Later from the North.
We are indebted to the courtesy of
Capt. D. J. Hill, of the steamer
Schultz, for Northern papers of Saturday, the 19th inst.
Brig.-Gen. Kemper, who was wounded at
Gettysburg, and taken prisoner, arrived on the
Schultz last night, having been brought to
City Point by a Federal flag-of-truce boat.
The dispatches published below are the latest relative to the
--Rumors have been prevalent here for the past three days of disasters to
General Rosecrans's army, all of which have been discredited by the military authorities.--They probably arise from the fact that on Sunday last a rebel force, sixteen thousand strong, attacked
General Negley's division, five thousand three hundred strong, at Bird's Gap, and drove them back three and and half miles.
Negley recovered the ground next morning, with a loss of thirty-five killed, wounded, and missing.
Our forces buried thirty-six rebels found on the ground Monday morning. The number of their killed and wounded which had been removed is unknown, but it is supposed to be considerable.
Headq'rs in the field,
ten miles Northeast of Lafayette, Ga.,
Sept. 16, 1863.
On evacuating
Chattanooga the enemy retired to
Lafayette and massed a force at that place, taking possession of the gaps of
Pigeon Mountain directly in front of
General Thomas's column.
The rebel force had been made formidable by new additions from
Johnston,
Hindman,
Buckner, and
Maury.
Deserters report the enemy now superior in numbers to the army they had at the
battle of Murfreesboro'. Among the divisions are
Cheatham's, Deyes's,
Claiborne's,
Buckner's Stuart's,
Hindman's,
Slaughter's, and detached brigades of
Jackson and
Anderson — in all thirty-five brigades of infantry, not less than sixty-five thousand men.
Thus formidable in numbers and position,
Rosecrans was compelled to concentrate his forces, necessarily much scattered in crossing the
Lookout Mountains.
The lines of the opposing armies may now be represented as a crescent, shaped by the
Pigeon Mountains, which extend like the are of a circle around
Lafayette.
The rebels hold the interior and we the exterior lines.
The two forces are within a few miles of each other, but are effectually separated by the range of mountains.
The rebel position can only be approached by the
Cattlers, Wing and Bluebird Gaps, which are well guarded.
This position of the rebels covers excellent lines of retreat on
Rome and
Calhoun, where they will probably make a new line should they be defeated here.
There are rumors that they have been retiring for a day or two; but they are considered unreliable.
Gen. Rosecrans left
Chattanooga on Sunday, and is now engaged in making dispositions for a new situation.
He has been ill, but is in fine spirits.
In the fight with
Negley the rebels lost over 30 killed. Our loss was 7 killed and 35 wounded.
Headquarters in the field,
Chattanooga, Sept. 17, 1863.
All is quiet.
No attack has been made.--The enemy remains in possession of the gaps of
Pigeon Mountains and about
Lafayette.
The lines are very close, and there is occasional skirmishing.
Capt. Drury,
Chief of Artillery of
Gen. Van Cleve's staff, was shot in the bowels by a sharpshooter.
The wound is dangerous.
It is reported that
Longstreet has arrived at
Resaca with 20,000 men.
Our army is in splendid health and spirits.
Headq'rs army of Cumberland,
in the field, Sept. 18, 1863.
All is quiet, though there is constant skirmishing along the line, and frequent dashes of cavalry on both sides.
The enemy does not appear anxious to attack, though he apparently intends to dispute further advance.
He remains in constantly increasing force directly in front, a few miles distant, reviewing heavy reinforcements of old troops from
General Lee's army.
Longstreet passed through
Augusta on the 10th and 11th inst., by rail to
Resaca.
Their advance has reached
Lafayette.
The rebels have been moving through the gap of
Pigeon Mountain, and forming line on this side, as if to attack.
General Rosecrans has assumed a strong defensive position on
Chickamauga creek covering
Chattanooga.
He evinces no disposition to attack at present.
The preparation to do so cannot all be completed for a few days, when a battle must ensue.
General Stanley, of the cavalry corps, is very ill and has gone to the rear.
General R. P. Mitchell succeeds to his command.
Headq's army of the Cumberland,
September 19, 1863.
All reports of an engagement here are false.
The enemy has been busy to-day feeling our lines, and artillery duels have been brisk, with few casualties.
The rebels may be busy getting into position for attacking to-morrow.
Little doubt remains that either
Longstreet's or
Ewell's corps are here.
Any day may bring on an engagement.
The public will be informed at an early moment of the beginning and progress of the battle, if any occurs.
The cavalry fighting in Northern Virginia--the position of Meade's army.
A dispatch, dated "Near the
Rapidan" on the 17th, says:
‘
Yesterday the rebels crossed the river at
Raccoon ford, the force consisting of infantry, their design being to reconnoitre the position and ascertain the strength of our force in that vicinity.
In this they were foiled and handsomely repulsed, with heavy loss, by
Gen. Kilpatrick, who dismounted his men, who used the double
Spencer rifle with deadly effect.
The regiments engaged on our side were the 1st Virginia and 2d New York cavalry, who fought with their usual gallantry.
The casualties in
Kilpatrick's division in the two days were two killed and forty-six wounded.
