Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-12-30

VIII Wtlt6 10 you again. MI AtlEAL OEELl-A.
LETTER Fmom GwENADA.
GRENADA. MISS, December q, 1862
EDITORS APPEAL: In an era Of peace the task you
have assigned me might be enviable but during Pc
rod Of war it cannot be considered In an age Of
peace truth may be spoken without endangering the
lblic good and the Judgment will approve what con
science dictates to be right But with around u.s.
and an enemy in our presence ready to seize upon and
TO profit by every statement Of fact to the condition
of our affairs every exposure Of weakness in the public
management and every indication Of disagreement
among ourselves close aud scrutinizing discretion Is
required of the writer who would best his coun.
try. Something more than literary taste or political
ability something than the skill Of the partizan,
or the stern justice Of the censor demanded in times
Ike these Of the mind OF recttnde and the pen OF pa.
tr.ti,u It is with little hesitation therefore thar
5erake to obligs ypu will eHdeavor, from time
time. entertain your readers and to promote the
public welfare.
within the humming sound Of camps aud in view
Of our sntinels beneath the svery light Of the protesn
moon reflective Of charge and the passage OF time
cast over in the minds horoscope, the mighty
transpirsd and trsnHpring ID the worlds history and
the affairs Of mankind during brief day and gene
ration Meditation grew with that it fed On-suppOrted
sleep and absorbed tie night with its proonge imagery
ard intense euotons Wonderful indeed has been the
period Of our lives had been told that my nativity
the EuphurlouS comet eOnnlnGiad with the
atmosphere Of earth betOkenng that my life would be
psssedI IN the midst of war, and pestence and famine
and so has it been Since then the cholera has emacia
ted every continent famine has paid It's gsust and spec
tral visit u0told millOns ard revolution and
have coqvulsed the nations from ami pole
pole Great have been ths offsl ses of mankind and
terrible the ret,ibutive provdences of the Almighty
Every people, within this age, it seems, have been ad
judged crmns before The moral law Of the universe
and brought under condemnation. Mexico and the
South American States; the communities Of Africa the
kingdoms Of Europe the empires Of Asia; snd now,
last closing up the long and mournful procession,
reeking with blood and gashed al over Win sui idal
vo ds passes in review that governms Mt ch shOne
among others like LucfeT among the stars that land
which late was the refuge Of humanity that people
who were almost happy aud blessed first pa
rents in the garden of paradise. Here lated with
this final scsne, is peryOna status and hOugh Id
ness rules the hour aud mauscs may be the actors
the stage before still IN cry one IS allotted his part
in the dr. ma, and we must perform such Is life
and the story of man Even as write, the booming f
c-nu11 the 70 Of tins drum, the shrlit notes Of the
fife and the mufed tramp of the IoldsTy in the dis
marching the field Of aars give assurance Of
the arrival In Grenada OF p esident Davis ss com
msnder in-chief and Of G n Johnston a. commaudsnt
Of tn depar meu 10 relgh tie torches Of Nemesis aud
reinyigorate the demon OF wsr Thus awake from
the ideal to the real Thus am gartled from my NOR
slizing dre m Thus abstract visions vanish practical
formF tangible cha prsSeLt the Selves the
questionsof the day become embodied, aud the army
the enemy, and the county, North end South stand
forth before the eye Of criticism, living subjects of tbs
press and the pen.
