THE CAMPAIGN IN AMERICAN.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 42, 12 February 1864, Page 8

THE CAMPAIGN IN AMERICAN.

(From tiio Saturday. Bovimo^ [ I What' ft^e;rl^ appeared to be^/fchQ , isqlate'4 ; < movements ... .of.", annies ', with = separate stegetic^l 'object's, m^. .'plKipst ailyasj^i^ng/^e form .ol on^;gig*#io oa^mgnii- i*v ; whioK v thi .. ;huooosb| , oy rojmiso.pi oem& oor^taide^ separate^ &oin s the otjv^a ;^ sioirja inftiieno^ tQ. tnftt e^o|se4 Qiva '.sb^flev f by;si6 jßevsMs ife'lsipne cii^ # Hwjpec* 1 tive .a^miear to. Aflyph t%f T}elG,n& Gonsiclei'-ing vi t^o t^t, clistarices vmiok any dinte example of 1m *ns vQi&QTits ; D£^Qile.wniy.fiQ^<jblnpieWy^. i Aepos^g : ■ ontKosQ ot. M§&m $w nmsw &mn the, soeno of opomtiotiß, His is tbo ; civse j in theweseiit campaign fa -Vii'siriia ami TeimeasQQ} and -thitf ..■Beoitiliwfeature.of ijho."pendiaff Btmigglo must.! ■be attributed to the extensive use j which has been made of the electric : ■telegraph 'and.; -the railways, So inv> portant a position do the latter assume^ : that they form the main points on ; which the march of armies is directed ; and their- destruction, as in the case of. the recent advance of G-eneral Lee, is considered a sufficient compensation for long marches and sanguinary battles. The great line of railway, extending for a distance of about 1000 miles from Memphis, on the Mississippi, to Richmond and Grordonsville, is at the present moment, at various .points, the scene of the struggle between the two contending nations. Bearing this in mind let us, as it were on a chessboard, mark out the positions lately assumed by the several bodies of troops contending for its occupation. The most important point on the line, forming as it does the junction of the Nashville rail from the JN r orth and the Atlanta from the South with the great Western line, is Chattanooga, and over all the various jfederal armies which are concentrating for its defence, General Grant has been placed in command. His district embraces the armies of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and ' Kentucky, including the forces on the Mississippi river. In immediate command of the army at Chattanooga is Greueral Thomas, who however is said to have been replaced in chief command, by G-ene-ral Sherman ; and under him are (xeuerals Hooker, Granger, Palmer, and Logan as commanders of corps or consolidated corps. Advancing to the relief of the army of Chattanooga, from Memphis, is the army of Greneral Blair, with its division leaders Generals Osterhaus and M. Smith ; whilst in command of a large force, itself divided into different corps, but under the supreme command of Grant, is General Burnside, operating with a separate base at Knoxville, but with movements intimately connected with those of the main army, On the Confederate side, opposed to G-enei*al Grant, is G-eneral Bragg — his army divided into three corps, under the commands of Generals Longstreet, Breekenridge and Hindman, with numerous detached bodies which serve to conceal the movements of the main army, and to interrupt and harass the communications of the enemy. It will now be necessary to follow seriatim the movements of the various forces, in order to comprehend the i significance of the scraps of intelligence doled out so frequently, but so sparingly, by the telegraphic reports, j On the 21st of October the advancing Federals, under Generals Blair, Osterhaus, and. Smith, encountered tlie Confederate forces about seven miles from Tuscombia, a small place about halfway between Chattanooga and Memphis, on the line of railway which connects those places, and on the left bank of the Tennessee river. The Confederates, under Generals D. Lee, Boddy, and Richardson, retreated to a. fortified position already prepared in front of Tuscombia, and now holds the federals in check ; whilst 15,000 cavalry, under Wheeler and Forrest, are reported to be in readiness to act as occasion offers on the Eederal line of communication between Nashville and Chattanooga. It is needless to point out the importance of this position, separating as it does the army at Memphis from that at Chattanooga, and at the same time commanding the Tennessee river. At Chattanooga itself the Federals are beginning to feel the want of sxipplies. Until the last action of General Hooker, the only road they j> sss e sse d between j Chattanooga and Bridgeport, the point I from which the trains run to Nashville, was a mere mule path on the right bank of the Tennessee, often rendered ahnost impassable by the swollen steams flowing into the river. To remedy this effect, an expedition was planned, and the crossing of the Tennessee was effected with little loss by means of pontoons constructed at Chattanooga, and floated downthe river to a point termed Brown's Ferry. General Hooker— with the 11th corps, a portion of the 12th, and a division of the 14th— was thus enabled to establish himself on the left bank of the Tennessee, and partially to open the road and railway along that bank to Bridgeport, a distance of about twenty/ eight miles, where tetes de <pont had been constructed to cover the bridge. On the night of the 28th, or the morning of the ■ 29th, General Hooker -was attacked by the Confederates under General Jenkins, but held his position., This appears to haye been the limit of his success, as both sides claim the capture of prisoners and waggons. The Federals, therefore, occupy the ridge of hills on the' west or left bank, and the Confederates that on the- east or right bank of Lookout • Creek, a small stream flowing at the foot , of Lookout Mountain into the Tennessee, at a point a few ' miles

