthy Of Charles XII
and might b we been successful; and Va
Dorm only alb ,ndUned IL when convince
Q that he would inevitably lose bic WagOI
train, and that the army would feel he wa
rash. A fra nd said 10 him nnally: IVA
born, you are the only man eV0P SAY
who loves danger for lie wi sake. Whe
4 any daring enterprise ie before you, ~
; cannot adequately estimate the obstacle
in your way de replied: "While l d
not admit the correctness OF your crit
q cism, | feel how wrong [ ehall be 10 la
' peril this army through my personal pecI
4 IiaTilies, after what such = friend as 20
have told me they are, and l will OOunlel
q mAnd the orders and move at Once On ca
d road 10 hipley." Few commanders haV
q ever been so beset as Van Dorm was |
4 the forks NJ the Hatchie, and very feV
4 could have eXtrioated q beaten army a. h
4 did then. One with q force stated 1t l0.Vt
q men headed him at the Hatchls bridg,
while ROsecrans, With 29,00J men, was 81
taokluY his rear at the TuscumbiG bridge
only hVe niles OF. The whole road b
a tween Was occupied BY . train OF Aea
4 four hundred veg n, and . defeated arm
/ Ol about ll.000 muskets. But Van Dor
4 was never for = moment dismAyed. II
repuIsed Ord and punished him severely
While he checked kosecrAns ct the Tu'
a oumbia until he could turn his train al
4 army short 70 the left anu crosse u
j HatchIe by the BODey ard road without "a
9 loss OF Q wagon.
By 10 pm. bis whole army aud tFai
we're eately OVeF the uatchie, and with
!. | a..nu - -. - nNskN - m swua tmAa 80 hall