| Show WHAT tue TUB confederates SAY CRITICAL REVIEW OP or THE RECENT BATTLES FROM A SOUTHERN standpoint THE DECISIVE BATTLE YET TO ta TAKE PLACE ON THE NORTH OB OR SOUTH ANNA RIVERS BALTIMORE may 10 I 1 send to you herewith a preliminary account ot of the recent military events in Virg virginia inlay derived from southern sources THE BATTLES ON TIM THE RAPIDAN MERELY preliminary I 1 wallsend will send to you in a day or two a full ac count cointot coun tot lot of the recent military operations of the confederates in virginia both on the rapi dan and elsewhere at present the materials for such an acco account tint have not reached here the roar ot of the three days battle has bag not yet died away the smoke of the conflict still hangs hanga heavily over the bloody field all that 1 I can sen ben benh bena A to you today to day is a few detached facts noe not without importance in themselves and not without their value in aiding your readers to compre hena liend fully the actual situation for you need notto be told that the administration is endeavoring to suppress im facts in relation to events that have transpired no more reliance can ie be placed now upon the assurance made by the secretary of war to general Dix that it is design designed to wit withhold abhold nothing from the public the assurance form torm formerly erly made b by that after hooker had bad been defeated deflated at chancel lorseille lors ville that the army anny bad had buffered suffered no disaster and would speedily resume the offensive all AH that has yet taken place in virginia terrible and sanguinary as the battles of the ath and ath of may were is only the commencement men cement of the great contest for the pos sessio i of richmond fiercely contested as these battles were they are not the great rattle battle that general lee will fight between the rapi dan and the rebel capital the battles of the jtb desperate as they were are inde add and are but the preliminary skirmishes to that supreme conflict to which the rebel iga laa leaders ders have been looking forward for BO so long a ilme time GREAT ADVANTAGE OF THE che NUMERICAL BU su OP OF GENERAL GRANT I 1 i the key to all of general lees leeb movements j in this campaign will be found in my letter of april 28 it is therein stated that there will i be a battle on the rapidan Ra but it will not be the great battle I 1 am already in possession of facts enough to show that this is the case which are stated below at the same time the enormous number of troops at the command of general grant has made general leos task a much more difficult one than he expected and hab hag caused him to modify somewhat his original plans this modification I 1 however does not involve any radical change 1 in those plans which it is understood will yet be carried out the great ds proportion disproportion d spro portion in the bize size of the union and the rebel armies made it necessary for general lee so to nna cna heuver his troops aa as to bring on the actions that have been fought in such positions and I 1 i under such conditions I 1 that his advantage of position should counterbalance the tion of numbers and ana that great loss should be inflicted on the union troops while the rebel troops suffered comparatively but little an 1 other object that general generah lee hadin had in view yiew I 1 was to make the battles of 0 the ath andoch I 1 i preil prell preliminary and secondary in importance as they were yere so fiercely contested as to draw out the whole strength of the union forces including even our reserves both of these objects the rebels claim have been fully accomplished complis hed MOVEMENT IN thi THE tue shenandoah VALLEY OF KO NO consequence TO GENERAL LEE the presence of the troops under general sigel general kelly and general in the shenandoah valley gave general lee no uneasiness whatever he ascertained the facts in regard 11 to that movement b by y means of a along the baltimore and ohio railroad which was made as you will remember about a week or ten days ago by a squadron of Im bodens cavalry he learned at that time it ia said isaid that all the troops under the officers aboe above named were to be kept stationed below winchester and strasburg 1 in the shenandoah valley in order to j prevent him from curnin turning grant granta a right flance and that the baltimore and ohio railroad if guarded at all must be guarded by raw recruits these thebe facts gave him no uneasiness because the time had not yet come come for him to I 1 turn grants left rank flank and because when be he was ready and determined to do soi boi so these thirty thousand union troops more or less would not prevent his bis doing it GENERAL LEES UNEA uneasiness siness MINESS ABOUT MOVEMENT ON THE PENINSULA but what did cause him some u uneasiness nea siness was general grants movements by way of the peninsula if this movement had bad been ealy eaby directed by general butler it would have given lee DO no concern at all but the rebel general understands that butlers connection with it is only nominal and that it is a political trick on the part of the president insisted on by the latter so as not to offend butlers radical and antl powerful friends at washington that keeps butler nominally at the head bead of the movement general lee is fully convinced