The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-05-01
The Immediate Seat Of War q md
the General Field.

NJ AhRn III w uhtc seat Oh war u nk9N
the General Field.
Washington is safe. Fourteen thousand
troops, with large proportion Of artillery,
are now there to defend it, and ten thous-
and more are within twenty four hours oi
the city by land and sea. Our telegraphic
and railway communications between the
northern border Of Maryland and Baltimore
being cut of, our chances Of news are re
duced to the lucky passenger or courier who
has succeeded or may succeed in running the
gauntlet Of the rebels. Terrorism reigns in
Baltimore, and its insurgents threaten an as.
sault upon Fort McHenry; but as the for,
is within easy range, and as is black muz.
zled bull dogs have poked out their ugly
noses to look upon the town, the besiegers
we think, will keep their distance. Better
,till, the garrison has been reinforced. and
the fort may therefore be considered secure.
Thousands of men, of all arms, are pouring
down by the Harrisburg road for the occu-
The bay route for steam vessels, from Hav.
re de Grace to Annapolis and to Washington,
we doubt not, is under the protec-
tion Of q sufficient military force to keep it
open. Maryland is still ia The Union, and
and within very few days, from the pres
ence of an overpowering force inside of her
borders and on every side Of her disosderly
commercial capital we hope for reaction
against the miserable mob of ruffians which
have usurped the control Of the State. She
must stand by the Union as go,d child, or
she will be soundly thrashed into submission
as bad one. This is as true as that the
sun will rise tomorrow morning; and we
npSrehond that this alternative ofrepentance
or terrible punishment will apA,y 70 all tha
seeded States.
Virginia. next to Maryland, will be sIb-
jected to this test She h,s seeded. and
hence she will probably risk the breaking Of
every bone in her body. If so, we fear that
every bone in her body will be broken, in
Guiding her back bone Of slavery. Twelve
hundred men are in Fortress Monroe. which
commands the passage to Norfolk and Rich
mond. At her Richmond foundries some of
the heavy cannon which bombarded Fort
Sumter were cast. Those foundries are in
danger. The Government is bous7d to look
after them and in ten days one hundred
Thousand Union men can be mustered to
hook into them. There viii, we suspect, be
a fearfOl shaking among the dry bones Of old
Virginia before the first frost In waking
up to rebellion she will surely be 'shaken as
q fig tree by an untimeE wind"
South Carolina, executing blockade, win
be allowed little rest after her late arduous
labors. The Confederate State" troops in
front of Fort Pickens will most likely be re.
duced to alligator beef before they gain vic.
tory in that quarter. The piratical steamer
hobbing in and out Of the Mississippi river
is hardly worth insuring. We predict the
re-oeaupation Of Texas by the United States
troops within short time; and the possible
descent Of Western ffotilla down the Mis-
sissippi may require all the revolutionists Of
Mississippi and Louisiana 10 prevent the re
occupation of the United States Mint at New
Orleans by its rightfuI owners.
We call upon the loyal people Of Missouri
to stand fast by the Union, and thus save
their State from shock which, if invited,
win put her back for twenty years; and our
confidence is strong in the great majority of
her anti-secession population. Kentucky,
we trust, is safe. With her northern border
line Of the Ohio river resting for FIVE humid
red mics and more upon the free States of
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, she cannot decide
upon secession without risking the total loss
of her slaves in single month. ,...aa
Thus blockaded on the seaboard, invested
on the west and invaded from the North,
short Of provisions, and with four millions of
slaves to take care Of, the revolted States, in
choosing to right their grievances by war,
are in desperate situation The first grand
project Of their campaign has failed; the
campaign opens auspiciously for the Onion
cause. The great North is thoroughly arous-
ed. New York city alone is ready to swell
her volunteers 10 fifty thousand men. The
day is not far off when the Union men Of
the revoltec States will be asked to come to
the relief of their misguided brethren, for
otherwise the war which they have chosen
to secure their institution of slavery may re-
suit in wiping it out Of existence. .-Ne,c York
Herald, April 23d.