On the whole ridge extending from my camp ments and provisions, how can they attempt it into Corinth, and to the right and left, could be in this poor, arid, and exhausted part of the seen the remains of the abandoned camps of the country? form material data to account for results. enemy, flour and provisions scattered about, and I have experienced much difficulty in giving an every thing indicating a speedy and confused re-intelligent account of the events of the past three treat. In the town itself many houses were still days, because of the many little events, unimportburning, and the ruins of warehouses and build-ant in themselves, but which in the aggregate ings containing commissary and other confederate stores were still smouldering; but there still remained piles of cannon-balls, shells and shot, sugar, molasses, beans, rice, and other property, which the enemy had failed to carry off or destroy. Major Fisher, of the Ohio Fifty-fourth, was left in Corinth with a provost-guard, to prevent pillage and protect the public stores still left. From the best information picked up from the few citizens who remained in Corinth, it appeared that the enemy had for some days been removing their sick and valuable stores, and had sent away on railroad-cars a part of their effective force, on the night of the twenty-eighth. But, of course, even the vast amount of their rolling stock could not carry away an army of a hundred thousand men. The enemy was, therefore, compelled to march away, and began the march by ten o'clock on the night of the twenty-ninth- the columns filling all the roads leading south and west all night the rear-guard firing the train which led to the explosions and conflagration, which gave us the first real notice that Corinth was to be evacuated. The enemy did not relieve his pickets that morning, and many of them have been captured, who did not have the slightest intimation of their purpose. Finding Corinth abandoned by the enemy, I ordered Gen. M. L. Smith to pursue on the Ripley road, by which it appeared they had taken the bulk of their artillery. Capt. Hammond, my chief of staff, had been and continued with Gen. Smith's brigade, and pushed the pursuit up to the bridges and narrow causeway by which the bottom of Tuscumbia Creek is passed. The enemy opened with canister on the small party of cavalry, and burned every bridge, leaving the woods full of straggling soldiers. Many of these were gathered up and sent to the rear, but the main army had escaped across Tuscumbia Creek, and further pursuit by a small party would have been absurd, and I kept my division at College Hill until I received Gen. Thomas's orders to return and resume our camps of the night before, which we did, slowly and quietly, in the cool of the evening. The evacuation of Corinth at the time and in the manner in which it was done, was a clear back-down from the high and arrogant tone heretofore assumed by the rebels. The ground was of their own choice. The fortifications, though poor and indifferent, were all they supposed necessary to our defeat, as they had had two months to make them, with an immense force to work at their disposal. If, with two such railroads as they possessed, they could not supply their army with reenforce My division has constructed seven distinct intrenched camps since leaving Shiloh, the men working cheerfully and well all the time, night and day. Hardly had we finished one camp before we were called on to move forward and build another. But I have been delighted at this feature in the character of my division, and take this method of making it known. Our intrenchments here and at Russell's, each built substantially in one night, are stronger works of art than the much boasted forts of the enemy at Corinth. I must, also, in justice to my men, remark their great improvement on the march-the absence of that straggling which is too common in the volunteer service; and still more, their improved character on picket and as skirmishers. Our line of march has been along a strongly marked ridge, followed by the Purdy and Corinth road, and ever since leaving the " "Locusts our pickets have been fighting. Hardly an hour, night or day, for two weeks, without the exchange of hostile shots. But we have steadily and surely gained ground-slowly, to be sure, but with that steady certainty which presaged the inevitable result. In these picket skirmishes we have inflicted and sustained losses, but it is impossible for me to recapitulate them. These must be accounted for on the company muster-rolls. We have taken many prisoners, which have been sent to the Provost-Marshal General; and with this report I will send some forty or fifty picked up in the course of the past two days. Indeed, I think, if disarmed, very many of these prisoners would never give trouble again; whilst, on the other hand, the real secessionists seem more bitter than ever. I will send the reports of Brigadiers and Colonels as soon as completed and handed in. Enclosed is a sketch made by Capt. Kossak, without which I fear my descriptions and history of movements would not be understood. I am, with much respect, your obedient servant, W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General Commanding Division. J. H. HAMMOND, we have occupied and strongly intrenched seven distinct camps in a manner to excite the admiration and high commendation of General Halleck. The division has occupied the right flank of the grand army, thereby being more exposed and calling for more hard work and larger guard details than from any other single division-and the Commanding General reports that his officers and men have promptly and cheerfully performed their duty, and have sprung to the musket or spade, according to the occasion, and have just reason to claim a large