Washington telegraph., 1862-10-15

The 24th ut. are, To Us, entirely satisfactory.
They form a fit conclusion to tho series Of bril-
liant operations which have raised up tile
Southern cause again. beyond any hopes we
could have entertained two months ago 1t
would have been folly for our armies to have
attacked Baltimore, or Washington, on to have
attempted an advance upon Pennsylvania for
permanent occupation. Lee did the best thing
aud glorious thing. Had he remained quiet
after the last battle of Manassas. the splendid
army of Mcclellan would have formed nucleus
at Washington for another .'graud army" for
he ION TO Richmond" cry. BY cutting it up
Lee has secured Virginia from any speedy in
vasion, except by small parties.
On Tuesday, the 10th. Lee, vaoss forces
we're concentrating at Shan psburr. was con.
frouted by Mcclellan, who had followed him
thither from Boonsboro' the day before On
Tuesday evening light and harmless cannon
ade occurred lastinga few hours On the next
DAY the great battle AT Shlrpsburg was fought
lasting until night. Some OF Gen. Lees forces
arrived during the action, portion of them
at an advanced hour. The close Of the battle
left US ia possession Of the field, and on the
next morning it discovered that Mcclellan
had retreated.
Gen. Lee held the field all d,y THURSDAY.
caring for the wounded and the dead. III.
then crossed the P0tom.c, which was only
about two miles distant, aud took position n
or near Shepherdstown. We think he thus
moved nearly or quite his whole army.
/ The general of the cuem-, a~certainlnr his
| withdrawal To the ) nth si1e Ivy. an what ther
call their pursuit. Perhaps deceived tn some
extent by the stories with which they deceive
their people. they even venturel q throw over
force of ten thousand men d, press the flight
of the .'dieorganized' Coufriera'cs How this
expedition Jared. on Sunday last iet the teIe.
gram in another column tell Another cha.-
tiscmeut, swift and sudden .nl ssvcrc has
fallen upon the enemy from the hand vi Jack
son.
Military operations are not conducted On
haphazari chances nor do generals march them
armies about like roaring lions. king whoir
they may devour,' bus accomplish their pur-
poses by pre- arranged campaigns having Ger
tain and well defined objects. GEN Lee did
not march ont OF Richmond toward, the sources
of the Cnickah0miny seeking wv cneny; but
knowing the position oi hi, enemy LIE her
formed those celebrated IaInreRvrr- hv a ire
viously arranged plan; nor iii he move lis
army 10 Piedmont, Virginia. without first ne
termlning what would be biz course upon
reaching the theatre Of war. - ,Iso a. 10 bis
march iutD MarylaId-that tJU. h..d an object
and purpose, being different from what fhn
enemy supposed, well a. what our people
believed.
1t was not n step towards invading Penn
syiyIuia, nor yet was il made only 10 raise
Maryland. The real oJj,,ts we're tic capture
O! the Yankee force at Harper's Ferry ana tile
drawing Of Mcclellan out of Washington. aud
: incidentally the rousing of Maryland. While
his proclamation to the people Of Maryland
I deceived hi- enemy and manifested u tie
] 10 hety t.. f,r4
manner Of conducting the war and that Of our
enemies, il completely disguised his principal
, ject
His march to Frederick anil hi- proclamation
I assembled Mt Washington brigale- and rcgi-
monts which could have been scrt yia Cham
bcrsburg and Hagcrstown 10 the relief of
larpcr's Ferry. Had General Ice marched
directly harPer's Ferry, H.s les "A would
have been derstood ana prevented by tile
immediate evacuation Of the place and retreat
into Pennsylvania, or directly To Washington.
. In Military operations the most circuit0us
route may be the shoGtcs; WAY to accomplish
an object; and as the final purpose Of every
/ campaign is most carefully concealed. appear
anccs are made deceptive. anl ihe people 1T
home, As well as the enemy. nre bnfh deceived
Now that the capture If Harncr's Ferry aud
the battle Of Sharpsburg reveal the object Of
the movement into Maryland. every one must
admire the stragetic talents Of IN distin-
guished general, and Ms wonderful power Of
combination becomes more apparent we
contemplate the skillful manner in which he
. delayed McClellan's army, destined to relieve
Harper Ferry, and postponed the engagement
in general battle until the bpscgiu- force from
IIarper's Ferry could come up. Having cap
tured llarper's Ferry, the campaign closed
He then turns on Mcclellan, and fights the
battle Of Sharpshurg-a b,tlc in which he
hal t. hut bfr,r In oafr =.
and ia which tue enemy had nothing 70 gain,
but everything to lose. If Gen. Lee had been
defeated at Sharpsburg nothing would have
been determined by the battle. because BY
crossing into Virginia, he was apr eaching his
base Of operations and drawing the enemy
further ana further from theirs. Mcclellan
, discovered Gen. Lees design too late to pre-
vent its execution. Iiarper's Ferry, with its
garrison, armament arms, and stores, all fell
into our hands. \ glorious termination Of q
: splendid campaign.
The FIST campaign for the relief Uf Rich
mond, terminated at Malvern Fill. When Nc
: C!ellan retreated to Berkeley, Gen. Lee lid
not follow and attempt the annihilation of the
Federal army, because it could not II We been
accomplished without a corresp ending loss to
our own army, which might have No weakened
} it that the second campaign for the relief Of
Richmond-that in Piedmont, Nirginia-could
again, when the campaign against Pope cul-
minated IN the splendid victo res of Manassas,
Gen. Lee did not pursue the shattered army TO
Washington, because the remnants Of the two
Federal armies were not TO be despised behind
Notifications. But our distinguished genera
| projected the movement into Maryland as o
cover to his march against Harper's Ferry,
and for the purpose Of drawing Mcclellan out
2 of Washington. lie has entirely succeeded.
Harpers Ferry has fallen, and McClell an,
enticed sixty five miles from Washington, has
been defeated Such glorious triumphs should
teach people the utmost reliance on Gen.
Lee, and make them easy even when they do
not understand his movements.
I The Vicksburg Wing says, the
} opinion is fast gaining ground that Bragg
will not make an attack on Louisville
that his object was to draw the enemy
from North Alabama and Tennessee, and