Itis well that Gen Johnstoa is here; it is we'll that
the President himself has arrived They should have
before for there is denying the fact that the
Mississippi valley has been saved from the enemy only
by succession Of miracles After the aivauee Of Gen
Bragg. at tsugeut into Northern Kentucky Justly
characterized the mos stupendous military blunder
Of the WIT and the disastrous repulse of Gen Won
Dorm at Corintb the WHO'S OF this valley. II must pc
admitted lay open to the enemy and as every man OF
sense knows at his mercy. But, at this juDcture
first came the providentia revuision iu political senti-
ment at the North, enssndering division among them
selves and entaing diseOrd in his army AID, in the
second plscs the rivers at Gods bidding refused TO
rise according the customary laws Of their overflow
rendering his guubost heet imperative anu at the s ne
time deprviDg him Of proper bases Of supply for his
land troops until he could reconstruct and repair the
railroads and bridges destroyed along the route OF his
march and IN the third place after these rebuilt
and all impedmeuts removed from the path Of his
noveIneuts and his graineres were supplied and he be-
gan arroganty with the pride and confidence Of Pha
rsah against the Israees, to pour his legisns upon
Granada, in the rear Of position upon the Iala-
hsche the hesvens suddenly opened aud put end TO
bis operations dectmatng his batal ions by fever star
vson and desertiOn thereby enabling us contrary to
human caculaton to escape and to secure the line OF
the YszOo and HauebuHha compelling hm 10 lhe a0op-
ton Of a new plan Of strategy, requiring time in its
preparaH and execution. Tbis, in spite OF msneuvr
ON The psrt OF our generals Whick had sacrificed this
magnificent vAllT and, with it, impered the entire
csuse Of Independence both the and the other have
been saved far fcom dsstructioa But we have now
pressn'ed US ISSUE less threatening 70 safety
4 From fifteen to twenty gunboa s. accompanied with
from sixty seventy i've transports stand ready on the
upper mississippi to cooperate with similarly arranged
hotlla below, against Baton Rouge and geksDurgi 10
sunihste those positions and then abish bases OF
supply sl points along this Mississippi from which
TO proceed with land troops TO take Jackhon heredan
| ana Grenada thus 10 unite Grand Junction with New
Orl, ans and Coz nth with Mobile through the posses
| sion of the Mississippi Central and the Mobile and
Ohio railroads In view of this idea and these facts,
repeat is well that the President has arrived it is
| well that Gen Johnston is here.
The Pre-. ut. If he 1an Of jodgment, a. many
I am hay 20 av suppose 20 De, 1T zee sta
N. in this valley with yer. iifereut eyes 4 I'M tho
| with VIII ch as a., ? out this tme' when he
behe 20 5an tb1e tennis ne lines Of that brave sn
~ea 4 uarr1 D Il nTf an
| A ST iney , hn-ton, iH Keith KY Nor can he fa tc
srmit pre- udee to sub io in resp Ct to an otieer
q ratriO. and gent emau here no IS ga ant and a
eacious less patient and true no IS sue essiu ant
ii tinqushed in al the aud becoming con uct of m
| than Kentu heroic son-Wo mean the nobest 10
man of them all - he scaTr veteran, Ster ini
| Pice Ard If General Jos ph T. Johnston be the ab
actcian and sraegst of this war that the world pro
claims him be and worthy to wear the esrshss bat
where giant, in the military art on ended for supTema
cv upder Napo the great glOriou ly illustrated b,
hin from winchester to Manassas and again from Ma
mas as Yorktown, Williamsburg and the Cnic$ahoui
nv ami again when he won Tor niIaSe ana received
modern times the unconquerable flag with its attendan
motto of the ancient Douglass, he early will discovs
in the present attitude Of affairs in this department en-
trusted 10 his genius and his valor field demanding hi
skit and sagscity and broad gh for immorta itI
There is no doubt that the revere repuse OF BGrI
side bv Lee at Fredericksburg, Virginia this val ey
to be constituted the b1e ground OF the winter IN
waters Of the Mississ yi are already rising, and tn
storm Of conflict Is about TO burst on ficksourg an
vou NAV properly assume in the APPEAL that every ei
erqv on the part both Of State and confederate author
tes should be instantly put forth 70 meet its desuc "
terrors The quartermaste- and eommissary depar
nents sheuld be made thoroughly active, and the moi
liberal hospital arrangements be at once perfected
p write with complete military map before me, take
from the enemy, upon which is graphically dotted Il
place of every frey struggle Of the It s curiol
10 observe how entirely, amog', the border Southei
e States have been the Of strife. Tbs plaHdI
& States yet, have scarcely been touched DO the
shuddeT now the thought Of being compelled to fig
+ for their own atars9 Are they unnervedl Seek al
of the citizens protection from the enemyl Do any