Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-03-20

Neutrality-suspicious. from the Nerrsmae--
TAe great Union gun al Fortress NOnro<-De-
seriptioa Of Beaaregsrd's impregnable offences
at Msnsssas-lMr. Lincoln playing jokes on the
PaiAfnder--TAs Presidenfs War Orders.
a WASHINGTON, March IL.
As the facts come TO light in regard 10 the re
treat Of the Confeterafes from Manassas, II - seen
that the movement was really a most mastery
piece Of strategy. To move army OF $50 ,OOb
men for distance Of sixty miles, with all their
artillery and baggage. in the face OF an enemy Of
superior NUMBERS and 70 do this successfully, Is
a feat which has no parallel IA modern warfare
and few in the annals Of history Yet the Con
federates have done this. IL is now ascertained
that they are posted in force along the Rapidan
aud Rappahannock rivers, where they WILL un-
doubtedly, give battle to our advancing army.
Ii is than likely, too, that large portion of
their force, quite equal in strength to Burnside's
whole army, have been rapidly transported Gown
the railroads to Suffolk and Weldon. and will at
tack Burnside, with the intention Of cutting him
of from his ships, and defeating him or compel
ling him 70 surrender.
burnside is aware that Manassas has been
abandoned, and that the army there are moving
southwark; so that he will not be taken unswares.
But, unless be IS strongly reinforced. he is by no
means out of danger. That troops have been
believe. But these troops were sent by way Of
Fortress Monroe On arriving at the Fortress,
il may be that their presence may be required
there. The rebel commander at Yorktown is
busIly engaged IN preparing to attack Gen. Wool.
While the Meuimac engaging the Monitor,
a strong rebel force made demonstration toward
Newport News. Ii did not amount to anything
that time, probably because the presence of
the Monitor dsauanged the plans of the com
~e.ft t.. flar fha
Merrimac sails out. the land attack may be re-
newed; and, il 30, Gen Wool will need all the
troops he can command.
Ia spite of all reservations to the contrary, the
most serious apprehensi0ns exist here and in Nes
York aud Philadelphia in regard 10 the Merrimac.
1t i now ascertancd officially that she not at
all injured in her recent duel near Fortress Mon.
roe. With the single exception of the Monitor
there Is nothing aioat that withstand her.
The risks attending sea voyage to New York
or Philadelphia for 30 heavy vessel, will prob
ably deter her from going either of those cities.
But the order OF Gen. Mcclellan 10 the officer in
command of Fort Trumbull. at New London.
directing him To keep sharp lookout for the
Merrimac and to stop her ii possible il she tries
to run past, shows that it is considered in her
power TO run the blockade of Fortress Monroe
Ii she does this there j. nothing to prevent her
from running ~ the Potomac Washington,
and returning at her leisure Such is the fruit
of having incompetent Secretary of the Navy
IL IL likely that the large force of wOrkmen
now known To be engaged on the Merrimac are
making whatever Improvements her late experi
ence has demonstrated 10 be necessary The
idea OF boarding her Is absurd-it is physically
Impossible. Ii IS probable that having demon
strated that she can sail much faster than the
Monitor, and Is much stronger than the latter
in elp Will no wiz
graphing irons and chains may enable her To
se.Ze the little Monitor and bear her OFF u prize
The engrayngs showing the relative sizes of the
two vessels, iuHcate that this is not AN mpossi
BILE contingency.
The question has often been ash ed, but never
satisfactorily answered. why did Lot the great
Union gun at the RIP Raps give the Merrmac a
touch OF her quality during the recent encounter
All past experience has shown that this immense
piece OF artillery is practically useless 1t was
Gen. Buffers favorite amusement to point and
experiment with this great gun and to watch the
enormous missile kissing through the air and
throwing up clouds OF spray from the water. As
it sped five or six miles towards Norfolk Ii was
supposed that these experiments (and they were
very cOstiy) had determined with accuracy the
exact range and capabilities of the gun. let its
elevation is being constantly altered, and it re
quires so long TO load IL cit il a sight 10 see its
?
that, during the operation. the MeuImac might
sail TO several new positions and be out of range
before il Is ready to be fired. IL is the opinion
of scientific artillery officers that not more than
one shot in fifty fired from this monster would hit
the Merrimac
If those carpet knights who sneered at General
Mcclellan all winter because he did not advance
on Ceuterville, will now 20 and examine the en-
emy's works there, they will find III them a suf-
ficient reason. They are left uninjured, and are
literally impregnable. The principal forts are so
arranged in the form of terraces, that, even if
we had succeeded in capturing the lower line of
terraces, those above them would have been be
yond our reach, even with scaling ladders Shel
ling the works would have been of no avail, for
the rebel troops we're all protected by caSemateS.
So much for Beauegard'S skill in engineering
The magazines were well supplied. the truce
of shot and shell show. But all these, with the
heavy guns. have been removed. The places
of the latter were supplied before the evacuation
by wooden guns, painted black, with derisive in
scr.ptions written on them with chalk. All these
and mlny other circumstances show that the re-
treat was conducted at perfect leisure.
Mr.. Lincoln will 60 down to posterity the
great joker OF the nineteenth century. His ten
deney 10 humor Is well known. HIS recent jokes
have been OF the practical orer, and the funniest
of all i the tub which he has thrown To the AbO
lition whale in Congress, by appointing the idol
OF that faction, John c. Fremont, to command a
department created expressly for him. compo, ed
of the mountains Of Northwestern Virginia Mr..
Lincoln j. convinced that there is rev road TO
Richmond somewhere in these mountains. and he
wants Fremont 10 find il out In this extensive
domain the great Pathfinder can be grand gloomy
and peculiar, without doing any great mischief
either to friend or foe There are no rebels to
tight in his department. But, if he attempts to
proclaim the slaves of the loyal Nirginians free
the slaves Of the constituents of Senator Care-
he will raise tempest that will Overwhelm him
in is waves. The country has a right to expect
great things from the Man of the Mountains. We
shall see whether II shall be disappointed.
Ii the nceudiary Abolition sheets had not pre-
disposed the public mind by distortng and mis-
representing facts. nothing would seem more
proper than that Gen McClellaa. should be re
Geyed from the genera supervision of the mill
tory operations of the West a. long as he is in the
field at the head of the army Of the Potomac.
This i what has been done BY the President
War Order. and nothing more than this. il
Mr.. Lincoln means, however, by his somewhat
p0mpous war orders" that he has Welded 10 the
Abolition pressure. superseded Gen. Mcclellan
and Is really going 10 take the iiild himself and
direct the military operations Of the campaign 10
requires no prophet 10 torteil the result War is
= trade Aud ihlS war etn be 10 more success
fully conducted by Mr. Lincoln than a shoem ker
can write tragedy or hod carrier perform