, 1862-09-16

former was the sequel and necessary corol1ary |
Of the future Of the Inter; and that but for !
dan, the army Of the Potomac could not hlVe |
made good its retreat from H:rrison's Laud- |
ing. Shall We not have Court Of Inquiry to !
ret at the truth upon these and ether ques- |
lions, raised by Gen Pope's report?
0ur army is slawly ersepia; t up & the Poto- o-
Gen. Keyes Tor Gen. Couch,) consisting l be-
lieyt, Of only two Of the three divisions com-
posing Key corps, the third being at York |
town tske5 the river road It's principal b1si-
Tess being to guard tue fords from below
Edwards Ferry TO ti1s mouth OF the Monocacy !
River, aud to reconnoitre In front; the centre
with which is Gen. Mcclellan. composed Of
the corps Of Su!nner, Banks and franklin, all
Under Gen. Sumner, marches along the turn
pike that runs hence through Rockville to
the caps Of Gen. Reno, formerly under Gen.
burnside, and the corps Of Gen. Hooker, for
merly under Gen. Med we'll, both commanded
y Gen. Burnside, moves through Lse5burgh,
Mechauicsyi1lc towards New Market where
the rebels lets wing Is supposed to rest. Gan.
Couch on the left has had a few skirmish shes;
Gen. Summers cavalry has captured and lost
ugain several times, but HOW holds Poo!e5-
vile; Gen. Burnside vas to have attacked
New Market, day before yesterday, aad au
idle rumoE asserts that lie did 50 and vas de-
featcd, but the probabilities are that the attack
*as postponed. How last their columns have
advanced DO not know; but the centre, wish
Gen. Mcclellan ut its head, made seven miles
in two Days. Perhaps it 1Sas dutayiog In
odTr mot to Get ts too far from 1as tns s
Wednesday: This looks ike 8 campaign,
looks as if the Mouocacy were to take its
place in history by the side of the C1ica Eom-
iny, the Bull Run or the Rappahanuock.
the conclusion that the enemy ID Mlryland
is not less than 10O. 900 aud probably not far
IRON 15n, 600 strong, and they are evidently
proceeding on the su2positton TINT this Is 30
It is admitted, however, that curtain Of
mystery hangs between them and Frederick
meDy entirely trustworthy respecting the
thing Which It coyers. saw mln y:stcrd1y
wEo held to an opinion, founded upon per-
eonal observation, directly the reverse Of that
stationed at. PooleeSvil1e fol-, the past seven
months, and IN lis capacity Of Quarter.
the country toward Frederick, and
its inhabitants, knew or thought he knew
whom to believe His estimate of the rebel
| force, after he had spent day on the road,
and approached within four miles OF Fredcr-
ick was 5000 or 0,000, and his prophecy was
! that our army would ROW discover that it had
gore On wi1d-goose chase: l have no doubt
that the truth lies with one Of these extremes.
| The rebels are making either raid, q forlgtng
expedition, for which a few Thousand cavalry
and i few batteries OF flying artillery are nil
| that need be required; or they mean military
| occupation Of Maryland and Invasion Of
Pehns5 lvania in which case they would re-
i, probably over 100000 strong. 10000 or
30,G00 would bo too many to accomplish the
first object, too lew for the last; too many to
run away from warm pursuit, too f. f TO fight
| with sslccess-at least when oppossd to an ac-
tive and Intelligent general. How fur they
! m The fytif EnnWn rhnY 1rfar
and temperament Of Mcclellan Is another
| question.
Gen. Lees proclamation would seem to
indicate purpose to hold Maryland: the ad-
he he forging Or the n eccanpriog :A theor;. 9
Ore thing is certain; it is noR, as is
usually the case, tor the rebel generals
to say whether they will fight o. retire
With their booty. They hold strooeiy the
lircs Of retreat, the lords over thu Potion sc
they cEocse to iutrench themselves there,
they nay cause Us q long delay, as our majar
general commanding will doubtless M Ike
regular Srbastopol approaches to the posi-.
ton.
Meantime, however, he is receiving rein-
forcements in their front, and General Wool
is collecting IN army in their rear. If the
rebels mean invasion. aud one IL force, they
arc slow; they hare lost precious week. To
delay gh.re they are is to lose q: Eronnd every
remembered that period OF comparative in-
action at this time is Of piece with their
usual tactics. Their energetic campaigns Of =
few days are usually followed by weeks of
rest It was so after the seven days contest
On The Chickahonliny. It has been SO, since
ib.ir failure to break through our lines ia the
attack which cost the couatry Gems. kear1ey
and Stevens. Had that succeeded, they would
have been in an excellent situation to destroy
| Pope's nr11y and to capture Washington.
Since It's failure, their movements hare been
exceedingly diiatoEy for them.
On the other eide Of the river General
Helm: zclman commands all the troops, under
Gen. Banks, and if be can find anybody to
fl ht, and be not held back, will do something.
G.n. Sigc1's corps, which is greatly reduced
in numbers, is stationed In the vicinity 0;
Chain Bridge. Gen. Fitz John Portcr's corps,
diminished By the withdrawal Of Gen. Sykes
division of regulars. but doubtless recruited
Washington, and Gen. acintzeluan's corps Ii
at the Alexandria end of our line, his head.
quar1ers being at Fairfax Seminary.
Gen. Hunter has not yet arrived here, and
It is not known what command is Intended
for him Probably as he is lighting man, and
docs not bow tue knee to the Chtckaaouliny
Baal, he will be put in eome position where
he can do nothing.
Gen. Barnard, reported the ablest engineer
officer In the ar1uy, Is still without CON.
mapd. He was put In charge of the fort:
arourd Washington, but Was relieved
upon whose staff be used to be. Perh1ps hit
letter tavoring the withdrawal OF the PENN
sulsr army from Harriscn's Landing hai
something to do with his disgrace.
An effort Was sjmade to substitute for Gen
Wadswo1th, our excellent military governor
Gen. Andrew Porter, formerly provost mar
shal, and an fdolator Of the major genera
cnnr,orifuc Init r. haa filled FIR tfa 1ras