The Portland daily press., 1862-11-27
How to stop Blockade Breaking.

There can be no doubt that we have erred
by distributing our forces over too wide field.
We have not appreciated sufficiently the value
of concentration. In our eager desire to sur
round the rebellion and make a clean sweep at
every point, we have several times subjected
ourselves to attacks, which we could not re-
sist. We have been too unwilling to sacrifice
the temporary possession of any position, how
ever unimportant, for sake Of gaining permanent
possession of posts, which were essential. Ac-
cording TO the confession of JEFF. Davis the
rebels made the same mistake in the early part
OF the war. They attempted TO hold more
than they could. They then relinquished
large region in the west and large portion oil
the sea coast in order to concentrate their
forces, and in SO doing they acted wisely.
Impressed with the importance of concen-
tration, some of the best military critics have
questioned whether the labor expended in our
vast expeditions, which gave us the Sounds of
South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and the
mouth ofthe Mississippi was as well bestowed
as 1t would have been in employing the troops,
that were sent south, in the campaigns in vi
gsniA and the west. There is force in the ar
gument that the capture of the coast does not
crush rebellion, that the destruction of the
great rebel armies alone can accomplish that
result. We ourselves have expressed fears
more than once that we were dividing our
AoiSSc tOo iuuCu. Dut TtCtut iUJtllStnct from
England furnishes a fresh indication ofthe wis
dom Of those, who recommended the expedi-
tions, and is showing that perhaps thes gov
ernment could not have done better than
to occupy important points on the southern
coast, even though several thousands were re-
quired for the work. There seems good rea-
son to believe that Englishmen or rebels are
really preparing TO break the blockade by
force in order to get the brbe of million
bales of cotton, which the confederate govern
ment holds out to them. OF course they can
do nothing, when we have footing on the
shore. Had we sent out no expeditions we
should have been compelled to guard the
whole line OF coast. But now Charleston Sa-
vannah, and Mobile are the only harbors, in
which such an enterprise would be undertaken.
We can easily keep strong naval force at
each of these posts.
But the surest way 10 upset all the calcula-
tons OF these blockade breakers and to pre-
vent any serious annoyance from them, is to
capture the few posts now held by the rebels.
Let us get possession of them, and the honor
able members OF parliament and the Liverpool
merchants will no longer find it worth their
while to fit out vessels for running the block
ade. We fully expect that we shall have them
all before the first of February. A large part
of our navy will then be free to scour the seas
and send every rebel cruiser to the bottom.
But more than that. The capture of the
seaports opens the way TO us into the very
heart of the enemy's country. Our gunboats
can sail far into the interior. where, as the
Richmond Examiner admits, the Presidents
proclamation will have most powerful effect.
Into those regions, so densely populated with
negroes, and now so sparsely occupied by
whites, ourAforces will penetrate, and the
whole system of labor, ON which the rebel ar
my and the southern people depend for their
M