WHITE HOUSE, Va., May 17 – To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War – The combined army and naval expedition went some 25 miles up Pamunky [sic] River to-day, and forced the rebels to destroy two steamers and some twenty schooners. The expedition was admirably managed. We have advanced considerably to-day. The roads are improving.
(Signed) GEO B McCLELLAN
WHITE HOUSE, Va., May 18 – From the correspondence of the Associated Press, we learn that the advance guard of our forces on the main road to Richmond, via Bottom Bridge, drove the enemy across Chickahominy River yesterday. Our troops on arriving at the bridge which is fifteen miles from Richmond, found it on fire and were opened upon by a rebel battery. No one injured. We expect considerable difficulty in crossing here, as the country is low and swampy. Our advance from this point must be necessarily slow, there being no river transportation, and every available obstruction placed in our way by the rebels.
The Richmond Dispatch of the 12th, in an article on the evacuation of Norfolk and Yorktown, and the conduct of the War, says, “by abandoning detached points which it is impossible to defend, we concentrate powerful forces and are enabled to baffle the enemy in every attack of vital importance.” This paper mentions a terrible panic in Richmond on Friday on the approach of our gunboats.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 24, 1862, p. 4
No comments:
Post a Comment