New-York daily tribune., 1861-08-17

Nh Nnich OOos bot oAir' ia W."
f,or' ."""' Of the army are young men fresh
of ro.''. INV a boiling over with all the enthusiasm
.,eh, others are genuine OF decayed gen
,,emep; the first anxious to give gooo '0'"u"'
os themselves, the others rejoicing over an oeca'
,;o,, =, retrieve their reputation; the brei-less
LAWYERS, patient less doctors, consttaency''es'
no,;ticians, the acre-less planters, VINO make Up
the een;eel society of the South' conS'i'uto
another large proportion OF me army ""'
,hoss men. who for years have been orp ling in
the uot. houses of Richmond I'd Washington,
have now an occupation nost congenial to their
6shting proclivities, Add TO these the loafers,
paupers, and vagabonds of the South, and the
miscellaneous rabble which makes up the plebeian
population of Dixie's land, and you have glimpse
of the elements Of our opponents. Some OF the
priyates, however, in the South, as in the North,
are men of wealth and high social position,
while those who belong to the less sristocratic
classes bring the same indyidualism to the battle
field. Every one seems anxious to repei the
Yankee upon his own hook, and to kill as many
of the enemy as possible.
All this gives to the army guerrilla charac-
ter and the commanders, fully understanding the
element with which they have to deal, shrewdly
pander to this indiyidualsm, aud the relation
between the officers and the prNates is more
that of friends, all bent on one and the same
purpose, than Of superiOrs and subaltern', though
| the officers belong almost exclusively to the
| higher classes, and are surrounded with the
prestige lowering in the South round the "gentie-
men," Beauregard, more than any other South
ern general. seems TO excel in the handling of
| these peculiar elements of Southern troops; a
dashipg little Creole, standing thoroughly upon
his dignity with strangers aud equals, he has the
knack of ingratisting himself with the soldiers
by the mingled simplicity naturalness, and im'
petuosity of his manner. He impresses one
rather as o soldier of action and sagacity, than
of great and comprehensive mind; as man OF
| thought and intellect he seems to be inferior to
| Johnston, but he blends Southern fire with North.
ern smartDess; his features are mobile; his eye
sparklng; his motions denote restless activity,
while his cOuntenance indicates steady comPosure.
lie has the GOODNESS Of Yankee, and the uipul-
sveness of a Creole, and looks like cross be-
| tween the two. He was lucky at Sumter and
lucky at Bull Run. lie has the advantage Of
this prestige of success and the little man is the
idol of the soldiers and the hero of the South.
| The Southern army is in many instances bare
footed and llclothed aud il-proyisoned; it lacks
powder and money and means of transportstioni
| but it derives strength from the element which
| have described; and if we take into cOnsidera-
ton that the Southron has military nature (the
! children handle horses and firearms from their
infa1cy), while the NOrtherner has rather indus
trious instincts, the North must come to the con.
clusiOn that it has to overpower an enemy who
may he it's inferior in all that makes up the
higher issues of civilization, but who is fonn-
dable in all the brutal and murderou, features Of
the present cOntest.
| Having delineated some Of the elements Of
| strength Of the Rebels, / will now refer TO
| some of their elements Of weakness. The
blockade, in cutting off many Of their sup
plies, constitutes one OF these elements Next
in Importance must be mentioned the comparative
dcfenselessness of South and North Carolina
Georgia Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana
most of the available troops of these States
having been sent to Virginia, Tennessee, and
Missouri. Capt. Delong, a brother-in-lsw
Of Beauregard, has Just left for Tennessee,
and the necessity for needed reinforcement to
| that State, as well as ~ Missouri and Western
| Virginia, will diminish the forces in the above
named States from day to day, as the new regi-
meDts raised or raising will be required for
Richmond, Manassas, and along the Potomac,
several regiments having been sent within the
| last few days 10 increase the forces opposite
Eastern Maryland, with view either Of effect
| ing crossing into that State or Of preventing
the National army from reaching Manassas
through the Potomac. Artillery has also been
| seut to the Potomac, 10 Acquia Creek aud
other points, and more will be sent from day to
day.
At Acquia Greek, where Capt. Lynch Of
Dead Sea fame, s commander there are two
batteries, supported by two regiments; several
other regiments are within few miles distance
on the way to Fredericksburg; aud troops and
batteries are on other parts of the river; Ten
nessee regiment, under Col. Bate, near Evans
port, an important point, where the rebels pay a
large salary to q man--the son of Evans after
whom the point, consisting only Of his house, is
called-for the purpose of crossing over with
boats, the river being small there and the cross
ing effected in 70 minutes. The garrisonng Of
all these Virginia and Maryland points will soon
absorb considerable number Of troops. Frede.
ricksburg, within an hours ride by railway from
Acqua Greek, and corresponding by rail with
Manassas and Richmond, is defenseless The
weakness. of the South in future will be in
A.