The very latest.
Our latest dates from the North are from papers of the 21st. The army correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer, writing from Falmouth, says:‘ The Federal army, under the immediate command of Gen. Sumner, arrived within a mile of this place about noon yesterday, having made the march from Warrenton, some forty miles, in two days and half. This may be set down as very good marching, as the corps was encumbered with a very heavy train of baggage wagons.
’
The rebels Betray their Whereabouts by firing on each other.
Shortly after the army got in motion, yesterday morning, cannonading was heard some four miles in our advance. No one seemed to understand it as we had no forces in the direction of the sound.--Parties were sent ahead to ascertain what it meant, when it was ascertained that a body of the enemy had crossed the Rappahannock as a reconnoitering party, and while marching down towards Falmouth, the rebels opened on them, causing some considerable consternation in their ranks. About a dozen rounds were fired before it was ascertained that they were firing ‘"on our own troops"’The fact of the rebels firing on their own troops proved to us that they had one or more batteries planted on the opposite shore, for the purpose of sweeping the road as we advanced. Gens. Sumner and Couch soon came to a conclusion that these batteries must be at once silenced, so that we might have free access along the river road.
Col. Zook's brigade after them.
The 57th New York, Lieut. Col. Chapman, and the 53d Pennsylvania, Col. Brooks, advanced as skirmishers along the Falmouth road until within a mile of the town. The two regiments were followed by the remainder of the brigade to which they belong, consisting of the 2d Delaware, Col. Bailey; 66th New York, Col. Pinckney, and the 52d New York, Col. Frank--the whole brigade commanded by Col. Zook, of the 57th New York.--Capt Pettit's battery, the 1st New York Artillery, and Owens's and Tompkins's two Rhode Island batteries followed.
Capt. Pettit's battery Opens the Ball.
Capt. Pettit's battery was at once placed upon a high hill, with Zook's brigade directly in the rear, completely covered by the natural position of the hill. At about half past 3 the first gun was sighted and brought to bear upon the enemy, which at once brought on a rejoinder. The first shot from the rebels bursted directly over our battery.In its leading editorial the Inquirer says:
‘ Great credit is given to Burnside for his masterly evacuation of Warrenton, and removal of his troops southward and eastward on the high road to Richmond, strongly occupying Fredericksburg as a point of the new base.
Nothing that can be now seen or foreseen seems able to interfere with a continued advance, which we hope from day to day to report. The rebel tactics seem to have been rivalled by our own movements; for it is asserted that, while the advance of our army is nearer Richmond than the main body of Lee's troops, Sigel is nearer to Burnside than Jackson is to Lee. If such is the case, why cannot the Union General fall upon Lee at once, before Jackson could join him, and crush him with numbers?
But the details of our present movements are unknown, and it would be but speculation to expect certain actions and certain results of our troops at this juncture; only let them go and action will speedily come to meet them.
Meanwhile the movement is still forward; the warm rains do not impede our advance, while they make the Potomac impassable to Jackson, or render his threats entirely impotent. The headquarters of Burnside are constantly advancing, and the army corps are rendezvousing at Fredericksburg, preparatory to a movement still further South, even to Richmond, for by the latest accounts Lee seems to have taken the alarm, and is pressing hastily to the Capital.
’
Falling back.
Under this head, the Philadelphia Inquirer, of the 20th, has the following:‘ This seems to be the order of the day in rebeldom. They are steadily falling back in Virginia, before our columns; and by the very act they fix upon themselves the stigma of falsehood for having claimed, and for still continuing to claim, successes in Maryland. It is rumored, also, that Jackson is falling back to join Lee, and that both are making haste to cover Richmond.
In Mississippi they are falling back before Grant; and Holly Springs, where they were to make a stand, has been given up, that they may find a ditch still further back, even South of the Tallahatchie river. Recent events in that section have proved to them that ‘"discretion is the better part of valor."’
In Tennessee they are retiring before the dreaded Rosecrans; Nashville is like sour grapes beyond their reach. Southwest of New Orleans in the Bayon country, they are beaten and scattered by Weitzel.
In Charleston and Savannah deserters and contrabands inform us the people who can are removing, and all the valuable movable property is being carried away, because they are daily expecting an attack on both places by land and sea.
What a contrast to the condition of things only a few months since ! How much is there to cheer and incite us. Louisville and Cincinnati threatened; Maryland invaded; Pennsylvania flying, at the aspect of most unexpected danger, to the rescue of the frontier; Nashville surrounded; Corinth besieged; on every hand the rebels were advancing, their creates were erect, their hopes beat high. But now the tide has turned, and they retire discomfited at every point. The tide in their affairs did not lead to fortune, and they are now on a rapidly increasing ebb.
’ In its news from the South the Inquirer has the following dispatch:
Cairo, Nov. 20.--A letter from Corinth says that John Porter, of the 21st Ohio, and Williams, of the 23d Ohio, arrived there from Atlanta, Ga. They belonged to a party of twenty-five men sent out by Gen. Mitchell last summer, and were captured by the rebels. They make the following statement: Captain Andrews, George D. Wilson, Marion Ross, P. G. Shaddock, and Wm. Campbell, of the 2d Ohio, and Wouldgin Scott, of the 1st Ohio, and Samuel Slaver, of the 23d Ohio, were tried at Knoxville and hung at Atlanta, June 18th. The others remained in prison until twenty-two days since, when they broke jail, but as they scattered as soon as they got out, it was impossible to tell what became of them.
M'Clellan at New York.