below Chattanooga. That the federals have been enabled to secure this position may be accounted for by the. weakening ! of ; G-eneral IQragg's left,', pwi^g to his haying apparently endear youred, by iincre&sing the iiijjce on : 14s ; separato the asmy of ®e#ej?rtl ; ' ikan " ih&M under ilipnside,' 'Bio tttain alleged teh^lJßDn ,cfvpt\seE is?the „Mdc«*als ; '■ }ft Xiaqk^t : Valley : is. probably a potfifan'tjf Qieiiei^i 'Loi"\gak'.eet J s t^iaiii, w«& cdi\ps : Aoc\W. pies ' liookout "■ Moimtaiti, ■ jDietached ham the . wiajn: ; pQnfedsr.&tr : %*s, general Stieyen^, ,^ljih;^. body: of cayftliy tmdeiv =|4!c^BGn, and XJibo^ds on -'the SBth ¥ Qetobci?Miioted <4 'repulJEi^V Qn'thei'Gdeml tooss ne^r Btilftdej* $H!{W and dwe them fed j&Qute'ij w tafclibi* to heists , beypn'S; fcßat ■wWoh'-liw half-way bstwesn ; .OKatt& nooga- -and ICaoxvilk. -ffliia 3fedei«u force 'forms the right of General Bitav> Bubs aiw, , ' thr rriove* nienta oi that &enei 4 al but little mfc mationhas reached tis. On. the ifth of October he left ICnakville, and advanced in the direction of Abingdon. a town "situated 175 miles from the great Confederate depot at Jjynohbiirg. . At 'Bristol station tie tore up the railway and burnt several oars, but eventually retreated, and » % ecent reports intimate the defeat of his more advanced divisions. It is difficult to imagine with what object this movement was made, as the relief of the army at Chattanooga, and a junction with that army, would appear to be more conducive to success than separate offensive operations. In fact, G-eneral Burnside seems in some danger of being overwhelmed by a concentration of forces from Greneral Lee's army in Virginia and the troops that can with safety be detached by General Bragg — the nature of the country occupied by Bragg enabling him to hold his position with an inferior force, and to keep the Federal army in his front in check, whilst he operates with detached corpsonits flank. It seems to be acknowledged 'that the recent advance of the Confederate army of Virginia was made with the object either of forcing G-eneral Meade to an engagement, or else, by driving him back to the vicinity of "Washington to destroy the line of rail between Alexandria and Warrington, and so to delay the advance of the Federal army, thus enabling Lee to detach a considerable portion of his force to the assistance of the Confederate armies of the West. The country between Grordonsville and Washington lias been reduced to a desert, and neither army can retain a position far removed from its base of supplies imless by means of a railroad. On the 16th of October G-eneral Lee commenced his retreat from the neighbourhood of Centreville, and abotit the same time a large body of troops was sent by railway to Lynchburg and towards Abingdon to reinforce the Confederates under General Jones. About the 20th, (xeneral Lee reached a position on the line of the Bappahannock, his right in the vicinity of Stafford Court House, and his left resting on the Blue Ridge; whilst detached bodies of cavalry operated in the Shenandoah Valley, a considerable number of Federal prisoners, was captured by General Imboden on the 19th. Indeed, the boldness with which the Confederate cavalry act, even in rear of the Federal army, capturing stores and destroying trains, argues great inefficiency on the part of the Federal cavalry, and must considerably harass the movements of the army and impede its advance. Immediately on the retreat of G-en-eral JLee, G-eneral Meade used every effort, stimulated by repeated orders from his Government to pursue him. The Orange and Alexandria railway was repaired as far as AVarrington, the rails for that purpose having been brought from the abandoned Norfolk and Suffolk line. That the emergency was considered very serious may be gathered from the fact that the- garrison of "Washington, formerly so jealously' kept within the lines by the President, was ordered to j the front. On November 7th, the two j corps of Generals Sedgewiek and j French, advancing along the Orange j and Alexandria railway, attacked and carried the redoubts erected to defend the bridge over the Uappahannock, and the ford termed " Kelly's Ford," a. short distance below. The Confederates, considerably weakened by detachments sent to the West, retired, I and on the following day the whole 1 Federal army crossed the river. One i division of cavalry under Greneral Beaufort, effected a passage over the upper Bappahahnock, whilst the other j under General Earkpatrick, advanced its piecjuets until opposite the Fredericksbtirg heights. It can be no matter of surprise that General Lee has been obliged to retire. The Confederates are forced to compensate for the inferiority of their numbers by rapid combinations, and their present efforts: appear to be directed to overwhelm the Federal armies of the' j West, although by so doing they may sacrifice for the time the efficiency of their own army in Virginia.