Year: 1864

fire, and stormed and carried, for time,
their works, and it was with savage Joy
they saw the moment come to pay the
rebels back. It will give you concep.
tion of the fearful odds at which this ar
my works in these constant demands i'm.
posed upon it Of assaulting the enemy's
works, when say that in the few oppor-
tunities the rebels have given US of re-
ceiving their attack on our works, each
man feels himself equal to three, and
never asks any better than that the rebels
should just come on. Our men had now
this sweet revenge Though twilight had
deepened into night, the approaching reb>
ell line defined itself sharply nthwart the
horizon as it came over the crest, and as
it did so, it was met by volley after vol
ley of musketry and well directed ar
tillery fire, under which it shook and
staggered, but closing up the gaps, still
rushed forward. Portions of the line got
up to our works, and at places the flash
of the rebel rifles came over ouf,parapets
a few even got upon our breastwOrks;
but they either fell dead on the outside,
or were dragged inside as prisoners.
Some Ofthese have just been brought into
Gen. Hancock's tent. They prove to be
North Carolinians; say they are Beaure>
CARDS troops; that they were last at the
battle of Olustee, Florida, and that they
were brought up to Lees army but few
days ago. This is an additional proof of
fact Ofwhiuh we have inst had much
evidence; that is, that Lee has to-day
been fighting his reinforcements. We
have taken to-day men from Breckin.
ridges command, from Buckner's, from
RAOnRnuor ordb
the defences of Savannah. And that,
somehow or other, and in spite ofthe sup
posed depletion of the rebel army, Lee
has been able to get together a still for
mldable force, we have to-day had the
evidence of demonstration. Everywhere
he has shown development of line equal
to our own, and though we have made
the most vigorous efforts all along his
front to break through, we have nowhere
succeeded.


The repulse of the rebels in their night
attack both on the front of Hancock and
Of Wright was most complete, and what
ever may have been the purpose of Lee in
this bolb stroke was signally f0iled


CHIcEAHOMINY IN HISTORY.


Notwithstanding that the position of
our own line would localize the action of
to-day as the battle of Cold Harbor, have
called it the battle of tho Chickahominy,
for the double reason that this name
marks the formation of the rebel line,
which we assailed; and further, because
the supreme object of to>day's action was
to force the passage of that stream. In
view of the failure to make good this pur.
pose, the thought of the army and Of the
country will naturally be directed to the
future moves on the great chess>board.
1t is fact of which you way not have
thought, that Lieut. Gen. Grant, in his
advance on Richmond, has crossed every
line Ofoperations that has ever been plann-
ed with Richmond US the objective. He
has adopted not, he has bisected all.
He is at present on the line of McC Clellan's
peninsula campaign, but will he remain
on it? May he not swing across that tooH
1t would certainly be in the line of his
mode of action to do so. But such con
siderations belong to an order of specula-
tion in which extreme delicacy Is an OBJ
legation of duty imposed upon every
writer here. Accordingly, let the action
of toeday pass into history to hold such
relation with the whole campaign as the
future may determine.


WILLIAM SwINToN.