The New York herald., 1862-02-13

| OF the otate Oh virginia Inc DurnSiue eAPeui-
ton has turned the stronghold at Manassas,
and, if the great rebel camp there does not
very soon make this discovery and act accord
ingly. it will inevitably suffer the fate of the
camp Of Roanoke Island.
| Such is the comprehensive range Of this brill
| liant achievement in North Carolina. 1t shows
that in the East the magnificent programme of
General Mcclellan for a crushing campaign is
developing its strength most beautifully, while
in the West it is working like charm. The
reports which we publish to-day of the recon-
nossance of the Tennessee river by our gun
boats up to the thrifty town of Florence, Ala
bama, at the head of steamboat navigation, read
more like the adventures Of . fairy tale than
the realities of military invasion. Our gun
boats, it appears, everywhere along the river
were received with astonishing welcome by
numerous Union families in Southern Tennes-
see and Northern Alabama" and at the various
towns along the stream the old flag of the
Union "was looked upon as q redeemer, and
hailed with shouts Of JOY" The people of
Florence were prepared to give grand ball to
our officers but the objects of the expedition
required its immediate return; for those gun
boats will be wanted next in rougher service
than this jubilee of Union voyage up the
Tennessee.
There can be no doubt of the truthfulness Of
our enthusiastic reports of this remarkable re-
connoissance; for if the inhabitants along the
narrow and winding Tennessee river, with its
numerous defensive hills and short turns, had
been disposed to resist the passage of the old
flag, our gunboats bearing it could have been
destroyed before making one-half of their beau
tiful pleasure excursion of two hundred and
fifty miles. This trip reminds us, then, of the
return of the Little Corporal from the island
of Elba among the old soldiers and people of
France. For two hundred miles from the
southern boundary Of loyal Kentucky. through
the State of Tennessee and into the State of
Alabama, "our old flag was hailed with shouts
of JOY" Smarting under the dreadful suffer-
ings inflicted by an upstart and intolerable
despotism, the loyal people along the Tennessee
river had been waiting the hour and the sign of
their deliverance, and in "the old flag" 30
quietly and suddenly coming amongst them
they simply welcomed the sign and the symbol
of the returning blessings Of the Union.
These positive manifestations of a strong and
enthusiastic Union sentiment among the people
of the revolted States explain the tenacity with
which the rebels cling to their defences in the
| border slave States. The rebel leaders have no
idea of Southern confederacy which will in
clude Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri. These
States they expect, in the best view Of their
| situation, to sacrifice to the Union; and they
are only using them now to save the cotton
States from the immediate burdens of the war,
which, if brought home upon them, might result
| in q counter rebellion. That the whole rotten
fabric will fall to the ground with the removal
of its army supports in Virginia and Kentucky
is manifest from the revelations of this gunboat
| trip up the Tennessee river. We have Shown,
too, that the great rebel stronghold in Virginia
has been turned by the Burnside expedition,
| and we think it certain that our land and water
| forces of Kentucky and Missouri will entrap
the enemy in their two other great camps at
Bowling Green and Columbus, if they do not
very soon evacuats those positions. 1t is report
ed, indeed that they have already abandoned
Bowling Green, to escape from the encircling
columns of General Buell. while yet there is an
opening between them. If this should prove
true-and we think it most probably is so-we
may next expect to hear of the complete evacu-
alton of Kentucky by the rebels, and that Ten
nessee has become too hot to hold them.
In any event, this great Southern rebellion
is disclosed as giant of brass upon legs of
clay, as the Union begins to manifest its
power. The gloomy night of our doubts and
troubles is past; our fleets and armies, under
the administration of "Honest Abe Lincoln,
his sound Union war policy, and the military
combinations of General Mcclellan are work.
ing out a glorious redemption. The night is
past, the day breaks in the East, and illumines
the sky in the West
THE BAD CONDITION OF THE STREETs.-Not-
withstanding the efforts and warnings Of the
Mayor and Board Of Aldermen, the contractor
for street cleaning still maintains that mastery
inactivity which keeps our public thorough
fares in condition of filth which is disgraccful
to the city. How Mr.. Hackley can have the
| afEroptar, 70 afirra-aa he did Mandar Last