New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-01-16

TIE rVnuagDE EXPEDITION.


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TIEE EVBEggDE EXPEDITION.
Were our Information positive aad Official as
70 The destination of the Burnsdc Expedition,
it would, of course, he our duty not to reveal
it; hut as the ships are reported 20 have passed
Cape Henry, bound outward, and as this must
necessarily give rfe TO speculation, there can
BE 10 ham ia discussing ccTtaia known facts,
which viii convey 10 information 20 the enemy
thot tho expedition Itself has no, already
carried them.
The vessels uuder Commodore GOlasboToueh
are intended, it is wen Known, for inland
navigation. il was conieclgred, therefore, that
their destination was one or more OF The great
streams Of Virginia. That they are not going
there, at least now, is clear, for they have
turned thcir prow7 sou'Lwa,d and gone out to
sea. We can hardly be ainiss ii we presume
the inland and shallow seas Of AibemaEle and
Pamlico Sounds to be the aim, and if that be
so they are there already. Their GRAND there
must be 70 finish the work so well begun -four
months aud half ago by Ger. Butler and
Commodore Stringlam, but which, for some
reason never yet explained, they abandoned on
the thresbold.
There is more then one point on that coast
at which the rebellion can be struck a telling
blow. When the feet enters Albemarle Sound,
whether Mt one of the nOrthernmost ialets, per-
laps the Curr.uck, or Hailoras Inlet, It may first
aim for Currtuck Sound, the outlet of North
River. North River is connected with Norfolk 10y
tie Albcmarle Cacal aud has been, ali Summer
long, the convenient back door of access to
that city. il seems great While ago snce
we showed how very convenient Tins was Tor
the Rebels, and how very ineGicen: n blockade
of Norfolk, at tie CaPes, was, 70 long as the
Sound and this Canal were left open ior small
craft 10 creep 10 and ont. Is they have done ever
since the war began; bat We believe. after all,
ttnt it is ouly about SIX months since we discussed
the subject. II may, then, be one Of the pur'
poses Of this Expedition to close this door
eleciual.y; aud It is no. impossible that The
tin more effective measure may BE- rescr;ed to
Of taking the road that leads 10 il, aud enter
ipg Richmond Itself iu tbs back way. IL would
certanl, be u brilliant, aud i. may be taat
il is not m impossible feat. 81 any rate that
whole southern coas; Of Virginia can be threat
eled aud taken possession OF At certain points
vile other portions OF the feet can press on
to Tanlco SQUAD, aud eiinc- reduce oil East
crn North Carolioa to obedience, or secure It's
allegiance, os the case may be. But 10 do ths,
Roanoke leland, which commands the wRtcr'
connecting tie two Souais, must hsst be reduced
aud held; abl here, perhaps we Say bear OF
some hard fighting, ugcss the Island BE-
already abandoned. Bu. this once carried, aud
panlico Sound is open 70 Tie Expedition. Be-
lore entering this, however, OF smuiianeou y,
az may seem best, forces may go up the
Chowan River, whence, at another point, Nor
folk may be- threatened IN the rear, and what,
perhaps, ~ OF more consequence, Weldon, Ia
North Carolina, may DO taken, where tue rai.-
roads from Norfolk and. Richmond, southwark
to Raleigh and Charleston, form junction.
The possession Of Weldon and Hickslord, a lit
to dlltance north Of i, would cut of the rail
road communication with Eastern Virginia andthe
South Atlantic States. ANY operations in Pam
leo Sound would be rendered all the easier by
20 important possession. Beauregard, with
bic railroad communication cut on IL hs rear,
and Mcclellan threatening him in front,
must leave the CarolinGs TO take care Of
themselves. Newberne, on the Neuse River,
can be approached by water, and the railroad
communication of Beaufort On. c. with the
interior be cut of at that point, aud base be
made here for future operations against other
portions OF the State-Raleigh, Goldsboro, i'm
portant railroad functions, aud other towns.
Such we see TO be the advantages OF this
expedition should ls frat aim be these I'M
portant Sounds. IT may do more, it may do
less than we have limited, but il is at any rate,
in good hands. On one point we have much
confidence in Gen. BuTnside--whereye be sweeps
rebellion away before him, Slavery Will go with
it, as its fret great cause, and its chief sup
port
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