October 22.—Flag-officer Craven, of the Potomac flotilla, arrived at Washington, and reported the Potomac River effectually closed, rebel batteries commanding it at every point below Alexandria.
—A letter from Richmond, of this date, says: Bad news from the forces under General Lee at Big Sewall Mountain. A gentleman of this city, occupying a high position in the Government, has just reached Richmond from General Lee’s head-quarters. The enemy, under Rosecrans, was in full retreat toward the Ohio, but pursuit was impossible. The roads were in the most awful condition. Dead horses and mules that had perished in their tracks, broken wagons, and abandoned stores, lined the road to Lewisbnrg. There was no such thing as getting a team or wagon through uninjured. The road beyond Big Sewall was if any thing worse than on this side of it. To be sure, the difficulties were quite as great—perhaps even greater—for the Yankees, in their flight, as for our troops in pursuing them. But General Lee was entirely out of provision, and had not the wherewith to cook the next meal for himself or to serve the next ration to his soldiers. The General was not in the best health, and it may well be imagined, not in the best spirits. The splendid horse that was presented to him just before he left this city had been lamed in two legs, and was unfit for service. It will be absolutely necessary for General Lee to abandon hi position in a very short time as uninhabitable for his army, and go into winter-quarters. Where this will be—whether in the Kanawha Valley or on the line of the Central Railroad— is uncertain, but much depends on the choice as to the footing the Yankees will have in Western Virginia next spring.