share in the honors that are due the whole army for the glorious victory terminating at Corinth on yesterday, and it affords him great pleasure to bear full and willing testimony to the qualities of his command that have achieved this victory-a victory none the less decisive because attended with comparatively little loss of life. But a few days ago a large and powerful rebel army lay at Corinth, with outposts extending to our very camp at Shiloh. They held two railroads extending north and south, east and west across the whole extent of their country, with a vast number of locomotives and cars to bring to them speedily and certainly their reënforcements and supplies. They called to their aid all their armies from every quarter, abandoning the seacoast and the great river Mississippi, that they might overwhelm us with numbers in the place of their own choosing. They had their chosen leaders, men of high reputation and courage, and they dared us to leave the cover of our iron-clad gunboats to come to fight them in their trenches and still more dangerous swamps and ambuscades of their southern forests. Their whole country from Richmond to Memphis and Nashville to Mobile rung with their taunts and boastings, as to how they would immolate the Yankees if they dared to leave the Tennessee River. They boldly and defiantly challenged us to meet them at Corinth. We accepted the challenge and came slowly and without attempt at concealment to the very ground of their selection; and they have fled away. We yesterday marched unopposed through the burning embers of their destroyed camps and property, and pursued them to their swamps until burning bridges plainly confessed they had fled and not marched away for better ground. It is a victory as brilliant and important as any recorded in history, and every officer and soldier who lent his aid has just reason to be proud of his part. No amount of sophistry or words from the leaders of the rebellion can succeed in giving the evacuation of Corinth, under the circumstances, any other title than that of a signal defeat, more humiliating to them and their cause than if we had entered the place over the dead and mangled bodies of their soldiers. We are not here to kill and slay, but to vindicate the honor and just authority of that government which has been bequeathed to us by our honored fathers, and to whom we would be recreant if we permitted their work to pass to our children, marred and spoiled by ambitious and wicked rebels. The General Commanding, while thus claiming for his division their just share in this glorious result, must, at the same time, remind them that much yet remains to be done, and that all must still continue the same vigilance and patience, industry and obedience, till the enemy lays down his arms and publicly acknowledges, for their supposed grievances, they must obey the laws of their country, and not attempt its overthrow by threats, by cruelty, and by war. They must be made to feel and acknowledge the power of a just and mighty nation. This result can only be accomplished by a cheerful and ready obedience to the orders and authority of our leaders, in whom we now have just reason to feel the most implicit confidence. That the Fifth division of the right wing will do this, and that in due time we will go to our families and friends at home is the earnest prayer and wish of your immediate Com. mander. W. T. SHERMAN, CINCINNATI "GAZETTE" ACCOUNT. IN CAMP, THREE MILES SOUTH OF CORINTH, June 1st, 1862. The army had established itself on a line whose average distance from Corinth was four miles, about the sixteenth of May. Here the right and left wings intrenched themselves, while the centre advanced a mile further and there opened its first line of trenches. From this date the advance was marked by continual skirmishing along the whole line, and every reconnoissance was equal in many respects to what were termed battles in the earlier part of the war. Gen. Pope on the left and Gen. W. T. Sherman on the right could only carry forward their lines by heavy fighting, and thus for nearly a fortnight the noise of battle has scarcely ceased along our front. On the seventeenth of May the centre began its advance, and now I must confine myself to the operations of the division formerly commanded by Gen. Thomas, and now in his corps d'armée, and under Gen. (Port Royal) Sherman, and more particularly the brigade of Gen. Robert L. McCook, whose every movement has fallen under my observation. On Saturday, the seventeenth of May, this brigade, as a part of Gen. Thomas's army, advanced and drove in the enemy's pickets on the main Corinth road. The Thirty-fifth Ohio, under Col. Van Derveer, was engaged during the whole day in a sharp skirmish with the rebel pickets. But at night we held our ground, and in the mean time the rest of the brigade, consisting of the Ninth Ohio, Col. Kammerlung, the Second Minnesota, Col. George, and the Eighteenth regular, Col. Shepherd, had intrenched themselves within range of the enemy's guns. The next morning, our baggage having arrived, we were firmly established near the rebels' works. It required several days of severe fighting along the picket-lines to drive the enemy far enough to prevent their bullets from whistling through the camps, and several times while this was going on their shells and shot fell around our tents. In several instances we were greatly annoyed by rebel sharp-shooters, who, from the trees in front, sent their bullets with deadly aim. One of this class, after thus troubling us for two days, was at last discovered, and three half-breed Indians, from Col. George's regiment, crept silently through the grass and low shrubs that separated the lines, to within short range, when, firing in concert, they had the satisfaction of tumbling the