by John Beauchamp Jones
JULY 30TH. —Clear and hot.
Dispatches from Bragg, atMontgomery, .of yesterday, give no accounts of more fighting, although the press dispatches, etc. did mention four of our generals who have been wounded.
There is a revival of murmurs against the President. He will persist in keeping Bragg in command, that is “of the armies in the field,” though he does not lead any of them, and Gen. Pemberton really has command of all the batteries defendingRichmond. The raiders are cutting theGeorgia andAlabama Road since Bragg went South, and we have lost four pieces of artillery near this city a few days ago. ILL LUCK is indefensible!
To-day the enemy sprung a mine atPetersburg, but were repulsed in the attempt to rush in. This is all we know of it yet. Again it is rumored that the major parts of both armies are on this side of the river. This I believe, and I think that unless there be a battle immediately, Grant’s intention is to abandon the “siege” ofRichmond at the earliest practicable moment.
The local troops are back again. The President directed the Secretary of War to inform Gen. Ewell that he misapprehended the character of these troops. They were only for special and temporary service, having also civil duties to perform, and desired them to be sent back in twenty-four, or at most, forty-eight hours. Gen. E. writes that he will employ them exclusively hereafter in the city fortifications, and only in times of extreme peril. And he says there was peril on Thursday, the enemy’s cavalry being between our infantry and the city, and it will not do to rely always on his want of enterprise.
