Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-10-15

= Tne Army az Washlaagton.
Tba vi estern press d beginning to complain
18th rood deal of imp1tienco Of the enormous
number Of troops who are collected at WASH
n oson not only Without any evident necessity,
hrt rim M Immediate prospect of employment,
and 10 the serious neglect ofimportant inter-
asss In olhar ouapters. IL 10 held 10 be Q peon-
liar hardship that regiment after regiment
should gbe brought to Washington from the
| Western States, while the Union cause IN Ken
tucky and Missouri is In such peril. II IL was
understood that these troops are speedily 70 pe
employed In Virginia, or, indeed, anywhere e,se,
the West would be reconciled 70 their ioss--Du'
they have no such consolation. The impression
seems to be general that there 10 to DO no az.
vance from the line OF the fotomac' tnae 'ns
policy Of the Government, 30 TAR as the army "
the Potomac is concerned, is to be q defensive
poliev. and that the countless hosts which dieap-
near from the public gaze the moment they
| reach washington, are designed merely for the
defense Of the capital. On this assumption,
the journals OF the West object very strenuous
HWe do not propose 10 crlticise the military
nroceedipps OF the Government. We defer
from necessity as we'll as propriety, to military
4 ernerIence and skill But no one can helI
4 seeIne that the whole country is making ter.
I rible sacrifices to swell the grand central
army of the Potomac. Kentucky and Mis-.
souri are allowed to be overrun, losing US ouI
. prestige, and inficting all the consequences
Of disastrous defeat. In addition to the whole
military strength of the New England States
with that Of New York, New Jersey, Penn
sylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, there are
probably thirty thousand Western troops II
Eastern Virginia.! These troops have no
been moved Eve miles from the places OF theiI
encampment since the battle of Bull Run
We see no indications oil their advance Inc
enemy are as stationary, apparently, as our
selves: but there is good reason for believing
. that they are taking advantage of our in
' action to lend q helping hand to theii
allies in Kentucky and Missouri, or quietly
Withdrawing the troops to garrison the Southern
J seaports. When we move forward, If we ever
do, nothing is more probable than that We shall
ind that only the shell Of their army is lett be-
hind. While they have no notion OF meeting
us In open field, aud perhaps have not strength
10 do 90. they may safely count upon our being
unable to force their lnts though guarded BY
one-half the estimated number of their forces
They may be entirely cafe in their calculations
Military authorities tell us that Washington IL
now 90 well fortified that fifty thousand men
could hold It against all the forces that the reb
els could bring against it, One man in intrench
ments is match for four assaulting him. II
go, why not leave the defense of the Capital tC
a corpsid'armee of sufficient strength and employ
the one hundred thousand that would be left 10
striking effective blows upon the Southern coasI
or the West. ...
The truth is, we seem To have our men just
in the places where they are the least needed
The results we are accomplishing, consequent
", are utterly disproportioned to the enormous
force of more than three hundred thousand men
which we have under arms. With such vast
host, we are sill acting on the defensive, and
have been steadily losing ground The rebels,
with one-fourth of the population of the loyal
States, have had, up to the present time, the
crowning military advantage OF presenting a
larger force than ourselves at every point Of con-
tact. The reason ia, that we have concentrated
the great bulk of our troops where they are appa
rently of no use. One half their number would bt
entirely adequate to purely defensive policy
while with still larger number than We have
about Washington, it might be ,iDjudicious Il
Umove on 10 Richmond" Indeed, we thinl
that the great bulk OF the Washington army
might be far better employed in other enter
prises. Ten thousand men on board fee
would be more dreaded by the rebels, an(
could do them greater harm than fifty thousand
watching Manassas; in fact, we could no
adopt policy 30 well calculated to be agreea
BILE to the rebels, as the one we are now pur
suing. Il enables them 10 keep their Who'll,
force actively and successfully employed owe
!, an area Of hundreds Of thousands Of equar
miles, while the evolutions OF our own ar
, within circle whose radius is not twent
miles. For present or imm ediate prospect
i've results, we should be Just as we'll of
) had we a hundred thousand men less unde
arms.
ri Since the affair at Bull Run, everything
has been sacrificed to the defense Of Wash
i ington. That result has been attained, An
1--we shall soon be able, We trust, to exert on
> strength In some positive blows at the grel
q | rebellion which asks nothing better than to
'ilet alone" As matter Of course, nothin
2 should be done to hazard for an hour th
safety of the Capital. But II that has bee
secured, as we believe it has been, we ma
expect the attention OF the Government to b
= directed to other quarters. We believe the
hayel already stopped the flows Of trooI
o from the Western States TO Washington
D and that henceforWard all those troop
4 may be employed in the States which hav
, most pressing need Of them. And unless put
. lie rumor is entirely at fault we may look er
: long for the repetition Of the. naval undertak
ings which made 80 good beginning at Cap
' Hstteras some weeks ago. The people hav
! nobly done their part in this campaign. The
have volunteered an immense army, and hay
: furnished slOO. 900 900 for its equipment Cor
. fidence is unshaken as to the general result :
!. The resolute heart which they have from til
, fret displayed in this trying emergency is .th
noblest thing yet evolved BY 1t. Can they no
begin to reap some reward for their patriot
ism7-N. Y. Times. FL raet.. .,.t