From General Lee's army.
[from our Own Correspondent.] Army of Northern Virginia, Near Orange C. H., Dec. 8, 1863.
The situation seems to be this: Meade finding himself unable to force General Lee back towards Richmond by a mere display in his front, has retired certainly behind the Rapidan, and report says he is tearing up the railway between the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, and preparing to go behind the Rappahannock to winter his army.
Our army is in its old position and preparing comfortable quarters for the winter, if, indeed, Generals Lee and Meade shall permit them.
The roads, however, are now as hard as pavements and the weather though quite cold has been clear for the last few days, and the winds have been just high enough to assist the sun's rays in the drying process.
A Post Office has recently been established to go along with this army as it moves.
Captain John L Eubank, formerly in charge of Eubank's battery in this army, and Secretary of the last Va. Convention, is postmaster.
He has gone to work in earnest and is discharging the duties with great satisfaction.
There are about ten thousand letters sent from the Post-Office each day and as many received.
This keeps the employees--eight clerks — quite busy from early morn until long past midnight of each day. In this connection I have been requested by Captain Eubank to call attention to a matter which may be of some practical benefit to the soldiers.
It is this: At the present time there are not less than four hundred unpaid letters remaining in the army post-office for soldiers, and a large number of newspapers upon which the postage has not been prepaid.
Now, it so happens that neither each soldier in the army, nor one from every company, but only one from each brigade, known as the brigade mail carrier, visits the army post-office daily to receive the mail.
These carriers decline to take mail matter on which the postage is unpaid.
The result is, these letters and papers never reach, to the great annoyance of those to whom they are addressed, and to the post-office, on whose hands they accumulate in large and unwieldy packages.
Cannot attention be called to this fact by all the papers?
It will be doing the soldiers a service.
Sunday was a bright, beautiful day, and a large audience turned out at the Episcopal Church at Orange C. H., where Rev. Dr. Wilmer, of Albemarle, preached a most able and excellent sermon.
Among his auditors were Gens. R. E. Lee, Hill, Fitz Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, and other leading officers of the army, besides many of the private soldiers.
Dr. Wilmer frequently visits the army, and his sermons are always productive of good.
Our captures in prisoners since Meade first began his forward movement will amount to eight hundred, which will in some measure compensate for the losses at Rappahannock bridge.
To-day some fifty or sixty boxes of clothing arrived, containing shirts, drawers, socks, pants, and jackets, for the army.
There is still a demand for blankets. X.