sharp-shooter from his high position. Though greeted by a volley from the pickets, the half-bugle, or horn, no locomotives or rockets-the breeds escaped, and few rebels occupied the trees for several days. In another instance, during an attack on one of our batteries, the gunners were troubled by another gentleman of this class, who was at last discovered near the top of a large oak. The Captain carefully trained one of his rifled guns upon the trunk of the tree, and as the smoke of the explosion cleared away, the tree and its occupant came down with a crash. advanced from their lines, there was little firing on either side, but wherever the line which separated the armies was crossed, our forces were greeted with whistling balls. During the whole period of our advance the rebels had been most active. The railroads around Corinth seemed worked to their utmost capacity, and there was no attempt made to conceal either their position or the length of their lines. Suddenly all this activity ceased, and over the whole region around Corinth the silence of death appeared to reign. There was no random firing, no note of drum, of smoke of the camp-fires had died away, the hum of their vast army had ceased, and the buzzards sailed slowly over the position as if it were indeed deserted. But this ruse to draw us on to an attack did not succeed; and the moment the rebels perceived that their scheme had failed, they suddenly became more noisy and active than ever, and were immediately prepared to attack us; and their lines were actually formed for the attack, as we afterwards learned, but the order was suddenly countermanded, for some reason unknown to us, and matters relapsed again into their usual state. greatest scale were made, lasting, in one case, a part of three days, and resulting in the establishing of a great portion of our line within a thousand yards of the rebel works. This latter was carried on by Gen. Alexander McCook, and con ducted in a masterly manner. Involving long-continued fighting, and much military address, ener In another portion of the field our forces were exposed to a constant fire, the exact locality of which could not be at first determined. After careful survey, the place was found at length, and appeared to conceal a very considerable force. From Tuesday, the twenty-seventh, until our Gen. Davies ordered out a battery of eighteen army occupied Corinth, on Friday, was a period heavy field-guns, which were hidden in the edge of intense excitement and activity. At three of the banks overlooking the spot. Our skir-points along our lines reconnoissances on the mishers then advanced rapidly, with orders to retreat quickly, as if routed, at the enemy's fire. The scheme was successful. The rebels left their cover sufficiently to expose their position, when all the guns which had been previously loaded opened upon them, and for several minutes the discharges of the guns were as rapid as the rattling fire of musketry. If there be music in can-gy, and knowledge, it was successful at every nonading, it was then developed, and its melody will long linger in our memories. Thus was one point of our lines cleared. The whole line was similarly employed for more than a week, and thus the advance towards Corinth was a constant succession of battles on a small scale. In every division reconnoissances were of daily occurrence, and the continued roar of artillery and rattling of musketry almost ceased to attract attention, except when the scene of action was close at hand. Thus every portion of the army has seen a battle going on by its side, where often ten thousand Union troops were engaged, and, in some cases, where the enemy were much stronger. These facts serve to convey an idea of the immense size of an army, and the extent of its lines. point. Gen. McCook was supported by his brother Robert, with his brigade, and, covered by the advance troops, the lines of this brigade were advanced still further; and after the advanced brigades of Gen. Johnson on our left, and Gen. Rousseau on our right had intrenched themselves, Gen. R. L. McCook's brigade moved upon their line. Though the task be a most difficult one, yet I will try to give your readers a faint idea of the scenes which an advance presents. First the enemy must be driven back. Regiments and artillery are placed in position, and generally the cavalry is in advance, but when the opposing forces are in close proximity, the infantry does the work. The whole front is covered by a cloud of skirmishers, and then reserves This state of things continued until the twenty-formed, and then, in connection with the main fourth, with all its varied scenes, its hours of suspense, its days and nights of watchfulness and labor, its moments of victory, shaded, as such moments ever are, by its death-scenes, and the pall which everywhere hangs over new-made graves. We had thus gained a strongly intrenched position within long-range of the rebel pickets and their cannon. Then succeeded two days of almost perfect quiet, and except where our pickets line, they advance. For a moment all is still as the grave to those in the background; as the line moves on, the eye is strained in vain to follow the skirmishers as they creep silently forward; then from some point of the line a single rifle rings through the forest, sharp and clear, and, as if in echo, another answers it. In a moment more the whole line resounds with the din of arms. Here the fire is slow and steady, there it rattles with fearful rapidity, and this mingled and rested there on Thursday night, the twentyeighth, expecting a general engagement at any moment. with the great roar of the reserves as the skirmishers chance at any point to be driven in; and if, by reason of superior force, these reserves fall back to the main force, then