Washington telegraph., 1862-05-14
NO. Is.

| The SITUATION. N.-Ihe events OF the
last six'- days have entirely changed the
military policy Of the Confederate. Gov
ernment. The ruiuous system Of defence
which originally s,ught to protect every
| harbor and inlet IF nnr coast FROM occu-
pat.oR, aud weIch established an imprac-
/ ticable line on our northern frontier, ex-
tending over two thousand miles in length,
has been wisely abandoned, and our scat
tered forces have been gradually nmassei
into two large armies, the, enc IN the val-
ley of the Mississippi aa9 the other IN
Virginia. Up,n these two armies hang
our hopes, and il them i our strength
The mcager accounts which come to rs
from the East show that great and deci-
~sive battle in imminent on the Peninsula.
The sharp skirmishes that have recently
taken place are forcrunners Of more imp0r-
tant results. Ii il here that Mcclellan.
with his spendidy equipped and well
uppOiuted army, whicn has been under
discipline since last July. has rut his ar
my in position with the view OF resuming
NcDowelPs uncompleted march "On to
Rchmondpi Ii il probable that McClel~
Ian will be able TO concentrate rs many as
1885, 900 troops with which to try this
hazardous experiment. Gen. Magruder,
with force estimated b. tho enemy at
10000 men, opposes the aarlnce Of the
Young Napoleon" Il l. further tho
estimate of the better pJ~:ei Northern
journals that this army can be reinforced
to 100000 strong At any critical moment.
How accurat; this hypothesis i. we will
not venture to say. The hest engineers
of the South have been employed TO con
struct Notifications in York and Warwick
counties, covering the most available ap-
proaches to Richmond, aud the best ar
tlllerisis in the Confederate service have
been detailed to this quarter 70 eight the
guns" which are of the heaviest and mos:
approved pattern. For, it was considered
ia the begin ning of the war ,hat nowhere
-ouli Richmond Be more efficiently lie
Tended, than upon the very ground which
McClellan's army is now facing.
The route which the commander of the
Potomac Department has chosen being
tile most direct, has, for that very reason,
been made the most difficult For more
! than twenty miles from Old Point, the
Peninsula IS only ten or twelve miles in
/ breadth, whilst at one point, between
Yorktown on the York river and James
river, the distance across is little more
than five This neck, then, affords ample
, facilities for formidable military works,
/ and they have not been ovcrlooked.-
} Yorktown itself is an immensely strong
position, and We are not surprised at the
, statement that mortar and siege trains
must be used for assaulting, or otherwise
no impression can be made
Yorktown the county town of York CO.,
Is on the south side of York river, eleven
miles from its mouth. 1t is seventy miles
east south east of Richmond, and one hum
dred and eighty five miles south of WASH
lngton. At one time it was in a -four
ishlng condition, but at present consists of
about sixty houses its population proper
being in the neighborhood of five hundred. :.
Already famous as the place where Lord
CORVALLIS surrendered the Britirh troops
to Gen. Washington in l76l-it may fg-
ure on the historic page for It's connection
with the events in the present conflict.
In the west, the hostile armies face
each other within the vicinity of the bloody
field of Shiloh. Like two contending gi-
ants exhausted by conflict, they eye each
other with deadly intent, ready TO renew
the clash of arms upon the slightest prov
ocation- The Importance of the issue to
the enemy is attested BY his tremendous
preparations. Halleck, the pride Of the
western army has been sent to take com.
mand at Pittsburg, and his army from
Missouri will doubtless follow him. The
federal army that fought and was routed
at Shiloh, is to be doubled, and that terri
BILE conflict is to be again repeated. The
next thirty days is pregnant with start
ling results, therefore. in both the East
and the West. Within that period we
may expect at least two battles to be
fought, that may be classed among those
that have "fxed the fate Of nations" If
Southern arms triumph decidedly, our in
dependence is an acknowledged fact
otherwise the effect will only be to cncour-
age the enemy in his vain hope of con.
quest, and thus protract the war, but re-
suit in our subjugation, NEVER
.Nemphis Appeal.