Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-08-29

From The St. Lofts kepu9AeAni ausw'
No one, We presume, who has attentive l9l
lowed the events Of the last lew weeks ia w
oinia. and become accurately informed as 70 ne
sy;ticaI s~itaation of cur military affairs, VIII be
astonished to hsaT Of the r~etTeatof General rope
iron, his advanced position on the Rapidan llyer
Tbe knowledge on tae par Of the Coniederates
t.as whatever they DO to prevent ths utter crush
80 ont III their rebellion must be done quickly
bas-sonewhat saydily, as it appears = Us
brought them to what is called me defensive
offensive policy, aud they have lately been mass
mo : tremendous force on the Virginia Centra4
ra5r5ad to hurl against inferior numbers With
~ ~ ~ destroying them IN detail. It was
nrudens on tia part Of General Pope TO prevent
+ noss;bls tue execution Of such q plan; aad
eba1gh lie selection of lines Of retreat is not z
"vo-ta study with that officer, there were potent
-s.sons in tIis case 70 indulge in retrospect and
s,rvsv the ground be had taken in his forward
march me evacuation Of Harrson's Landing
and the raising Of the peninsula siege ~
Mcclellan, left JEFF Davis and 6eaersl Lee AZ
Gbertv IN throw their whole Richmond army, i
.Ssry +, the direction Of G0rdonsyille and
Cal0eper, If by that means Popes corps eoula
oe attacked before forming q junction with the
army of the Poloraae. This is the whole eK-
nlenstion of the rstrograde m0YeneHt Of our
forces.
the President and the military authorities AZ
Washington, that General Pope would De abe
to march into Richmond while Mcclellan was
engaging the rebels on the Southi though TINS
theory was fippantly set forth, We Tememosf,
when General p. took the field. Incur view the
sola object of Pope's expedition was accom-
plished By threatening Gordonsville, dIYeTtlng q
large part Of the Confederate army, aud pre-
venting. by skillful maneuvers, a repetition OF
StopewaU Jacksen's raid up the Valley OF the
Shenandoah. So far, it was a success. An N
terror line Of operations was adopted II exchange
for that exterior one which had proved 50 Unpro-
| duetive IN the earlier days of the campaign, ana
instead of making an objective point Of SlsuhtOn
M the Shenandoah, GOrdonsvlue was s~eleet91s
on the line Of the Orange and Alexandra rsh-
road. The enemy was alarmed at tins ehanGe
of programme, aud was compelled to weaken
his force st Richmond TO protect the virginia
| Central, and this measure YVES OF infinite reheI
to Mcclellan, who had been SO pressed and con
fined on the banks Of the James river thatH was
next TO impossible to either advance or retreat
Since the advance Of Gen. Pope, therefore, he
and Mcclellan have mutually aided enc another
though at a considerable distance apart. Ne
Clellan having Lett tie Peninsula, General Fope
could do him no further good by threatsniDg the
rebel railroad communications, whilst BY re-
naming in proximity TO the Virginia Central, be
impeuled his own corps to "a Overwhelming and
disastrous attack. What then must he DO
| Obviously retreat ana form a junction with Me
| Clellan's divisions, so that a united front could
be presented to tue enemy.
The htta{utia stuff sent to US by telegraph
from the correspondence OF the New York Ia
June, has a dOleful twaug 20 il that the tscts, IA
our opinion, do not justify. The writer evidently
saw no further aud thought no further than the
army of Virginia, and could not comprehend
/ 1t o., .f-a,h n4aruf fndanH from his 40
count, there was not even s whisper Of an ad-
vance by the enemy until Pope's corps had taken
up the march. That the enemy was eomtngi we
DO not dOubt-that he wOuld have Oyerpowered
General Pope IS quite possible but perhaps j
the correspondent had knoWh the whole pro
grarame, ne would have discoursed more cheer
fully.
AT this writing We have nothing leter from
Virginiathsu appearsIn our afternoon dispatches
We DO not consider the report Of a junction oil
McCleilan's, B0rHsidsB and Pope's forces al
AeqUia Geek as a. al reliabls. Mcclellan in-
deed, may have arrived at that point, aud his
troops be now ca thB way to Fredericksburg
fifteen miles distant. This muchi is highly prob
able, and may be. in the absence OF direct ini0r-
nation TO the contrary, assumed to be true
Though g few days ago il was reported on the
authori = Of a dispatch to tae Boston JOarRGt
that General Burnside was then 1t Culpepsr,
We have seen nothing slDce 70 convince u5 tnai
he is not now ST fredericksburg.
But as to Pope having reached Acqaia creek,
" even Fredericksburg, that does not seem
trustworthy. He may, however, have reached
within cooperating distance, and we hope this is
true. He has certainly crossed the Bappahan.
mock, though twenty OF thirty miles above Fred
ericksburr, and may, we think, be considered
safe. From the Rapidan to Cuspeper, the dis
tsncs is elevan miles, and it is the sane FROM
CuIpeper 70 NOrmsn's ferry on tins RIPARIAN
mock. From this ferry, or the railroad bri5gs. tc
Fredericksburg, the distance by the common
r0sd is about thirty miles.
The rebels have been too sloE. They have
let their opportunities, slip b. unimproVed, and
we think 1t win now 3 found Too late to strike
Our uaitei army is s6ong enough to defy thu
enemy, to whip him aud dispsrse his columns
Everything now begins to lock cheering, ans
5000 wo snail hear OF On Irresistible and ailcon
queriug advance upon the Confeds7ate capital
Before the end Of the year the rebellion viii b,
wiped cut completely, or the signs deceive ui
nightly.