Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-08-30
A NORTHERN VIEW OF THE FED
ERAL SITUATION.
" ssyefegi,Gl .trorca,sa,." Explained.
The Western Ganboai. a EaiIaro.
slal co-rre.pondsnes Of the chieago TinssI

Special Correspondence Of the Chicago Timesl
WASHINGTON, August 2L-For a few days
past it seemed as if the old formulas "All quiet
on the PotOmac-on the Chickahominy-on
James river" were about to become applicable
on the &apidan. A quiet on the RsDidan"
sounds we'll and had it not been for the IN
quiet devil which inhabiis Stonewall jackson, it
would have probably come into general use for
the next month or two. jackson, with a repre-
hensible disregard Of proprieties, has been in
digging in some Of his feints, or mysterious
harlequin changes, whereby eur forces have
found it necessary to fall back, which they did
in " COED order, and took up a new base"
winning Of course a great blOOdless victory, and
making the most " mastery retreat on record"
POpe's sE eattedra bull, concerning his habit
Of seeing the backs Of his enemy, and his habit
OF not talking about bases Of operation, doesn't
seem 70 work. It don't seem to fTignten the
rebels as 1t properly should Go, which / can only
account tor on the grounds that the ignorance
OF the ehIYalTy has prevented their reading il.
Lake Phelps celebrated grORuAciaRieHt0, it
should nave been sent among the Confederates,
accompanied by an interpreter. Had they been
informed that it was the habit Of General
rope 70 inspect that position Of the enemy which
includes then backbone, heels. etc thew wouId
undoubtedly have been accommodatDg enougb
70 nave gIFea bin dissolving and pestsrlor views
OF tueT Iorc7s. The latest arrivals from the
army OF virginia bring the information that
rope mas fallen back from ten TO TWENTY-FIVE
miles; that he hasn't taken Gordo7svila. and
t1at he has violated two Of lis habits-tbat Of
always seeing the backs Of the enemy, and never
taxing up new lines Of operations to the rear.
as : mater OF cCuFse, strategy is al the base Of
tn5 movement, and It Is but the immediate Dre-
Judo to some brilliant operation ayains, n,
enemy. As q man, in lssplng over q fence. runs
some distance to give himself impetus, so has
dOEe the army Of Virginia; they have fallen
back g score Of miles in order 20 give themselves
space for srun in their contemplated bound over
the Rapidan.
The intelligence from all quarters Is equally
encouraging, II not more so. As a strsgetie
movement we are allowing the enemy to retake
GAINESVILLE and threaten Forts Donelson and
Henry; but another mastery operation, (ths
object Of which cannot yet be made public We
have allowed them to Isolate Buell.. surround
Morgan, break up the railroad connection be-
tween Louisville and Nashville, and threaten
Cumberland Gap; in short, by a sublime comb
nation OF strategic and other plans, we ara in
tall retreat everywhere, with the enemy close on
our heels. If it were not developing strstegical
secrets, l would hint that the object Of the late
movements is q profound one-being no less
than 20 retreat into Upper Canada, there assume
q permanent base Of operations, aud hold il until
the warm blooded rebels treezs out. Il IS simD-
ly retaliation. They drew rs into the South and
baked US we viii now reciprocsts by inveiglinQ
them into the frozen Rorth-a Roland for their
OuTer-7 tcgid for their troBic. II this be no;
the object Of their late movements, l will be
happy TO be corrected.
John a Duble, formerly master Of the Cones
togs, eN Governor Dsnnis0n, and ono or two 9th
er gentlemen are here, for the purpose Of urging
the administration 70 place 2 dset Of light draf.
steamers upon the Ohio river. They propose to
use lIgnt, swift boats, make them proof against
nusketry, arm them with three guns, and keep
them moving on the Ohio, Cumberland. and
tennessee rivers. None of the boats will draw
over tWcnty-SiE inches, and consequently they
De available at al seasons of tie year aud II
stages Of water. The entire expense Of run
ming each boat viii be sb5ut $22.0GO per month.
or about one-third the ccst Of runniar the iron
clads for the same tims.
All our western gunhoas have thus far been
1nWleidIT failures. They took Fort Henry.
since which they have done bat little more than
ouTn coal, plug up shot holes made by rebel balls.
md raise themselves as fast as the rebels chose 1
sunk them The Mound City and Essex have !
)otn been blown ~, or at least sufficiently 80 TO I
'caid TO q horrible death twO-thirds Of their =
rev the very first action that the costly. and q
nueh Wanted, and "~impreZnable' Benton ever =
ngaged ID, a rebel shot came ripping through :
as If she were made Of passsbOard-a little
zter' sad a rebel ram nearly bu.ted her out Of ]
1istencei two other Of the iron clsds graceful ~
y Owed to the bottom; in short, il has been ID
allure everywhere, The light rams had the bat
ie before Memphis twO-thiris won before the -
eaVy gunOOaLs got iHtJ aoti0uI OOd, avan in
be late brilliant achievement before Baton I
Rouge, the Arkansas was disposed Of as fisher !
1en dispose Of stranded wdales-wi.hOut dam
sc to the attacking party, and without chance =
+ escape for the Laundering victim. I
This being the history Of our naval operations Z
q the West, it may be well to ~insugurate q
hange. Whether this will be met by the plan Z
by Mr. Dub!e is more than 1 am pre-
AIRED to say. Something, however, needs to be q
onei and, perhaps, there Is nothing better to
revent invasion from the border States than 4 >
Get Of the kind suggested by the gentlemen
oW here. If they fail to secure the aid Of the
5verument, an effIrt viii be made to have the
ing done by the States bordering on the Ohio
ver-the very ones that are most closely inter =
ted n the enterprise. Let our Western armOred
be disposed Of as archaeological curiOsities, :
I'd then let as have some more effective. There =
2 efforts being made for a change in respect to =
e style Of irOH-clads for Western service. but a
iLh what success cannot yet be told. TX
rOni CoFinta-PreparaGiOns for Defense.