The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1861-10-11
Is the Scat Of Var Transferred I

4
There is each day increasing evidence that
the partial retirement of the Confederate
forces from before Washington means transfer
OF active military operations from that part of
! ;he country to the Western States. Consistent
with this view is the announcement in the
Nashville Banner that the Confederate Congress
in secret session has passed bill for the conquest
OF Kentucky precisely similar in Its general pro-
| visions to that which was passed for the con-
quest of Missouri. Kentucky, no doubt, will
| speedily 1ecome the scene of stirring events
This opinion IS entertained by several writers
whose attention of late has been specially direc-
ted to military affairs A Louisville correSpon-
dent o! the Cincinnati Gazette asks
What means the retreatIng of Beauregard's
forces from about Washington The entire aban-
donment of many Of their best Notifications q
The secret of the matter is this: They haze
changed their plans since Kentucky has taken
her last step toOard loyalty, and she is to be the
bIoody ground-the great battlefield OF this
campaign. Her fields are 10 be red with gore
aud her streams crimson with the blood OF the
brave. There is but one way to avoid this,
and that Is 10 concentrate force sufficient here
to beat back and repel the rebel hordes of the
South, led on by unhoIy men, scheming for Of
fee and aggrandzement."
Another correspondent at Louisville writes
as follows, under date Isl inst.
''You may rest assured that the rebels intend
no light movement upon this portion of Ken
lucky. | have seen gentleman directly from
Nashville, who, though unable to give me with
certainty the enemy's numoer al Bowling Green
says it is reported at Nashville variously from
ten 20 thirty thousand. The portion of the
troops seen by him were fne looking. athletic
men, we'll equipped, and well disciplined
The movement of troops by Nashville is so we'll
guarded, that the citizens are KEEP. m compare
tive ignorance. The Louisville and Nashville
Railroad is connected with the Chattanooga
road, and arms munitions, and soldiers are NOV
ed chiefly in the night. The gentleman locked
at me with surprise when l assured him that
we were not alarmed for Louisville.'
The Louisville Democrat concurs fully 10 the
belief that the Mississippi, and not the Potomac
Is for the present 10 be the chief line OF defense.
It says -" The retreat before Washington, Ia
king all the circumstances together, he want of
forage, the necessity of winter quarters, the de-
sire to engage Kentucky III the rebellion by di-
rec; subjugatlon, and other considerations, make
it apparent, without the evidence Of letter wri-
ters that the West Is 10 be the field in the fall,
and the defence Of the Mississippi the prime OBJ
ject." Il is therefore reasonable to expect that
large transfers OF troops and munitions, from The
! Atlantic States to the West, will take place IN
the next few weeks.
| Notwithstanding all this, Gen Mcclellan, IN
| Virginia, will be none the less vlgilant; nor
will he approve OF any material reduction of his
! forces. There can be no doubt that the great
body of the Confederate army remains concen-
trated somewhere in the rear of Manassas, and
that though their plans may have essentially
varied within the last few days, the design is
still entertained OF entering Baltimore, (when
the auspicious moment shall arrive,l crossing the
Potomac under the protection of strong batter
les, and leaving Washington city in the rear
he latter being to them point OF little stIate-
gic importance. If the Confederate force in
Virginia is anything like what some have rep
resented it 10 be, 100000 men might be spared
for the West, without necessarily Involving an
abandonment of the Baltimore project and it is
quite possible Beauregard, by feigning retreat.
would like 10 entice the federal army into the
interior before the season is hopelessly gone
For these reasons, it is not likely that the atten-
ton of the authorities at Washington will be
directed to points at distance,t To the neglect oi
that part of the field nearer home.-JoUrnai OF
Commerce.