The Southern papers furnish very little relative to
Gen. Bragg's defeat — not as much as has been published in the telegrams of the
Dispatch's correspondent.
The Savannah
Republican says that a few days before the late movement of the enemy
Bragg's Chief of Engineers,
Major Hollenquist basely deserted and went over to the foe, giving them full information concerning our strength, position, &c. It is supposed that this induced them to make the attack.
Hollenquist is a German, formerly in the United States army.
The
Republican adds:
‘
Bragg was deceived regarding the movements of
Sherman, supposing that he had gone to the relief of
Burnside at
Knoxville.
His appearance in force opposite our right wing was evidently a surprise.--And then again, the separation of
Longstreet's corps and
Wheeler's cavalry from the main body, turned out to be a most serious blunder, perhaps, though, one that could not have been anticipated.
’
Among the wounded officers who have arrived at
Atlanta we find the names of
Major French, of the 63d Va., and
Capt. A. H. Booth, of the 54th Va.
Col. Horace Rice, of the 29th Tenn., and Lt. Co.
Julius Porcher, of the 10th S. C., were killed.
Col. Suggs, of the 50th Tenn., was dangerously, and
Major Green, of the 29th Tenn., mortally wounded
Capt. Cabell Breckinridge, son of the
General, was taken prisoner.
Gen. Walthall was wounded in the heel, and
Gen. Maney was wounded slightly in the shoulder.
The
Confederacy, of Saturday, gives some additional particulars of the battle.
It says:
‘
Active work began on last Saturday with light skirmishing.
The enemy shelled at intervals from their fortifications and sent out a few raiding parties, which were checked at every point, except in one, where a brigade baggage train was captured.
On Sunday the warmth of the encounter increased decidedly, and throughout Monday the firing from right to left became continuous, although but little execution was done.
The great engagement opened at dawn on Tuesday.
The attack was made by the enemy upon our positions upon Lookout.--They approached with resolution, estimated at forty thousand strong, and charged us in our works, at the same time occupying the attention of our right wing, ranged at the foot of
Missionary Ridge.
Their onset was firm, but not impetuous at first, but increased in volume and vigor as the day advanced.
Our troops, commanded by the heroic
Gen. Breckinridge (in command of
Lieut. General Hill's corps,) received the terrible odds thrown against them with a courage animated by the example of
Walthal,
Strahl, Mannigo,
Bate,
Stevenson, and others, leading divisions and brigades.
It was not until late in the afternoon that the desperate assault of the enemy, multiplied by fresh numbers at every advance, created an effect upon our lines.
’
At 4 o'clock the "left centre," as described by
Gen. Bragg--a level point lying near Walkins's house, between the foot of Lookout and
Missionary Ridge, and opening a way into the valley in rear — gave way, and the enemy poured through the embrasure like a flood tide.
This cut the army in twain, and when it was observed by the troops upon the mountain on the far left it occasioned a confusion which could not be remedied, and a retreat which could not be rallied.
The day closed with a disorder which might have been turned into a rout had the enemy continued to press with the same energy after dark that he displayed through out the day. During the night the remnant of the left, minus a portion of several commands, which fell captive because of being cut off from the main body, was withdrawn to positions along
Missionary Ridge, where the troops were massed for the conflict of the coming day.
Our works at the foot of
Missionary Ridge extend along a line of two miles in length.
They are built of heavy timbers, stone, and fence rails, morticed together with clay, and about five feet high.
Behind them the hill rises in a gentle slope, but rough and uneven.
In front the ground is open and level, but rocky and broken.
It was against these fortifications, occupied by the remaining strength of the army, that the enemy (whose loss during the successful expedition against Lookout on Tuesday was equal to the disproportion of the combatants, being five to one) proceeded on Wednesday morning to assail with the same ardor and the same swollen columns of the day before.
The attack was made before sunrise,
General Hardee commanding our right, being himself in the trenches ready to receive the assault.
The fight was more desperate than the day preceding.
That fair valley, with its gentle fields, its pleasant groves, and its broad stream, was soon enveloped in the dense fog of exploding shells, winding wreaths of smoke and white clouds from fort and earthworks.
Charge after charge was made by the enemy, and as boldly met by our men, now thoroughly desperate by reason of the crisis closing around them.
Every onset was repulsed, and as the ranks were mowed down they were filled up again and sent forward with new velocity.
The carnage in front of our rude fortifications was fearful.
Not less than five thousand dead strewed the plain before nightfall, and still the admirable
Hardee —— more fortunate perhaps in his position than his none the less heroic comrade — held his own unbroken and unblanched.
At last the slow approach of sunset, mellowing into dusk, and thence into a clear, frosty, moonlight night, brought the bloody drama to an end, with the complete repulse of the enemy along the entire right, but not before he had rapidly improved his position upon Lookout, and prepared to enfilade our fines from batteries posted thereon.
Our informant left during Wednesday night, as the army withdrew from the works, passing over the hill, and by the morning reaching the eastern side, under cover of the rugged peaks of
Missionary Ridge.
At the present writing we have no further intelligence as to the operations of yesterday, except that there was no fighting.
