, 1861-07-02
Where VIII tho Farat Blow Fall.

Where VI Ill the FlrAt Blow Fall.
The military editor of the New York TINES
thinks that jeff Davis has abandoned tho Idea
Of taking Washington, as he has given up bis
intention Of invading Pennsytvania via Har-
per's ferry: What, he asks, would Washing
ton be worth, if attacked? It has no value Is
. military post. Il could not be held against
the Northern armies that would 20 in frfesfst-
lble force to It's rescue. Washington Is not a
point to fight for, nor to hold If captured; but
It's capture not being possible even, JEFF Davis
and the advance Of Its plckets, pressed On to
within sight Of Alexandria and Arlington,
only proves that the main force Is retiring to
another field. We shall probably hear ofthem
next investing Fortress Monroe and attempt
Ing to carry that point BY O storm; ;Euch as will,
have no parallel In modern history, save the
FURIOUS onset before which Malakoff and R.dan
yielded to the powers Of France and England,
The reasons for believing that snch ia now
the deliberate PURPOSE Of the Confederate
leaders, are numerous. This Is Virginia's
chosen plan of the campaign; and Virginia
now rules the Confederate counsels. Gov.
Wise, who 10 the representative man OF Vir-
Monroe to be the one thing needfu1 and abso.
1nte1y vital for Southern indeoendeuce. In
the State Convention, he declared the loss Of
ten thousand lives (which he deemed q res
senable cost Of the undertaking. cheap price
Of It's capture.
Fortress Monroe Is built upon the extreme
point Of a peninsula that lies between James
and York rivers !, and at Yorktown, which is
also on it, about twenty miles west Of For
hess Monroe, the peninsula is extremely mar
row, ard Il well fortified, no force could pass
to the relief Of the fort il invested below.
We think 1t is the purpose OF JEFF Davis, hay
ing well secured this ctM de sac at Yorktown,
IN $h1-s1<I -F n
su}a, leaving 25, 600 to cover Richmond. and
proceed By way Of Great Bethel to an Assault
On Fort Monroe.
There are numerous routes Of access to thia
theater Of operatfons-one by Weldon m. c., J
connecting With all the South, to Portsmouth;
another by railroad from Richmond, Va. to
Norfolk; another By railroad to City Point, on
York River, and thence down TINT stream to
Yorktown; !; and another still, by James River
from Richmond. At no other point Of attack
could the Confederate States Converge their
forces with such rapldity as at Fort Monroe
q post which fs cut sf from all communion
tion with the United States Government by
land.
Most Of the heavy siege cannon of the Con
federated are at Gosport Navy Yard, and could
with comparative ease be brought into action
agairst Fort Monroe. The war vessels Of the
United States, through which suceor might
be afforded to the besfeged fortress, will soon
0t IetIlpult4 alUuE lnt Cudad VI LIE 1uuIltIu
States, plockading ports too remote to be re.
called in time to repel vigorous siege,
What is 1t, then, with the Confedcrates but q
question, how many lives to fling away in
the siege, assault and capture Of Fort Mon.
roe? And when captured, what Is 1t to the
Confederate States? The key that unlocke
the prison of Virginia that looses Maryland
frcm bonds !; that puts Richmond and Balti.
more in communication, and transfers Dayis'e
headquarters to Baltimore perhaps, and traps
Washington By fanking It; that unites The
waters Of the Potomac, The James, the York
and the Rappahannock rivers with those oi
the Chesapeake Bay, and lifts the Confederate
flag over the whole Of them that secures. il
temperate zone, the best harbor On the At
lantie coast as a depot for cotton, and as q
tempting prize to hold ont to Free Trade
England and France, as their reward for break
ing up the blockade and establishing perpetua
free commerce with the populations Of the
States Of America To Vfrginians will be pre-
sented the Idea in this assault that It ia tor th,
defence OF their own soil, for the possession
of their OWL renowned fortress, for the secur
ing to their own State Of the scat OF futnr,
Southern commerce, that their blood mus
be poured out like water. And II it ever flows
it will flow there.
These are our reasons for the opinion ri
have advanced. The Government cannot b.
too vigilant In looking to Fortress Monroe
or too lavish in providing means for its de
fence