Yesterday and to-day the rebels shelled the wood leading to the camps of our troops on the
Rapidan, preventing the wagons and troops from passing for an interval.
This afternoon the rebels opened fire from a few guns, without, however, inflicting damage.
A squad of thirty men belonging to the 4th New York cavalry were captured by the rebels, and the whole regiment has incurred the displeasure of
Gen. Pleasanton, who has issued an order to that effect.
The rebels have fortified the heights on the other side of the
Rapidan, the position being naturally a strong one.
Over thirty of their guns are counted that are in view, the majority, of course, being screened from sight.
’
Another dispatch, dated the 17th, says:
‘
The most of the enemy's cavalry has been driven across the
Rapidan, but about 2,000 still occupy a position on this side, protected by some powerful batteries, mounting 12 guns.
These are further protected by a powerful range of hills overlooking the river on the other side.
After fiercely pursuing their cavalry on Sunday and Monday, a squad of our men dashed after them across the river, but, having got under range of their batteries on the other side, had to retire.
Yesterday a fresh line of their cavalry recrossed the river and charged the First Michigan.
The latter were armed with revolving carbines, and, having alighted from their horses, took up a masked position.
The enemy dashed up to their very lines, when they were received with a murderous fire, leaving several killed and wounded on the field, and sixty prisoners in our hands.
Only for the twelve guns on this side our cavalry could have easily passed over, sweeping the right wing of their line.
As I write this the front of our infantry line is within two miles of the river.
The trains are heard running into the
Rapidan station, evidently loaded with troops and ammunition from
Richmond.
The enemy's cavalry force is estimated at about two thousand--certainly near that. --Their cavalry is well cut up.
’
Headq's army of the Potomac,
September 18--12 M.
Yesterday afternoon a rain storm commenced, accompanied by thunder and lightning, increasing in fury during the night, and this morning the
Rappahannock and
Rapidan rivers are rising very rapidly, and the small streams in the country are becoming impassable.
Under the circumstance, it will be impossible for the army to move forward, as the roads have already become so soft as to preclude all kinds of land transportation.
The prospect is that the rain, which is set down as the equinoctial storm, will be unusually severe and protracted.
P. S.--The wind is blowing a fearful hurricane, and the rain is falling in torrents.
The editor of the
Star, who left
Culpeper yesterday, says in his paper of to-day:
‘
On Wednesday night the
Union line extended from
Stevensburg through Culpeper Court-House to the
Stone Mountain House, four miles north of the
Court-House.
Yesterday morning the line was changed, the army having advanced to a close proximity to the
Rapidan river, where the rebel corps of
A. P. Hill and
Ewell are believed to be now strongly fortified.
The army of the Potomac never was in as fine a condition as it is at this moment — so healthy, so cleanly clad, so well supplied, and with so much
clan. It is worth to-day in a hard fight twice as much as it ever was before the
battle of Gettysburg.
’
A letter from Parnestown, Md., on the upper Potomac, dated to-day, says: ‘Early yesterday morning from 200 to 500 rebel cavalry, said to be a portion of
White's command, crossed the
Potomac between
Watt's branch and
Muddy creek, and started towards the cross-roads, two miles from the river, where there had been a rendezvous of
Scott's Nine Hundred.
Gen. Heintzelman, who had arrived there on a tour of inspection, pursued them up the tow-path of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, pressing them so hard that they were compelled to recross the river below Edwards's Ferry.’
Miscellaneous.
The
Yankees have dates from
Charleston to the 15th inst. One of their rumors is that the city had been destroyed after three days shelling.
The occupation of
Little Rock, Ark., by the
Federals is confirmed.
The first bale of cotton raised in
Louisiana under
Banks's free labor system, was sold in New Orleans, on the 12th, at 67½ cents per pound.
Gov. Andrews, of
Massachusetts, has been on a visit to
Norfolk, Va. He reviewed two negro regiments there.
Four Yankee prisoners who escaped from Bell Isle on the 9th inst., arrived at
Fortress Monroe on the 16th, clothed in Confederate uniforms.
The most stringent martial law is to be enforced throughout
Missouri.
Dr. Crawford E. Smith, of
Saline county, has been ordered to go South, and 175 of his negroes taken from him.
Alfred Stanley, brother of the
Ex-Military Governor of
North Carolina, has been arrested by
Gen. Foster for Secession sympathies.
The editor of the Alexandria
Gazette has been notified that his paper will be stopped if he persists in calling the Legislature at
Richmond "the Virginia Legislature."
Maine has given
Cony, (Rep.,) for Governor, an overwhelming majority.
Among the reports in the
Northern papers are the following: That
Gen. Joe.
Johnston has been placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia in place of
Gen. Lee, who has gone to
Tennessee; that three divisions of
Lee's army have gone to
Bragg, and that
Longstreet has gone there too.
The
Herald, in an editorial, says:
‘
The probability of a war with
England or with
France, or with both of these Powers combined, is now the general and absorbing topic of conversation, and even exercises a considerable influence upon the speculations in Wall street.
Gold was quoted in New York on the 18th at 133¾a134.
’
