Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1862-09-27
THE NEW CONFEDERATE CONsCRIpTIoN
ACT

ACT.
We have q bundle of Richmond papers of the
18th, 18th, 18th and 20th. The Southern version
of the battle of South Mountain and the capture
of Harpers Ferry, contained in the Richmond
papers OF the e0th,) we have already given, but
we find many other points Of interest in the
editorials and other matter in these papers, in
dicative Of the exuberant spirits of the Con-
federates, in view of the impending rebel inva-
sion of the Northern States, and it will be seen
by our quotations below thatthey had already
in their minds eye made due disposition of the
fat cattle, cereals, horses and mules" (Rich-
mond Dispatch of the 17th) OF the enormously
rich country towards which Lees army was
headed.
The Dispatch goes on to say:
"For our own part, we trust that the first
proclamation OF Pope. and the manner in which
his army carried it oai, will not be forgotten.
We hope the troops will turn the whole coun-
try into desert, as the Yankees did the Pied
mont country of Virginia. Let not blade of
grass, or stalk of corn, or barrel of fiour, or
n bushel of meal. or a sack of salt, horse or
a cow. or hog, or sheep be left wherever
they move along. Let vengeance be taken for
oil that has been done, until retribution itself
shall stand aghast This is the country of the
smooth spoken, would-be gentleman, McClel-
Ian. He has caused a loss to us in Virginia of
at least $4,000 negroes, the most valuable prop
erty that a Nirginian can own. They have no
negroes in Pennsylvania. Retaliation must
therefore fall upon something else. And let it
fall upon everything that constitutes property
A Dutch farmer has negroes; but he has
horses that can he seized grain that can be con-
fiscated, cattle that can be killed, houses that
can be burnt. He can be taken prisoner and
sent to Libby warehouse, as Our friends i'm
Fauquier, and Loudoun, and Culpeper, and
Stafford. and Fredericksburg. and the PENN
sula have been sent to Lincoln's dungeons in
the North. Let retaliation be complete. that
the Yankees may learn that two can play at the
game they have themselves commenced.
"By advancing into Pennsylvania with
the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, and break
il down SO thoroughly thatit cannot he repaired
in six months. They have already possession
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the
York Railroad. BY breaking down these and
the railroad from Philadelphia TO Baltimore,
they Will completely isolate both Washington
and Baltimore. No reinfOrcements can reach
them from either the North or West except by
the Potomac AMID the bay.
'One effect which the invasion Of Pennsyl-
vania would have, we have moi yet alluded TO,
and ii is the most important of!any. 1t would
compel Mcclellan TO follow Lee and fight q
battle outside of his entertainments. Gen. Lee
would have his own choice of ground and his
own time to fight He could lead him so far off
that he could not get to his burrow. He would
inevitably rout htm. and probably destroy his
whole army
The Dispatch proceeds to speak of the capture
of Baltimore and Washington as foregone con-
clusiens, and says of this city: ..,.
1--WE cannot bring our minds to the belief that
the Yankees, when compelled to evacuate it,
will destroy even the public buildings, since
such measure would amount TO a confession
that the game was entirely up with them
Now that the Dispatch has learned the resul
from Lees fighting Mcclellan g outside of his
intrenchments,'' it probably is not so well salts
fled with the experiment, and its hopes of feast
ing on the fat things of the Dutch farmers. or
wintering in Washington city, somewh damn.
ened. a.. ... It-.3.sTr
The Richmond Examiner Of the 18th is even
more jubilant in the same vein. 1t thinks the
whole difficulties of the plan Of invasion have
been disposed of by the victories over Pope
The Examiner sayss
New forces have been recruited: but they
are little better than raw militia. The enemy
may throw as many troops in front of our
armies-in their march into the bosom of the
North-aS were encountered in the Sc veral bat
tle-fields of Virginia; but they will be palsied
by the prestige of defeat, and by the conscious
ness of inferiority. They could not, il they
dared. and they dare not, if they could, with
stand the impetuous onset Of our victorious lie.
gions. 8-'
sThe number Of troops composing our in.
vading army is ample for all purposes. Too
great numbers would only cucumber and clog
its movements. 1t has now the advantage it
had no. in Virginia OF moving In a country full
of forage and provisions. 1t reaches the en-
emy's country just after harvest, and the har-
vest of 1860 has been abundant in the North
The march Will be through the most prolific
grain region in the world. The amply stored
Dutch barns in Middle Pennsylvania, present
an idea peculiarly propitious TO the success of
q great military movement. Our generals need
not be very ssrnpulous in appropriating the
treasures of these Dutch barns. The abolition
Congress has itself declared that the armies en-.
gagged in this war must subsist off the country
which they invade. The rule was made ready
to our hands. They themselves have prepared
the chaiice for the lips Of their own people.
sConsidering all the contingencies of the war,
we cannot avoid concluding that the future
progress of our army now ia Maryland must
be as prosperous as its past. The chief Difficult
ties of the campaign have been surmounted. 1t
of the desert, and has arrived at Mount Pisgah.
1t is not only able to view the promised land,
but it is at liberty to enter and enjoy. We
not impatient for the INVASION of Pennsylvania
Let our generals take time and mature their
preparations. But it is not too much to expect
that our army will winter in the North
What a rude shock TO such rose-colored
expectations must have been experienced in
Richmond on learning that the in vncibe rebel
army OF invasion that was to "march into the
bowels of the North without impeachment" has
been tumbled pell-mell across the Potomac by
this same 'would- be gentleman Mcclellan
and his tsraw militiaw
But the invasion of PENNSYLVANIA was but a
small part Of the magnificent rebel programme
The Examiner says in another editorial:
1T would seem that Northwest Virginia
would soon become strategic theater Of the
war. The possession of that extreme portion of
this Commonwealth would give control of all
hut one of the great lines of railways connecting
the Northwestern States with the seat of gov.
ernment and the States of the East. The occu-
patton Of that country would enable us to cut
these lines OF communication, and would place
us in close contact with Lake Erie A march
OF fifty miles, string of fortified camps com.
manding this interval Of space, would put the
South in contact with Canada whose ports are
not and cannot be blockaded. The occupation
of such line would be worthy of great effort
The capture of Cleveland and the possession of
line Of railroad from that city to Parkersburg,
Virginia, would accomplish great political and
commercial results.
"Politically il would sunder the Northwest
ern States from the residue Of the abolition
domain, and virtually overthrow the Rump of
the called United States. Our government
would then cease to dignity Lincoln's govern
ment as a legal establishment; and denouncing
It as rump and usurpation, proceed to treat
Tor peace Individually with the Northwestern
States. There can really be no peace until the
liebp oIa oiy,rr hAf fhac