Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1861-10-18
The Elephant at Washington.

9SA0 0PAa1ASS3t w dSAl4r GOA.
WASHINGTON, October 9Th,
DEAR SPIRIT: Thsrc-are no longer
any startling movements here to chron-
icle. The sensation. period is quite
gone by. Expectation has died of
chronic disappointment, and dull re-
hearsal supervenes the announcement
OF. the play, which would be entirely
uopotonous we're it notsso mighty.
This strange war, which has aboun-
ded in surprises, and bewildered all OBJ
servation by its cont1adistinctions, has
now assumed the strangest phase Of all;
and instead OF scene of hurrying and
belated regiments to save the Capitol
our eyes dwell upon the outlines of a
military "Elephant,'hw with which no one
sseems to know exactly what to do A
few days ago We were all rejoicing that
the fascination of our lines were para
lyziag the main force Of the Confeder-
ates; but now We behold the circum-
stance reversed, and our grand. army,
like the Gagged prophet, is solely occu-
pied in contemplating the diversions Of
The lions between US aud Manassas In
Missouri and Kentucky, the Federal
cause faints under the pressure of su-
porior numbers; at Fortress Monroe it is
tied up and overawed, and in the valley
of the Kanawha held inss cheek, by rea-
son Of the same deficiency; but here we
bake q host, mighty beyend all parallel
of9moderng warfare, enlarged six tisa es
beyond the requirements Of defense, aud
with scarcely thesprospect of battle
l do not point to this in spirit of COM
~aPlainss for. until, very recently these
numbers were all requisite; but now
that the autumn rains haze laid their
Law upon the lstrea mes, that our Gordon
of earthworks are complete, and that
tho discouraged Rebels have fallen back
towards their Capitol, We need no longer
sink our vigor in display. Forty thou
sand troops are ample, under the pres
ent condition of affairs, to the protection
of this city; aud if Richmond be not as
sailed, or Beauregard harrassed in his
retreat, our surplus may as well be
marched where they can be of service
Marching will do them good; perhaps
more good ia the direction of Manassas
than to any other quarter; but, if not in
that direction, then wherever the armies
Of the Republic are in danger Of being
overpowered It is we'll that young
General, in whom the country has the
:. highest confidence, should have splen
Z yiaidsarlny;.but lis great scandal te
Saeur dignity and power that rebellion
with its ragged liverics, should out
number as at any single point. Thirty
thousand of our excess, thrown into
Western. Virginia, might enable Il ose
Grams to intercept the Rebel communi
cations with Eastern Tennessee. Thirty
thousand lent to Kentucky might drive
the hordes of Buckner headlong from
their foothold in that tceming State
and forty thousand added to St. Louis
would only purge Missouri and Kansas
Of rebellion, but organize an expedition
for the lower Mississippi, that woult
spread CONSERVATION along the whole
line of either bank, and find its way tt
New Orleans Relieved thus of hun
dred thousand troops, for We have hare
nponsa quarter of a million here, WI
wouldhavea hundredand forty thousane
left, We could garrison our system of de
fenses, and either move forward with
hundred thousand men upon the retrea
Of Beauregard, or: If the plan were tt
pen him idly in Virginia, lend fifty
thousand for the Atlantic expeditions
aud as many more for inland penetra
ton, from a basis of operations at Hat
3sras or Fortress Monroe.
The public do not seem to realize wha
IN immense army we have here a
Washington With thirty thousanc
troops Napoleon1. began his campaign
in Italy. During period of clever
months, with, but thirty thousand rein
forcements, he fought sixty actions
crossed twelve rivers, laid all lower Itall
xt his feet, and then raised the siege o
Mantua. to meet and defeat sitxy thou
sand fresh Austrians on the plateau o
Riyoli. General Mcclellan has twt
hundred and forty thousand men on th'
banks of the Potomac! Doubtless, h,
knows how tomanage them; but we can
not close our intelligence to the fact
that this is q greater army than Napo
leon ever ventured to level at single
point, and too large, By half, to be ma
neuvred with advantage upon any 6ele
that can be found in Northern Virginia
The weight of the unWieldy mass Nigh
help to break it down, and, like the re
~fusc. portion of the swarm of Xerxes
contributed only to. embarrass its move
ments, and ,deepensits disasters. 1t il
true, that in this gigantic region, aie
Of greater number are required than fo
the narrow fields of Europe, but the Eu
ropean rule holds. good in regard t,
numbers in. a limited area. It is no
easy, therefore, to be persuaded tina
when our system of earth works on tn,
Potomac are entirely garrisoned, W,
should require more than a. hundred
thousand men for operation on this line
while Fremont and Anderson are sink
ing under vast superiority of numbers
Generals are not infallib,e; and possibl,
the spell of prestige, or the headway Q
p course, may carry US too far in one di
rection. Common sense always has it
value, and while every day explodes it
share of error, it should never hesitat
in pronouncing its opinion. The hum
s.blest citizen has as great stake in th
Government as Mr.. Lincoln; but Will
he comedies cheerfully to the lead o
the constituted powers, he may not b.
willing to. resign himself to blind ac
quiescence in every detail of their meas
ures. 3l.if <t#sr.-.
Irepeat, that this is not the lancuac,
of complaint, but rather protest gains
assumptions which have latterly beer
too rife. and which would sink individ
ual opinion and the respect due, to. tn,
great Institution of the Press teo low
.Ttgis rather early in cur new mili+ar,