every nook and corner seems full of sound. The batteries open their terrible voices, and their shells sing horribly while winging their flight, and their dull explosion speaks plainly of death; their canister and grape go crashing through the trees, rifles ring, the muskets roar, and the din is terrific. Then the slackening of the fire denotes the withdraw-soon the whole army was advancing on a grand ing of the one party, and the more distant picketfiring that the work is accomplished. The silence becomes almost painful after such a scene as this, and no one can conceive of the effect who has not experienced it; it cannot be described. The occasional firing of the pickets, which shows that the new lines are established, actually occasions a sense of relief. The movements of the mind under such circumstances are sudden and strong. It awaits with intense anxiety the opening of the contest, it rises with the din of battle, it sinks with the lull which follows it, and finds itself in fit condition to sympathize most deeply with the torn and bleeding ones that are fast being borne to the rear. When the cursed nature of this rebellion flashes on the mind, and the case of those whose homes are thus made desolate becomes our own, and the instinctive utterance of the soil is for vengeance, the mind works most rapidly under the influence of such scenes as these, and one has time for such reflections even on the battle-field. When the ground is clear, then the time for the working parties has arrived, and as this is the description of a real scene, let me premise that the works were to reach through the centre of a large open farm of at least three hundred acres, surrounded by woods, one side of it being occupied by rebel pickets. These had been driven back as I have described. The line of the works was selected, and at the word of command three thousand men, with axes, spades, and picks, stepped out into the open field from their cover in the woods; in almost as short a time as it takes to tell it, the fence-rails which surrounded and divided three hundred acres into convenient farm-lots were on the shoulders of the men, and on the way to the intended line of works. In a few moments more a long line of crib-work stretches over the slopes of the hill, as if another anaconda fold had been twisted around the rebels. Then, as for a time, the ditches deepen, the crib fills up, the dirt is packed on the outer side, the bushes and all points of concealment are cleared from the front, and the centre divisions of our army had taken a long stride towards the rebel works. The siege-guns are brought up and placed in commanding positions. A log house furnishes the hewn and seasoned timber for the platforms, and the plantation of a Southern lord has been thus speedily transferred into one of Uncle Sam's strongholds, where the Stars and Stripes float proudly. Thus had the whole army worked itself up into the very teeth of the rebel works, Soon after daylight on Friday morning, the army was startled by rapid and long-continued explosions, similar to musketry, but much louder, The conviction flashed across my mind that the rebels were blowing up their loose ammunition and leaving. The dense smoke arising in the direction of Corinth strengthened this belief, and reconnoissance. The distance through the woods was short, and in a few minutes shouts arose from the rebel lines, which told that our army was in the enemy's trenches. Regiment after regiment pressed on, and passing through extensive camps just vacated, soon reached Corinth and found half of it in flames. Beauregard and Bragg had left the afternoon before, and the rearguard had passed out of the town before daylight, leaving enough stragglers to commit many acts of vandalism, at the expense of private property. They burned churches and other public buildings, private goods, and stores and dwellings, and choked up half the wells in town. In the camps immediately around the town, there were few evidences of hasty retreat, but on the rightflank where Price and Van Dorn were encamped, the destruction of baggage and stores was very great, showing precipitate flight. Portions of the army were immediately put in pursuit, but the results are not yet generally known. Gen. Pope is in advance, and has crossed Tennessee River. Gen. Thomas's army moved by way of Farmington, and is to-day encamped in Price and Van Dorn's late positions. It seems that it was the slow and careful approach of Gen. Halleck which caused the retreat. They would doubtless have remained had we attacked their positions without first securing our rear, but they could not stand a siege. Their position was a most commanding one and well protected. It would have cost us dear to take the place, and thousands of Northern homes would have been desolate to-day, had the enemy remained. Most who have had an opportunity of studying the whole movement, agree that the retreat of the rebels will prove nearly as disastrous to their cause as a defeat would have been, and though it appears from papers found in the deserted camp, that the rebels have depots of supplies at Okolona, Columbus and Grenada, still it seems impossible for them to long subsist a large force anywhere in the State, when once Mobile is in our possession, and the Mississippi is opened. Both of these events must happen soon. Divided into small bodies, they may trouble us for some time, but the rebel cause seems fast failing in the West and South, and this forced retreat will scarcely help their failing fortunes. The daylight of peace seems breaking through the clouds of war. As Cincinnatians are interested in those who represent her in the field, I cannot close without speaking a word in praise of our Brigade-Gene ral, R. L. McCook. The city which sent him forth may well