Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-11-07
Our HiY-t G-rcIsf Naval ENpcditiou---Thc
McmL lnnlmlc nccmcml OF Lllc VIM.

beIliou- Confederate States having set sail
for its Destination we are at liberty TO spread
before our readers, as we do this morning, the
! elements and materials. of the land and naval
forces, of which this formidable expedition is
composed. Our copiOus and accurate details
| cover large proportion of our available space:
but we cheertully yield it to the universal and
| absorbing public interest which this important
! enterprise commands.
! Nothing TO compare with it, as a maritime
| military movement, has ever been witnessed on
| this continent. Ships-ot-war and transports, the
| squadron numbers over seventy vessels, lnclu-
/ ding many Of the very largest in our naval and
| commercial service. The naval strength Of the
! fleet is not less than five hundred guns com
| biniDg TO s great extent the heaviest cahber
I with the latest Improvements The land forces
OF the expedition, thoroughly equipped, organ
lied and disciplined for the duties Of this special
service, may be set down at about twenty
| thousand men, exclusive of large body Of la
boTers The freight of the expedition embraces
horses and cavalry equipments, intrenching and
building implements and materials field and
siege artillery, provisions, munitions and warlike
stores of all kinds suggested by the wants of a
! large military colony on hostile coast. The
naval branch of the expedition is under the di-
rectiou of Com. Samuel I. Dupont, and the land
forces are under the command of Gen. Thomas
and approved officers.
From this brief reorganization the reader may
conjecture the objects contemplated by this i'm
posing squadron. Many millions of money have
been required 10 put it afioat; but the results,
we have reason 10 anticipate, viii amply com
pensate us for these and all other expenditures
incurred in behalf OF that great and sacred
cause, the integrity of the Union We con
slider this expedition in fact, as practically mark
! ing the commencement Of the war against this
! southern rebellion Thus far our battles and
skirmishcs have been the mere preliminary
| c0nnOissances incidents and accidents of great
| campaign II they have revealed to us an enemy
| cunning and quick in all the strategems of guer-
rlla warfare. masked batteries, sudden surprises
and mysterious retreats, the net result is the un-
! doubted superiority Of the mon soldiers in
| courageous fighting and in all the other solid re-
| quircmentS Of the tented field. Otherwise, ey-
| cepting the brilliant little affair at HaueTas
Inlet, the campaign to this day has been nothing
more than a desultory border war, with no results
Of a decisive character.
This great naval expedition carries the way
into the vital parts of this rebellion. Where it
viii first strike It is hardly necessary to coniec-
ture. Among our other details upon the subject,
we give to-day a table of all the ports, bays,
harborS, inlets, sounds and esruaTieS OF our
southern coast, with their depth OF water at high
and low tide. From this table considering the
heavy ships Of the expedition, and its object OF
deadly blow or two at this rebellion, the intell-
gent reader may take his choice of one or two
from half a dozen different landing places The
naval department OF Commodore Dupont is
limited between Cape Hateras and Key West. !
Within these limits there are two southern ports
bearing the name of BeUtOrt-Onc in North and
the other in South CaT0lina-each commanding
a good depth of water, and the one or the other,
OF Charleston, or some one of the nlets OF GeOr-
gia, would constitute a desirable base of opera
tons for our army and navy, in view Of future
inland movements into the heart OF the cotton
States.
Letu5 suppose, however, that in North or
South Carolina, or Georgia, this expedition has
made a lodgment, the question arises, what VIII
be its plan corporations We presume that the /
land forces viii be put on shore at point Of !
debarilaticn suitable for "a naval rendezvous |
that General Sherman will at once proceed to I
tortiiy his position against any probable land 1
attack, and that a large proportion of the fleet /
viii stIaghtway return to Fortress Monroe for /
more troops In this way, by the first of De /
cember, Gen. Sherman may find himself at the I
head OF sixty thousand men, and he may eat his 4
Christmas dinner in the centre Of an army of /
one hundred thousand Then, changing his |
programme from occupation to invasion, he may 1
march through the heart of the cotton States to /
the Mississippi river, or coastwise with the fleet
cooperating with him, TO Charleston, to S5van- /
nah, to Mobile and to New Orleans
In either event the war VIII now be transf fer
red from the border slave States to the cotton .
States, where It properly belongs, and thus with
or without blow from Gen Mcclellan, the great
rebel army in Virginia viii soon be demoTalized .
and dispersed. Nor can there be, IN any intel
ligent mind, the shadow Of a doubt that, when
N.N o al
Virginia viii be speedily restored to the Union,
through the spontaneous reaction of her loyal
people. So with all the other border slave States.
The rebel forces Of the cotton States now hold
them in subiectiou, and when they are relieved
Of their southern invaders the reign of secession
even in Tennessee, viii be ended; for the Union
forces of the great West and OF Kentucky viii
be moving southwark with the retirement OF the
rebels
Meantime, from the last circular of Memmin-
ger, the Secretary of the Treasury Of the rebel
government, that spurious government is con-
.essedly under a financial pressure which it can
not longer sustain, while the cotton planters
are as evidently on the verge of rebellion against
IT, They demand relief; Memmnger demands
money; but how they are to get it unless they
,an sell their cotton Our blockade locks them
up; they have consumed their available re-
sources, for themselves and the rebel army in
'dS GlOtiiiIlg ana NuOeS. he winter IS uDOu
hem. What are they to do
This paval expedition viii settle the question.
It viii open one or two southern cotton ports,
md upon the test Of allegiance TO the Union, the
southern cotton planter viii be invited to bring
orWard his cotton and ship it TO England Be
ginning within the lines Of occupation OF our
southern army, shipments of cotton tins Sc
cured will soon spread a wholesome infection
throughout the cotton States, to the extent Of
decisive cOnnterrevolutiOn. We know that the
majority of the substantial people of the cotton
States were dragged headloug into this suicidal
rebellion. We aFe assured that they are anxious
y awaiting the hour of their deliyeTance, and
We believe that they have had enough Of Yancev's
Utopia of a Southern COnfedeTacy TO rise against
i with the very first encouraging opportunity.
This opportunity viii soon be made manifest
and the consequences, we apprehend, viii con-
vince even Lord PalmerstOn of the mOml and
material power OF the government of the United
States in this war for the Union. In word
from this great seaboard expedition, from our
still increasing armies in the border slave States
from the desperate financial straits of the rebel
treasury, from the terrible exactions and suffer
ngs which this rebellion has brought upon our
southern people, from the increasing signs of a
Southern UniOn reaction, and from the approach
Jf winter, with its severe necessities, there Is
very reason to hope that this great southern re.
)elion viii be utterly subdued and forever ex-
inguished by the next fourth Of March.
This viii be glory enough for President Lin
,oln's administration, and very much Of it viii
,e due to the wisdom which planned, the energy
which equipped and the skill and courage which
al expedition. We expect a national jubilee
fta n of March