The Express.
London, England, 1864-05-26 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 26.

THE battle still rages in Virginia. From Tues-
day, the sth of May, until Friday, the 13th,
scarcely a day had elapsed without an engagement,
and during the same period no lees than three des-
perate battles had been fought between the con-
tending armies. The object of both oommanders
is sufficiently claw. The object of General GRANT
is to turn the right flank of General LEE, and thus
to cut him off from Richmond, whence be draws
his supplies. The object of General Liz is to
resist the assaults of General GRANT, and to com-
pel him to retreat across the Rappahannock. tip
to the present moment neither has succeeded, for
General Las still confronts his adversary, whilst I
General GRANT continues to assail the front
and flank of the Confederates. But upon the
whole it is impossible now to doubt the
advantage has been on the aide of the Fedora's.
The vigorous onslaughts made by General LER
on the army of General GRA_NT have all failed.
Even the partial success which followed the attack
on the 10th, when Lax threatened to turn GRANT's
right flank, was fruitless. For early on the morn-
ing of the 12th GRANT assumed the offensive,
turned Las's right flank, and captured 25 cannon and
3,000 prisoners. The same night Lim retreated,
and it is now said that he has creased the river
Po, andtaken up aposition somewhere to the south
of that river, and nearer Richmond. The result,
therefore, of the long series of battles, which began
on the sth and ended on the 12th, has been to
compel Ls' to retreat some twenty miles, so that
he is now within fifty miles of Richmond. It
might be supposed that after so desperate a struggle
GRANT might be obliged to desist from sheer ex-
haustion. But of this there are no signs; on the
contrary, the morning after an encounter always
finds him ready, not only to defend himself, but
to resume the attack. After the bloody battle
of the 6th, GRANT followed his retreating adver-
sary on the 7th ; and again, as soon as it was dis-
covered that Las had withdrawn after the fierce
contest of the 12th, GRANT lost no time in pushing
on two divisions to entertain the position of his
rivaL In short, GRANT has fixed his teeth in his
adversary. With sleepless tenacity he clings to him.
Nor have all the efforts of Southern skill and all
the desperate courage of the Southern chivalry
been able to shake off the sturdy Northerner, or
even to make him relax his hold.

But General Les has other dangers to guard
against besides the attacks of General GRANT in
his front. The operations against Richmond are con-
structed on a comprehensive plea, and are therefore
somewhat complicated. Besides the army under the
immediate command of Garr, one column under
SIGEL was to advance down the Shenandoah Valley
to cut off the railways connecting Richmond with the
west, and then to threaten the rear of LEE, whilst
another column, under Bunts, Simi, and GlL-
mom, was to oper►te on the south side of the
James River, and, if possible, to cut Richmond off
from the Southern States. These two columns
were absolutely separated from each other, and
were therefore liable to be crushed in detail, or
at all eventa, unless they were commanded by men
of skill and prudence, they might fail to 11C2OTC-
plish their object. According to the latest accounts
they have both proved a success. Sion has already
struck the junction of the railways which connect
Lynchburg with Gordonsville and with Richmond ;
so that LEE's communications with Western Virginia
&recut off ; and, indeed, unless something is done to
arrest Slow. he may e►en threaten LEE's retreat
to Richmond. At the same time Bcrixii has
landed his troops on both aides of the mouth of the
Appomatox, has penetrated to the rear of Petets-
burgh, has cut off BRALILEGAILD from Richmond,
and BVTLER'S last despatch is dated on the after•
noon of the 12th of May from Chester railway
station, on the Richmond and Petersburgh Rail-
way, about ten miles from the Virginian
capital. The question now is, whether General
LEE will feel himself justified in remaining fifty
miles north of Richmond, with SKIRL on
his left flank and rear, a body of cavalry
on his right flank, and a considerable
army under such officers as "BsLov," SMITH and
GILMORE on his only line of communication with
the Carolina' and Georgia. Whilst on the one
hand Gasur is said to be still receiving rein-
forcements from Washington, and is certain to
receive with each succeeding day more aid and
co-operation from the troops of SIGEL and Brrus,
LEE, on the other hand, has already collected
every man within his reach, and will therefore
experience greater difficulties in resisting the
attacks of the adversary in his front.

Before the campaign opened it was confidently
anticipated that General Gstirr would display a
military skill and moral power which have hitherto
been unknown in the North. The first fortnight
has amply verified the prediction, and justified
the large powers conferred upon the present Com-
mander-in-chief. The army of the Potomac never
fought so well, and already those who scoffed at the
so-called mercenaries of the North have been com-
pelled to acknowledge that they fight with a de-
termined courage equal to that of their adversa-
ries. It is absurd to suppose that the material
of which the army under GRANT is composed
differs from that of which it was composed
under MTLELLAN, BrENMIDE, and HOOLZIL
On the contrary, the probability is that there are
more Irishmen and Germans now in the ranks
than there were originally. But the truth is, that
neither now nor at any former time has the ma-
jority of the American armies consisted of
raw emigrants. The best families in the
North have sent their sons to the wsx,