The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-10-26

TEEN IN good blows well given and re-
ceiyed, snd the father OF epic song is true
TO the human heart when he suggests that
Trojans and Greeks viii Say OF tiactor and
| Ajax:
49, ON mortal quarrel did tsese warriors meet,
Yet parted thence in friendly bonds eonjoined.'
Is not this the present temper Of those
who wore the blue and the grayi'
lie then yiyidly sketched the topography
OF the country, showed the blundcrs COM
mitted by Rosecranz, and ably pointed out
the error Of General Bragg in not taking
advantage Of the splendid opportunity
offered him TO strike decisive blow.
lie thus described the coming Of Long
street with two divisions OF the Army Of
/ Northern Virginia:
| Upon the COnfederates thus foiled and
| despondent there arose q beautiful vision.
/ Many before me remember the power, the
speed, and the gorgeous, clOud-capped
/ brilliancy OF the rumOrs that were sOmo-
\ times blown on mysterious winds through
/ the Confederate camps. At one critical
moment England had recognized the Con-
1 federacy; at another, when hope was at its
/ last gasp, French division, 10000 strong,
/ bad actually marched into Texas from Mex
/ leo and so the wonderful stories ran, the
/ imagination OF the inventor being always
equal TO any need Of encouragement and
consolation. Such rum0r now gathered
head. Men whispered that LOngStreetS
corps was coming-nay, had come-from
/ Virginia. Received at first lightly; laughed
at 10y the judicious az another appearance
/ OF the old, familiar phantom.
/ well remember the tumultouS joy when
the astonishing portent grew into fact,
when men came who had seen and talked
/ with Kershaw and Hood not ten miles oil,
and the most skeptical could no longer
doubt that on the great day Of the battle
now at hand soldiers OF the unconquerable
Army OF Northern Virginia were to stand
/ side by side with the men OF Shiloh and
/ Murfreesboro'.
| This is what yentured 10 promise as the
romantic pant Of my subject. These troops
OF Longstreet seemed TO have descended
out OF the heavens, 30 unexpected was
/ their coming; and the strength they added
TO Bragg's army was not 10 be reckoned by
their mere numbers, for with them came n
flood Of their mysterious power, that moral
force which brings victory in battle.
But the surprise ut LOngstroets appear
ance was not confined 10 our camp. 1t WAS
equally greatly great in the Federal ranks.
| on the 1ith Of September, Rosecranz tcle-
graphed TO General lIallcck ut Washington
TO know whether General Bragg had been
reinforced from Virginia, and on the 18th
Haleck teegTaphcd that no troops had
gone from that quarter 10 Dragg's army.
At that time the heads Of Longstreet's
columns We're arriving. The wonderful
secrecy OF this movement must always give
IL q remarkable place. in military history.
Nap0lcon's descent upon the Plain OF
Marengo was not a greater surprise. The
army from which the detachment was
made was confronted by The Army Of the
Potomac, the ground from which the
troops moved was not eighty miles distant
from General llallecRs lofty perch OF OBJ
servation at Washington.
Yet for many days the movement seems
TO have been absolutely hidden from the
Federal authorities. It was likewise q Sc
cret well kept by the few entrusted with il
inside Of the Confederate lines. General
Bragg may have known it at on early mo-
ment. III he did. he concealed it carefully
from his CORPS commanders until the troops
from Virginia were about to appear on hla
flank.
Many great movements by rail occurred
i'm the course OF the war, but this movement
OF LongStreet's seems tosTpass them all in
intense and dramatic interest, in hardness,
i'm secrecy, in success. There was the
great distance 10 be trayersed by circuitous,
Wornout railways-900 miles. There were
The two Confederate armies at the eXtremi-
ties Of this long line, each confronting q
superior force. The idea that troops Of the
one could be detached 80 take part in the
operations OF the other in the same campaign
was new and hardy conception. But moro
impressive still was the magnanimity OF your
great commander. He had recently returned
foiled, but not beaten, from the height
OF Gettysburg; he had been obliged 70
abandon his campaign Of invasion and re-
treat into Virginia. The enemy had fol-
lowed triumphant, though respectful, and,
as the Federal array now outnumbered it.
adversary by many thousands, it was TO be
expected that il would soon resume a Wig
OrOus offensive.
But Lee, weighing all the hazard, ac-
ccpted il, and standing calm, majestic,
seli-sacrifcing, stripped himself to succoI
distant ally.
Now see, as Caesar said, how great &
thing is iirmness OF mind in war; Lees
bold countenance imposed on Meade fol
many days. and by the time the Fedora
General had penetrated the secret and wa.
Gathering himself for great stroke, Long
streets guns had been heard Gt ChickG-
mauga, and the sudden wreck Of Rose
cranZ's campaign, vibrating from the Mis-
sissippi 10 the Atlantic, paraiyzed Meade;
uplifted arm.
lie then proceeded to describe in detail
the changing scenes Of the battle Of Chick
amauga, and in chaste and elegant ian
guage he gave an account Of this great
struggle whose completeness Of detail and
historic accuracy will give il place with the
standard history OF the war, and which We
deeply regrct our crowded columns viii
not allow IL to publish in full. He closed
his splendid grafton as follows:
The struggle was ended. Twcnty-seyeu
thousand men lay dead or wounded on thi'
field OF carnage. OF these the Coniedera,cs
had lost some 10000; but the balance was
redressed by the capture Ci more than
5000 Federal prisoners, 81 pieces OF artil-
lerv, and 1900 muskets. The men report
ed missing in our ranks uad been little
over 1000.
But. great as had been the price OF vie
tory. no Confederate soldier then felt That
il had been too dearly bought. Any saeri-
nee Was NtlCoit II oilly bt' ih'|NNi
could be driven back.
Selling the heights encireling Chat
tanooga, where, as in an entrench-
ed camp, the enemy had taken re-
fuge, and firmly grasping the railway
at the point Of lookout Mountain, which
would be Rosecran0s principal avenue
of supply, General Bragg undertook 70
destroy his powerful adversary by partial
investment, which was certainly not less
promising than CesM's partial investment
OF Pompey near Dyrrachium. But NO
crowning victory OF Pharsalia was reserved
for US. BY what biunders the advantages
so dearly won at Chickamauga were thrown
-. r,.hnf Inr.tha OF humiliation illi