be proud of him. Of his course as Colonel of his gallant Ninth, all are informed, and all are ready to praise. matter was looked upon as a ruse to deceive us and draw us into a snare. Whether or not any definite information as to the true condition of affairs had been received at headquarters, I am unable to state; but this I do know, that when the orders to march were received, commanders of brigades believed that the hour for a decisive and bloody battle had arrived. About half-past six in the morning, orders to As a Brigadier it has been the writer's privilege to observe him closely. There is no officer more fully competent to fill his place than Robert McCook. He labors with all his powers for the good of his command. His energy is remarkable; nothing that concerns the good of the ser-march were received, and at seven, the greater vice escapes him. He is almost continually in his saddle, and knows the country close up to the enemy's line, wherever he may be, from personal observation. He is emphatically a soldier, not through previous military education, but from good sense, and is most faithfully serving his country. He deserves well of your citizens, who, doubtless, delight to do him honor. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. H. CORINTH, May 80-Noon. The siege of Corinth, which was fairly inaugurated on the thirtieth of April, ended this morning. Despite the boast that one rebel is equal to two Yankees, the Southern generals have again declined to fight us with nearly equal numbers. Although protected by intrenchments, in commanding positions, and capable of being made next to invulnerable, Corinth has been added to the long list of strongholds which have fallen into our hands, without bloodshed, since the commencement of the present year. Manassas, Yorktown, Norfolk, Bowling Green, Nashville, Columbus, Little Rock and Corinth-all capable of a lengthened defence, yet all captured without even a show of resistance. portion of the men were outside their breastworks, cautiously feeling their way through the dense underbrush which intervened between our fortifications and the defences of Corinth, but after proceeding three eighths of a mile, they came to an open space, and the enemy's works, abandoned and desolate, burst upon their astonished gaze. The sight was entirely unexpected. The opening was made by the rebels, who had felled the timber for about three hundred yards in front of their intrenchments, for the double purpose of obstructing our progress and giving them a fair view of our column when within riflerange. The view from the highest point of the rebel works, immediately in front of Davies's, now Rosecrans's division, was truly grand. The circle of vision was at least five miles in extent, stretching from the extreme right to the extreme left, and the magnificent display of banners, the bristling of shining bayonets, and the steady step of the handsomely attired soldiers, presented a pageant which has seldom been witnessed on this continent. Upon many of the regimental ensigns were printed "Wilson's Creek," "Dug Springs," Corinth was indeed a stronghold, and its im- "Donelson," or "Shiloh," and one or two wave portance could not have been over-rated. It is all these mottoes in the breeze. Those who the key that unlocks the Cotton States, and gives passed through all these trying ordeals, unus command of almost the entire system of South-scathed, or who received honorable wounds in ern railroads, and nothing but despair could have prompted its abandonment. While there was a shadow of hope for the Confederacy, policy would have compelled the insurgents to hold the town. Unusual activity prevailed in the rebel camps last night. The cars were running constantly, and the noise, which was distinctly heard within our lines, indicated that they were very heavily laden. About three o'clock in the morning, three signal-rockets were observed to ascend from the direction of Corinth, and immediately the longroll called our forces into line, to provide against an attack, should the rebels be meditating one. At the same instant, a commotion was observed among the rebel pickets, which was construed into an advance, and a volley from end to end of the lines greeted the really retreating but supposed advancing foes. For two hours all was quiet, the men remaining in line, when suddenly an explosion, or rather quick succession of explosions, was heard in the direction of Corinth, and presently, volumes of smoke, dense and dark, arose, as if from smothered flames; but so well convinced were our soldiers that a battle would be fought here, that the whole either, in future can look back upon a life devoted to their country's service, and feel that proud satisfaction which is denied to others not less patriotic, but less fortunate. In future pageants in honor of the nation's birthday, when the last relics of former struggles have become extinct, and when these shall be bowed down with age, they will be their country's honored guests, and receive that consideration due their noble deeds. Notwithstanding the desire of the soldiers to possess themselves of relics of the retreating foe, perfect order was maintained in the lines. Your correspondent wandered around the large area lately occupied by the rebel troops, but found few trophies which were worth preserving. A broken sword and double-barrelled shot-gun were picked up after an hour's search, but these were seized by the Provost-Marshal at the Landing, and confiscated. The enemy, with the exception of the rearguard, had left with the greatest deliberation. A few worthless tents, some heavy kettles, a large number of old barrels, tin cups, and articles of this description, were the only camp equipages not taken away. There is nothing so desolate as a newly-desert |