, 1862-02-17

tS, anu VI WALL AOI tuE A4bi4o"-
11sE SITUATION IN KENTUCKY !
Writing Al a tine when the public IS |
watching with hre=,thless anxiety the opcr-
;.:i<ns in progress On the Cumberland, anu
v;;lou; intelligence as TO tue issue Of the
atlack on Fcrt Donelson, 4 brief sketch Of
tie situation and the relation Of the fight
10 the campaign in Kentucky will be Of iu-
tt:c$t. Il is evident that Federal victory
TN tic Cumberland breaks the encmys
<.ntrc i'll Western Kentucky and puts an
t,;l to the rebel cause in that State, The de-
feat Of Marshal and Zollieof1er having al
ready cleared the way for cur troops into
Eastern Tennessee. Referring to the
map NC give in another column, the
rebel armies in the southwestern part
Of the State represent two wings, the
l,tt resting On and strongly entrcnclled at
Columbus, the right occupying Bow
ut Tc,t Henry and later al Fort Donelson,
is the present point OF attack, the centre Of
q line GRE hundred aud 3iffy miles in length
between the two points above named. The
r.aap is imperfect in It's representation Of
distances, but will be !; sufficient guide to
reiatiye positions I: will show the facili-
ties the rebels have possessed By railroad
connections 1or Strengthening their centre
III Fort Donelson, where, cvcn previous TO
The Tennessee Expedition, it was seen that
:hc c1lief fight must take place. Fort Henry
never having been deemed tenablc even by
tie rebels against any formidable attack,
lis location being un low ground, while 4:
Fort Donclson, the enemy occupy Il posi-
tion elevated above the river and adjacent
country, giving 10 tbe guns Of the fort 4
rlunging fire. The Cumberland river i
quite narrow at that point and affords less
advantage to the gunboats, whose guns
must be worked at IN elevation, to reach
tie enemy
Looking 1t the map, the reasons viii b<
o1cst evident why the rebels viii n1a'1c s
stout resistance at Fort Donelson, anu thai
doubtless with larger force than has cvel
1~t.n opposed to any Of our armies in ths
West. They have drawn troops from
EowIing Green, whence about the first q
the present month, Bucl1ner moved II, ,00
men, leaving at that time 5000 in tl1a
7lace. The former doubtless contributes
IT, Tic garrison On the Cumberland, anu tn
reported evacuation Of Bowling Gree:
since that time can mean nothing else thai
Il transier Of tho bulk Of the rebel fore
1lince L. sill further strengthen the ccntr
Gil the Cumberland. For this mas5lng G
1:,e enemy S troops the line Of the Memphis
Clarksvillc and Louisville T. X served til
1t!;:i purposes excellently well, the roa
crossing the Cumberland ri ClarAs,illc, an
t'.4lowing the west bank to Dover, Stewa1
county, seycntY-fiye miles Gom Nasllyill
and ninety-four miles from Bowling Greer
Fort Donelson is about five miles north
the cailroad line at this point The aboE
i,:csents in brief the reasons Why the rel
els should resist with their largcs: availab
force our advance on inc Cumberland, au
:!1-o the advantages the position affort
1nr them SO doing. There is abundant re
sui 10 believe that Gen. Grants column
Fort Donclson is opposed by the large
force that any Federal commander h
lntn called to cope with since Bull Run,
Powerful force Of the enemy occupying =:
cnt1cuchcd position with great natural a
yan1agcs for defence.
j:ut it is evident that none Of these fe
lures have escaped the notice Of tho Fe
<:-aI commanders. This is shown By Il
la:ry ft1ce originally forming the expe;
"tion J,,.!er Gen. Grant and the pains al
s:,zc1or the recent most complete rcco
?..;=:Ecc Of the entire country lying I
tween OFT lines IN the Ohio and the prese
:ytcc of conflict Gen. Buell. has had /
<yc On ztiiese matters, and is not deceiy
IS TO the stake at issue The roa
throughout his department arc heavy ri
mud, t1't from the same meteorolog1s
reasons, al the Streams are at 3 high sta
Il few days since it was reported that {
Gen. T. L. Crittcnden had rctreated fl
Carrolton back to Calhoun, So he d
and Fcdera1s grumb1ed while rebels to
heart It seems that the movement was
isint, and the purpose a transfer of q
1cEdcn's whole force by steamboats,
waiting on the Green River, to the Oh
ard thence to the Cumberland, where
has joined General Grant before f
DonclEon. Throughout this entire rilit;
Department the recent movements Of
visions have been made with reference