Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1862-03-26
E2syard Taylor Visits. CenterVIIIe
aRa f3anaSsss-EYhat he has


Fron BfEard aylnr-s Letters to the Y y. Tribune
[ am not a military man, you know. I
could be easily puzzled bv dexterous.
use of the technology Of staff officer. 7
hear, on good authority, that several of
ficers of high rank have declared to-day
4" The Notifications at GenterYilfe are per
fectlV impregnable." fmpregnable? Good
lGsa-4i EF2l. .,a ..e7saI, ~ = ;zjs-ss 5,
must entertain of our gallant soldierys
| have seen Cerro Gordo the position at
Ccntervilie is not so strong-yet we took
Cerr0 GOrdO. l have seen ChapuItepec.
it is five times as formidable-Yet we
took it, ] have seen Narva: the hill Is
twice as steep, and twice as high-vet
5000 Swedes, rushing up it, drove 50.0OQ
Russians, under Peter the Great, from
their intrenchments. This is supposing;
of course, that we should be so obIigings
as TO attack the Rebels just where they
could most easily defend, Omitting the
opportunities Of turning their position.
But it is useless to talk: [ am civilian.
We have escaped terrible danger, and
gained a great and "a bloOdless victory
do not wish to be misunderstood as
blaming any individual. was most fa-
vOrabty impressed, last fall with the
bearing Of Gen. Mcclellan, and with his
evident success in resolving order out of
chaos. l have deprecated the popular
impatience with the inaction of the army
of the Potomac during the winter, and
insisted that the organizing power which
had moulded Il demoraIized military
mob into obedient capacity for action
should be allowed to develop its pIaD IN
its own gool time, without Interference.
1t is for those in authority TO Judge
where the blame lies. But, using NV
eyes and my rs-employing (mOdestIy
speaking) average powers of deduction
l cannot escape the following deductions
F6rst-That the typographical charac-
acter of the position at Manassas has
been wholly misunderstood. Instead ofe
a high plain. with descending terraces,
furnishing concentric lines of defense, 1t
Is a low plain, of which the only natural
advantage is the stream of Bull Run.
with a low bluff bank.
.Se5ond-That the position at Centre
Vile, though naturally formidable TO an
advance from Fairfax, has no flank or
rear defenses, Is imperfectly fortified,
and, from all indications never had auy
siege guns.
IttrE-That the three or four small
forts near Manassas Junction, on anopen
plain. do not constitute a strategic posi-
tiou of any Importance.
F5Uth-That the strongest of the re
bel works was Inferior both in construc-
ton and armament, to the weakest of
our forts on the Virginia side of Wash
inGtOn.
FgtlH-That the rebels never had, at
any one time, in all the camps between
Centreville and Manassas, more than 75,-
900 men.
.Sirti-That an'advance of our whole
army, made any time since the 1st of
November last, would very likely have
reached Manassas with as much expedf-
ton and as little loss as the advance at
this time. 1t is scarcely likely that the
rebels, who have been all along so well
informed as to our strength and our con-
tempIated movements, would hive haz-
arded an engagement which must have
resulted disastrOusly to them.