that the whole movement on t the twe b P peninsula lal ial is a part of general grants grand gand plan oi ot the campaign against richmond and t that a at it is directed solely by him annn antt executed solely by general smith and that is why uby he was uneasy about it indeed it caused bi him bim in a great gleat deal more uneasiness than the I 1 overland movement of meades army the latter he knew he could foil and defeat but the movement on ort the peninsula if it should be made on the left bank of the james river and made in sufficient force might render it necessary for him either to oppose it with his whole force or at least would render it necessary for him to detach such a portion of his armstrom army from the lindof line of the rapidan as would greatly perhaps fatally weaken him kim there jf if on the oher other hand band it should be made on the right bank of the james river be he knew that Gei gel general eral Beau beauregard rezard could hold bold it in check and prevent ft i from endangering dan gering the safety of richmond in the slightest degree and this too although general Beau regards forces were far inferior ID in number to those under generals smith gilmore and butler I 1 will merely add here that events have hava shown that on this point the rebel general reasoned correctly WHY GENERAL LEE ATTACKED meades MEADE YS ARMY general mades meades army crossed the rapidan Ra near germania on the ath general grants purposes on the peninsula were entirely unde eloped A strong union force had bad been landed at west point and another strong body of troops was at yorktown while still a third body was moving on williamsburg Williama burg the whole oie ole ora or a great part of the union flot flotilla iila wab was collected n I 1 the h e york river all these I 1 facts were known to general lee and seemed to indicate c ate a purpose on the part of general ga grant n tot itt to use ube the be york river aa as his line of approach to richmond and this teemed to general lee the probable because there are many military tary reasons why that is the true line of advance toward the rebel capital under these circumstances it etwas wab was vitally important that the ad advance vancie vancle of meades army should be checked and that army be defeat defeated edit edif it possible before the main body of batles butlar forces should reach the white house on the for if they should succeed in doing so the probabilities were that meades it left t would be extended down the river and butlers right be moved up the key to hanover and thus a junt junction tion be form i edby edby the whole of grants forces arf this I 1 case nothing but defeat could await general j lee to prevent this ibis therefore it was that I 1 j general lee assumed the offensive on the fth hurling hla hia solid columns against our lines i and endeavoring with all hla hia power to get between meades army and the rapidan Ra OUR DREADFUL LOSSES IN THIS BATTLE I 1 trust you will get the full details of thib thia battle before this letter is in print when you do get them the country will ba be shocked at the terrible loss of 0 life which our brave army sustained and at the extent to tow which bich we te were weakened and then too will be seen the shameful duplicity 0 of the premise made by the secretary of war weir so f fearful earful were our losses BO so impetuous and at times so resistless were the charges made by the rebels that general grant was oblige ld to send for Burp burd bides aides corps for the tife reserve corps be fore ore the close cf ef the day we had bad indeed held leid our own though at a frightful sacrifice without that corps but bat the fact tact that general grant had a corps de reserve alone saved his big overland campaign from sharing the fate of apes and hookers and Burnsi burnsides deys it was f the presence of that corps alone which enabled general grant to assume the offensive on friday having commenced the movement on richmond general grant could not now draw drav back but it was the presence of burnsides corps alone that made him strong enough to make the attack which he did on the ath th this fact among others will willbe be concealed as long as possible but it will come out at last GENERAL LEE learns WHAT GENERAL GRANT INTENDS TO DO ON THE PENINSULA on the morning p of the jtb general lee received cei cel ed definitive intelligence of the movements on the peninsula all the troops and union vessels on the york river bad been beed withdrawn i down own that stream and bad sailed up the james ames river and on the afternoon of the had been landed not on the left but on the right bank of the james river I 1 above city po in t it t must have been with a sign siga of re lief iet let teat that thau general lee read the dispatch that yeddo conveyed to him these tidings tor it was as much as saying a ying that grant had bad blundered in if strategy and bad taken a false faise and to lim him a fatal step for upon that landing r de pende lenda lends the fate of the campaign general arants grants plan for tor the campaign on the peninsula was now fully developed it was the plan pian llan ilan that Gener general alLee ailee lee hoped but hardly ared dared to believe so high is bis his respect for general franq grant that the latter would adopt and it relt reit relieved