The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1861-10-19

DEAR SPRIr:-There are no longer any very
startling movements here to chrcnicle. o. The
sensation period is quite gone by. Expectatien
has died OF chronic disappointment, and dull
rehearsal supervenes the announcement Of the
play, which would be entirely monotonous were
it not so mighty. o. t7i'ra're aTta o.
This strange war. which has abounded in sur
prises, aud bewildered all observation by it,
contradistinctions has now assumed the strang-
est phase of all and instead of . scene Of
hurrying and belsted regiments to save the 2
Capitol, our eyes dwell upon the outlines of o
military Elephant" with which NO one seems
to know exactly what to do.
A few days ago we were all rejoicing that the
fascination of our lines we're paralyzing the main
the circumstances reversed, and our grand ar
my, like the'caged prophet is solely occupied
in contemplating the diversions Of the lions be.
tween US and Manassas f 7s-7r a -0ia=
In Missouri and Kentucky, the Federal cause
faints under the pressure of superior numbers
at Fortress Monroe it is tied up and overawed,
and in the valley of the Kanawha held in check
by reason Of the same deficiency; bu: here We
have host, mighty beyond ell parallel of mo-
dern warfare, enlarged six times beyond the
requirements Of defence, and with scarcely the
prospect of a battle. l do not point to this in
spirit of complaint, for until very recently
these numbers were all rsquEite; but now that
the autumn rains have laid their law upon the
streams, that our Gordon Of earthWorks are CON-
plete, and that the discouraged rebels have fall
len back towards their capitol, we need no lon
ger sink our vigor in display. Forty thousand
troops are ample, under the present condition
OF affairs to the protection of this city; and II
Richmond be not sssailed, or Besuregard hsr-
rassed in his retreat, our surplus may as well be
marched where they can be of service. March,
ing will do them good; perhaps more good in
the dire ction of Manassas than to any other
quarter; but, If not in that direction, then to
wherever the armies of the Republic are in dam
ger of being overpowered. It is well that
young General, in whom the country has the
highest confidence, should have splendid ar.
my; but it is great scandal to our dignity and
power that rebellion, with its ragged liveries,
should out number US at any single point
Thirty thousand of our excess, thrown into
Western Virginia, might enable Rosencrsns to
intercept the rebel communications with East
ern Tennessee Thirty thousand lent to Ken
lucky might drive the hordes of Bruckner head
long from their foothold in that teeming State,
and forty thousand added to st. Louis, would
not only purge Missouri and Kansas of rebel
lion, but organize an expedition for the Lower
Mississippi, that would spread CONSERVATION
along the whole line of either bank, and And its
way to New Orleans. Relieved thus of hum
dred thousand troops, for we have hard upon .
quarter Of million here, we would have hun
drcd and forty thousand left, we could garrison
our system of defences, and either move forward
with hundred thousand men upon the retreat
of Beauregard, or, if the plan were to pen him
idly in Virginia, lend fifty thousand for the At.
lantic expeditions, and as many more for inland
penetration, from basis Of operations at Hat.
teras or Fortress Monroe.
The public do not seem to realize what an
immense army we have here at Washington.-
With thirty thousand troops, Napoleon L. began
his campaign in Italy. During period of ele-
ven months, with but thirty thousand reinforce
ments, he fought sixty actions, crossed twelve
rivers, laid all lower Italy at his feet, and then
raised the siege at Mantua, to meet and defeat
sixty thousand fresh AustIians or the plateau of
Rivoli. General Mcclellan has two hundred and
forty thousand men on the banks of the Poto-
mac Doubtless, he knows how to manage
them but we cannot close our intelligence to
the fact, that this is greater army than Napo-
leon ever ventured to level ct q single point,
and too large, by half, to be unanswered with
advantage upon any field that can be found in
Northern Virginia. The weight of the unwiel-
dy mass might help to break it down. and, like
| the refuse portion of the swarm of Xerxes, con-
| tribute only to embarrass its movements, and
deepen its disasters. 1t is true, that in all this
| gigantic region, armies of greater number are
| required than for the narrow felds of Europe,
but the European rule holds good in regard to
numbers in limited area. It is not easy there
fore, to be persuaded that when our system Of
earthworks on the Potomac are entirely garri-
soned, we would require more than hundred
thousand men for operations on this line, while
Fremont and Anderson are sinking under vast
superiority of numbers. Generals are not in
failiblei; and possibly the spell of prestige, or
| the headwAy OF q course NAV carry US too far in
one direction. Common sense always has its
value, and while every day explodes its share Of
error, it should never hesitate in pronouncing
its opinion. The humblest citizen has a. grest
q stake in the Government as Mr.. Lincoln but
while he comedies cheerfully to the lead Of the
constituted powers, he may not be willing to
resign himself to blind acquiescence in every
detail of their measures