Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-07-03
The situation Of Eas. tennessee.

FROM the AuoaFlIe he g1btefs June "a.
During the past week the enemy, who entere
East Tennessee at Wilson's Gap, in large.force
3 has been steadily making his way up Powell
Valley, and at our latest advices was in posses
5 sion of Tazewell, the county seat of Claiborne
The only opposition he has encountered SO far
that we can hear of, has been from the eavalrl
of our gallant Col. Ashby, who has been con
tinually skirmishing with his pickets, and bar
RAISING him no little in his progress Henry
: Ashby has the right metal in him, and bids fail
to win as high a name in the vsllies of Ess
Tennessee, as his brave cousin, the lamenteC
Gen. Turner Ashby, did in the Valley Of Yir
ginia. We hope for him as mnch renoWn, but q
longer career.
The enemy's position at Tazewell is threat
eniEg enc, and if he is not attacked at once
and inIiously," may result in giving him advan-
tages that viii be iTetrieYable ruin to us Taze.
well is Immediately in front of Cumberland
Gap, on the nearest route from Knoxville to that
point. PowelPs Valley extends into Virginia
and from Cumberland Gap, through the Valley
to Moccasin Gap, is one of the best roads in the
country. Thence to the salt works, and to the
Virginia and Tennessee railroad at Abingdon,
there is nothing to stay his victorious career, un-
less he is at once attacked and routed by the
army Of Gen. Smith. The possession, or even
| the partial destruction Of the salt works by the
enemy would be a calamity to the Confederate
States more Serious than the fall of Richmond
| for these works are now almost the sole reliance
| of the South for one Of the most indispensable
necessaries Of life.
The character of the enemy in Powel's Val
| ley is one, also, which, in addition to other
incentives, should rouse up our government to
/ every possible exertion to at once destroy or
! drive him bcal His force is in part composed
of the FIVE or six regiments Of East Tennessee
renegades who come with oaths of vengeance on
their tongues and hellish rage in their hearts,
not to fight for a political sentiment, nor to re-
store perished Union, but to gut their revenge
in the blood and ruin of their former friends and
neighbors, and to indemnify themselves by pill
lsge for their time lost and substance wasted
during the self Punishment into which they were
deluded by the cunning and unprincipled lead
ers whom the misguided leniency of this gov
ernment has spared to bound them On in this
diabolical work Their course already has been
marked by outrsges which shock humanity, as
we learn from those Southern citizens who have
escaped from their hands.
Another feature Of their programme, we have
1t plad5hly limited, is the destruction Of the
bridges on the upper end IF the East Tennessee
end Virginia railroad If they are permitted to
reach Moccasin Gap in Virginia, an easy and
unprotected road through Hawkins, Sullivan
and Washington counties, brings them to the
bridges at Union and Carter's Depot. Carter
and Greene counties are now sWarming with
armed traitors and bridge-burners, who openly
avow their readiness to cooperate with any
force tho Federals may send on this mission.
All these facts sufficiently indicate we think, |
the imperative necessity Of at once checking the
progress Of the invaders up Powell's Valley; |
Gen. Smith has a crisis to encounter which will |
admit of no dallying or halfway measures. We |
trust and believe that he viii prove himself equal
to the emergency. By a rapid and determined |
coup he may rid East Tennessee of scourge,
avert a most serious danger from the Confede |
racy, and at once place himself in the front rank |
of the heroes of this revolution.
The troops who have so long been pining in |
this region for want of active service, as well as
those who have come from winning lsurels in /
other fields, are all burning with noble ardor at
the prospect Of meeting the enemy. Let them /
at once be led against him, and victory is sure.
If the golden opportunity is lost, and the foe /
has time to strengthen his columns and choose. |
his positions, the consequences may be disas
trous to US to degree we shudder to contem-
plate