The
Confederacy adds:
‘
We are in receipt of some of the particulars of our retreat from
Missionary Ridge, which began at dark on Wednesday evening, and was continued throughout the night.
Our informant describes the scenes of the two days previous as having been of the most memorable character.
He says that the advance of the
Federal upon our position was clearly distinguishable from every point along
Missionary Ridge.
Their lines of battle, four columns deep, could be seen from right to left with such distinctness that one might have recognized an acquaintance with a glass in any part of them.
It was the swollen odds thrown against us, thus visibly arrayed, which created the irresolution in certain portions of our front, and resulted in the loss of Lookout.
’
On perceiving this terrible advantage gained, and being subjected not only to unequal numbers, but an enfilading fire, the conviction became prevalent among officers and men that the day was gone, and although they fought with stubborn courage for the redemption of
Missionary Ridge, its possession was evidently only a question of time.--This was cut short by an order to retire late during Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday
Gen. Mancy fought the
Federal pursuit three miles this side of
Chickamauga, being himself severely wounded.
The retreat was conducted with some confusion, but order was restored after a day's march, and the troops passed through
Dalton in unbroken columns.
On Friday afternoon
Gen. Cleburn had a severe skirmish with the enemy's cavalry near
Ringgold.
It is understood that he kept them at bay.
There are conflicting opinions expressed by parties from the front concerning the loss of
Lookout Mountain.
Many persons assert that the assault was a complete surprise; others excuse the disaster by the plea that the enemy approached under cover of a dense fog, and could not be seen, whilst in carrying the heights they successfully demonstrated our attention to a different quarter.
The
Confederacy has the following paragraph:
‘
As far as public opinion goes, then,
Gen. Hardee is ascribed as the hero of the occasion.
To his coolness, his sagacity, and his energy, is attributed the valorous defence of our right.
We have seen no one who is not loud in his praise.
Other officers, of course, come in for a due share of the glory, but the story is that
Hardee saved the army.
’
Of the condition of affairs in
East Tennessee the
Confederacy, of Sunday, says:
‘
The investment of
Knoxville, on Monday last, the date of our latest reliable advices from that city, was complete on the north side of the river.
No attempt had been made to carry the city by assault.
We fired, on Friday night, many shots at the works on the hill immediately in front of the
University buildings, from a battery stationed on the ridge a short distance north of
Mr. Crisp's residence.
Though the works of the enemy were plainly visible, no guns were seen, nor could we provoke a reply to our batteries.
It was thought that
Burnside anticipated an assault upon his works, and therefore reserved his ammunition.
The soldiers of
Longstreet were anxious to storm the place, and believed that this was not done on Friday night last because the whole country was constantly illuminated by the conflagrations we have mentioned.
On Saturday night there was a heavy rain, and on Sunday night the moon shone resplendently.
’
Thus the storming of the fortifications was postponed.
It was understood that many of the women and children had crossed the river, and thus escaped from the beleaguered city.
The Yankee pickets were in
J. L. Moses's residence, firing upon us. An incendiary shell was thrown by our batteries into one of his out houses.
In order that the
Federal might understand that we could if we chose fire the house.
The kitchen was set on fire, and the
Federal sharpshooters abandoned the residence, and in doing so set the building on fire; thus it was destroyed.
There was found in the yard many of his books, family portraits, and many articles of furniture.
His family went into the city.
The residence of
Wm. H. Crisp, the lessee of the theatres of this city and
Mobile and
Montgomery, was burned by the
Federal.
This residence
Mr. Crisp had recently purchased from
Maj. Campbell Wallace,
President of the
East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad.
Another costly residence — that of the late
Judge Reese, about one and a quarter miles from
Knoxville — was destroyed by the
Yankees.
They also burned the residences of
W. W. Walker,
Mr. Roth, and one or two others in that vicinity.
The pretext for this vandalism was that they might be used as places of security by our pickets and sharpshooters.
The Federal fired them as they abandoned them.
The severest fighting on the approach of
Longstreet in the city, in which
Kershaw's brigade lost 50 or 60 men, occurred where the railroad crosses the old road to
Campbell's station.
At
Lenoir's our troops found about 180 wagons and caissons abandoned by the enemy.
Many of these were soon put in order and appropriated.
There seems to be but one mode of escape for
Burnside, and that by crossing the
Holston under cover of the guns in position on the
South bank of the river, and then moving down the stream and effecting a junction with
Grant at some point near
Chattanooga.
The eastward route of escape towards
Dandridge has been closed.
On Monday last a portion of
Wheeler's command had an engagement with the
Yankee cavalry under
Col. Byrd, near
Kingston,
East Tennessee.
The result was not known, but it was said that we captured a considerable portion of
Byrd's command.
The above facts are gleaned from statements made by
Rev. Mr. Simmons,
Chaplain of the 11th Georgia regiment, who left
Knoxville on Monday last.
He was informed that 3,000 Federal cavalry took possession of
Cleveland on Wednesday last.
If this be true, we can have no communication with
Longstreet.
There are three locomotives and trains beyond
Cleveland, between
Cleveland and
London.
If they fall into the hands of the enemy we shall be the losers.
