Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1862-09-17

arms. Possession of Washington Is only
desirable as the open door to invasion
and II 1t Is cffectually closed against US
by the occupation Of Arlington. we hone
that this precious season will not be con-
sumed IN picking the lock or baitering ii
down, wlnie the wall Is full of breaches
through which we may pass as well.
Reason indicates that the aim and OBJ
Ject OF the Contederacy at this stage of
the war Is, or should be a transfer of hos
tilities TO the enemy's soil. It Is in fact
matter of necessity that we should do
20. 1t Is difficult To see how an enormous
army can be subsisted in Northern Vir-
glnia during the coming winter. Every
thing that 1t consumes will have to b.
transported there from great distances. for
Ii l. now literally an army in the desert
Few who have no; visited it know the ex-
tent TO which this unfortunate portion of
The State has been reduced 10 a condition
nearly resembling that of Middle Ger
many, after the thirty wears war. The
drums and tramplingS of three conque=ts
have not produced elsewhere the rlvages
. ami waste which the struggles of the
| Southern and Northern hosts have caused
IN Piedmont, Virginia, during the past
and present summers 1t viii take enc
| hundred iUli wears 10 restore that country
TO the condition in which the war found
1t. Deserted as il is by the majority OF
/ its inhabitants, 1t IS not easily perceived
[ how the scattered remainder of It's popu-
lation hope to escape starvation during the
coming winter; and the maintenance OF
an army of one hundred and fifty thou
sand men there, dependent on Il single
track railroad, when the winter has rem
! dered the other highways impossible. will
be an experiment not less dang erous than
costly.
Even if that difficulty could be over
come, II Is evident that our army cannot
waste its time in proiractcd operations Tor
the possession OF frontier city. unless il
desires to lose the only opportunity 10
make n real approach TO the end Of the
war that we have had since the bcginnin"
of it. Such a delay would be all that the
enemy could desire; for it would give
him just the time necessary to organic
and bring up his new army of SIX hun
| dred thousand men: and while Wash
| in@ton should be neither clearly lost or
won, but prize still nj stake between
! the two countries, the difficulties of rails
ing that new army would be greatly al
| leviated
| Ii we cannot take Washington bv a
! coup de mlt,R, it must be left to take care
] OF itself. The true goals of our course
are the deIiverance of Maryland and the
/ invasion OF PENNSYLVANIA and if we
ever have an honorable treaty of peace
with the United States ii will be signed
on the cnemys territory and not on our
| soil.
War Is n game of chance. and in all
games OF chance there are unaccountable
runs of good and bad luck. In the latter
| part OF last winter and in the beginning of
! the sprin%, we had our season OF evil for
tune. Mishap succeeded mishap, loss foi-
lowed loss, and disaster pursued disaster,
IN Il melancholy series 50 long and so u;-
| broken, that the Conit,lcracv could realize
the sensations OF Macbeth, when he asked.
'.Shall thy line stretch out TO crack of
| doom :" The tables are uow turned: the
cares TOW run tine other way. The North
has now its dismal season: while the WIN
tr of our di~coatynt i turned TO glorious
summer. Splendidly victorious in Vir-
ginia, our first organized advance into
/ Kentucky l. also marked by n success even
more brilliant, though of less magnitude
The battle near Richmond. Ky. although
ten thousand only of the enemy were en-
/ gagged, Il one of the most encouraging in
cidents of the war, ifthe report which the
telegraph brings Is indeed true. that the
kentucky regiments which the enemy had
raised 10y compulsory enrolment, marched
over To the side of their compatriots to
deliver up the arms which their tyIzlntS
had forced into their hands. \ large por-
ton of the new leyics of the North are to
be drafted from the oppressed populations
of conquered Southern Siates-AIaryland,
Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. We
now know what these troops will b.
worth TO them and to us. and can indulge
the hope that they VIII organize. arm and
equip as many more rcgim"nts from those
States as the arm-bearing population will
afford. The Kentucky victory appears by
the dispatch TO have been 20 Socomplete that
we fear the details NAV weaken the I'M
preston that II leaves But ii Is at least
certain that we are victorious in Kentucky.
and that our troops are upOr their way t.
Lexington. In the West and in the East,
the smile of fortune is manifest; and the
masters of the art of war agree with Other
gamblers, that luck should be pushed
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