The New York herald., 1862-03-25
The II sPid Progress OF the Wsr-From
Victory TO Victory.


Victory TO Victory.
The victory of General Shields over the
rebels near Winchester, Virginia, under the
command Of Generals Jackson Smith and Long
street, and the occupation of Beaufort, North
Carolina, by detachment from the army of
General Burnside, have now to be added to the
catalogue of the brilliant achievements of our
arms which have followed the development of
General McCiellans skilful, comprehensive
and overwhelming combinations. From vic
tory to victory, how gloriously goes on the
good work of putting down this beleagured
rebellion. e.3et
The dispersion Of the rebel force near Win
chester disposes of those outlying detachments
from the rebel army of Manassas. The object Of
these guerillas was to harass the army of Gen.
Banks, and to compel him to retain in the val
ley of the Shenandoah large force, and thus
to weaken, as far as possible, by this diversion,
our Potomac army in the wake of the main
rebel army under General Johnston. 1t ap-
pears, too, that Jackson, under the idea that
Shields had passed up the valley, expected to
slip into Winchester without opposition but
the temptation to secure the booty of our mill
tary stores at that point induced him, we sus-
pect, to trust to Information which otherwise he
Loro oil in otto nj
ing to play the hazardous game Of Sterling
Price-of running off to parts unknown and
rushing back when least expected jackson,
like Price, has been caught, cut up, and finally
routed. This, we suppose, finishes the fighting
of the rebels in the rear of Manassas, and leaves
their scattered fragments of the Shenandoah
valley no other alternative than the abandon
ment of their hopeless cause, or hasty flight to
the retreating army of Johnston.
General Burnside's occupation of Beaufort
was inevitable after his victory at Newbern;
and the burning by the rebels of their piratical
steamer, the Nashville, although it has cheated
us out of that expected prize, is good rid
dance of bad customer. Fort Macon would
probably have been spared if its rebel garri-
son could have carried off its stores of gun
powder and fixed ammunition; and here, too,
their loss is our gain. We presume that to an
extent sufficient for the purposes of this war
the fort can readily be repaired; and mean
time, in the possession of Beaufort we have
gained the only available harbor on the dan
gerous coast of North Carolina for vessels
drawing over twelve feet Of water. Beaufort
bar has seventeen feet at low tide, and the har-
Dor, north and south, is connected with the
navigable sounds of that remarkable coast.
Beaufort, in fact, is equal to all our other &C
QUESTIONS in North Carolina; for it commands
and secures them all, and renders the work of
securing Wilmington and Raleigh comparatively
easy.
The North Carolina coast being substantially
cleared, Charleston, in South Carolina, is now,
perhaps, the only important break in our pos
session of the Atlantic seaboard from Norfolk to
Mobile; for it is probable that our flag is now
flying over Savannah, and Gen. Bragg, in
evacuating Pensacola, has doubtless abandoned
it to our forces at Fort Pickens. 1t is believed,
toe, at Washington that New Orleans has been
recovered by Gen. Butler; so that, perhaps, at
this moment the only Southern seaports of any
account left in possession of the rebels are Nor
folk, Charleston and Mobile. The fate of the
first may be sealed now upon a very short notice
by Gen. Mcclellan, and our re-occupation of
the other two may be fastened or delayed to
suit our convenience.
AT the same time, while our armies of the
West, in overwhelming numbers, are pushing
forward in Tennessee and Arkansas, the gunboat
expedition under Com. Foote, with the land
progressing in the work of reducing
Island No. 10. 1t will thus appear that
Jen. DAVIS anu MS c0nIederates IN the rebel
government at Richmond cannot move forward
an hour too soon, if they would secure safe
point ut which to cross the Mississippi river en-
route to Mexico. If they delay week longer
on the east side of that river their retreat may
be cut off. in tha, and in every other direction,
by our encrcling armies, fleets and Aotillas.
Davis and his ruling colleagues, we repeat,
must be quick, or, from certain events which
will surely come to pass very soon in Virginia,
they may find themselves in their fight without
an army and without supporting party, even
in the cotton States
The war, like one of our hotly contested