The battle of Southwest Mountain.
We believe that the public is disposed to attach much less importance to this engagement than its magnitude really deserves. In every particular it was a sanguinary and desperate struggle, and resulted in a complete and decisive victory for our arms. Our forces engaged amounted to about eight thousand, whilst those of the enemy could not have been less than fifteen thousand. Our loss was near six hundred killed, wounded, and missing, that of the enemy little, if any, less than two thousand. We captured five hundred prisoners, over fifteen hundred stand of arms, two splendid Napoleon guns, twelve wagon loads of ammunition, several wagon loads of new and excellent clothing, and drove the enemy two miles beyond the field of battle, which we held for two days and nights. All our dead were carefully buried, and our wounded secured and attended to.On the morning after the fight our artillery shelled the woods in which the enemy had taken refuge, but there was no response to our guns. Having attended to our own dead and wounded, and also cared for the wounded of the foe, opportunity was given them to bury their dead, which they did in full view of our lines. The number of their dead must have been large, as several hours were occupied in their burial and removal from the field. Gen. Jackson was all the while in the thickest of the fight, and was within a few paces of Gen. Winder when that officer received his fatal shot.
The report that Colonel Garnett, commanding the 21 brigade, was killed in the engagement, is erroneous. We learn from Captain Turner, who saw them afterwards, that his wound was slight, not sufficiently serious to cause him any great inconvenience.
Corporal Lindsay, of company F, was shot through the head with a pistol by a Yankee officer, but the act was immediately avenged by Lindsay's comrades, who thrust their bayonets into the Yankee, killing him on the spot.
It is stated that the Orange and Alexandria railroad is in operation from Alexandria to Culpeper Court-House, and that Pope has been receiving heavy reinforcements over this route.
The exact locality of the fight is said to have been on the plantation of the Rev. D. F. Slaughter near Mitchell's Station, in Culpeper county.
The enemy carried off most of their dead and wounded, though a number of the latter were left on the field, and fell into our hands, but were subsequently paroled and sent to the enemy's lines under a flag of truce.
Among the casualties not heretofore reported are the following: Capt. Wilson, A. A. Gen'l, Ewell's division, wounded; Col. Price, 14th Georgia, do.
Everything continued quiet in the neighborhood of Gordonsville yesterday. There has been no engagement since the battle of Saturday night, though the movements of the opposing armies lead to the belief that another collision is near at hand.