eved the former at once from all anxiety butlers troops might safely now be ie left to the care of gen beauregard and all that gerr gen lee read do on this day was to lold hold gen grants army in check and ami prevent them iem for twenty four hours more from advancing any further southward there was no danger now of a junction between the union troops on the rapidan and those south of the jam a river GENERAL LEES adut ABUT STANDS ON THE DEFENSIVE on the ath therefore gen lee lie gave to his troops the easier task easier coa toa compared pared with their tiela efforts of the day dy before of simply re the attacks made upon their in trenched ached I 1 ires ines aes res by the union troops the immense extent and great strength of these ments menta enabled them to do this with comparatively little iose loss while the union army again buffered suffered severely here again wuen when the full accounts come in the country will be appalled at the long list f killed and wounded in fruit less pst attempts to force the he enemy from bis his d g position losi 1081 tion for at nightfall gen lee held his position loa ioa unshaken general VENERAL LEES MOVEMENT that night however his preparations hav ing ng been all made beforehand he moved hi hia bia a whole army in silence and in perfect order t to 0 lis his second defensive line laid down on the mait maiv map which you received on the fth on the I 1 right I 1 bank hank oe f the north anna river there bis his army is at present in trenched and there gen sen grant will have to advance to fight him thib this as you will see by my letter of april is what gen lee intended from the first and here gen grants troubles tron tion bes beb about bie his bupp les ies will be begin bein in ile he will be too far from washington to r receive them overland and to make aquia creek his hia base will be open to 10 the ie bame same bame same objection I 1 he 1 e will be forced to u use 8 e the tie tle york river and one oe of its branches and to 0 o di dd this with mith rith absolute security will re require quire I 1 the ile tie presence of nearly all the gunboats gun boats now in the ie james river GENERAL LEE LEES S army WILL NOT RETREAT TO RICHMOND thus it is evident that so far from bein belne near its end the campaign against richmond begun and that all the advantage hus thus bus far remains with the rebels gen lee has lab las succeeded in his hia original design of drawing gen grants main army far away from its ts base where fi fight at a tage age and of preventing its junction wih with wib the important auxiliary column of gen butler in n conclusion I 1 may add that in no event will gen lees leeg army retire within the defenses of richmond nd tb e defense of that city was from rom the beginning of thib thia campaign entrusted to the troops under gen beauregard gen lee IF is believed to have in view a movement in an entirely different direction DRUID be not satisfied with what you can improve nor satisfied with what you yoa cant RECOVERY or THE REMAINS or RALSTON blyd bov and gibson hive h ave returned from their expedition i tion in beach of the missing judge ralston and bring us the melancholy intelligence that this much respected gentleman is no more great anxiety had been felt on his hia account and numerous expeditions had been sent out in search for him his hia family reside in this city and their distress augmented by the most painful suspense can only be imagined by those whose like misfortunes have compelled them to experience peri ence it judge ralston left austin about the pt may to visit hla hia ranch in smoky valley accompanied by another person the two became epa separated rated and that was the last seen of the judge by white men in a day or two after he was wag last seen his hia friends becoming alarmed a party parly was organized and search made these searches were without avail until a number of experienced men aided by a skillful indian guide discovered the trail and followed it t to 0 the spot last week we gave an account of their trip and its results their second trip was waa as follows the party left austin on friday following the main road to san antonio for a distance of 90 miles then crossed smoky valley at the indian we wells lis lib opposite coyote springs keeping a southeast course pa passing absing sink barnes ranch and in a few miles found some indians who had been with the party on the previous trip these told them that the judge was dead and directed them to the body mr gilson being able to talk the shoshone language obtained much information from the indiana respecting the death of the lost man and the disposal of the body they were piloted to the place where the remains were these were found but eight miles milea in an east north east direction from san antonia and five miles from barnea barnes ranch austin being north 20 degrees west the indian guide called was waa questioned by mr gilson aa as follows where did you see this thia man ars are my squaw saw him at the point of the mountain the toe day it snowed he was waa verv very weak and tottering thib this thia point was about five miles from where be jae dieda died she wanted him to go to camp but he would not she offered him some pine nuts which he refused reused f to take he be kept saying my ranch my house 12 abe the |
