The New York herald., 1863-10-14

u.
The Position Of Rosecrsnl>|Ine Ss1
er the Rebels.
General Rosecrans' actaal posloon, wnesnof
we view 1t in respect to its danger to sne enemy
or ia respect to the safety Of his own army n
one of intense interest Supplied with all tna'
is necessary for an army in active service, anu
with force at least equal to the whole Dtce
that could possibly be concentrated at any posn'
on his line Of operations, the general who hao
river without a battle might, before he left the
position at Chattanooga, have drawn up the
schedule Of conditions to be offered to the rebel
leaders in any city he chose. But if that gene
raj Is the servant of government that gives to
party intrigue the attention It ought to give to
its armies-that 6ddles and laughs irrespective
of the ruin that may ensue--then he will neither
be furnished with adequate supplies nor with
adequate force. In that case he will
have to relinquish any hopes that be
might have to close the war by
o great success, and will find it necessary to
look after the safety OF his own position with
all the earnestness with which he sought to de-
stroy the enemy Such is, to certain extent,
General Rosecrans' situation now.
We give to-day map by which the reader
may see at glance the whole theatre OF war in
the Southwest, and the relations Of Chattanooga
with 'Murfreesboro, Kingston lin Tennessee),
Rome, Atlanta, and the three points at which
the respective parts of the rebel force are now
held in hand-Dalton, Lafayette and Trenton
How much danger there is to the confcderacy
in our continued possession of Chattanooga as
base for future advance by the Valley Of
the Chickamauga TO Rome, and thence to Allan
ia, will be seen at q glance. But exactly in
proportion as such position is valuable to us
for active operations against the enemy so is it
dangerous to US when matters are the other way,
when we are compelled to stand on the de-
fensive and the enemy threatens. What peril
there is under such circumstances in such q line
as that from MurfreesborO to Chattanooga may
be seen in the recent Achievements Of the rebel
Wheeler, who crossed the Tennessee river near
Bridgeport, and burned wagons at McMinnville.
Elsewhere we print a letter from Baltimore
which gives from rebel sources what the rebels
are doing and hope to do in their operations
against General Rosecrans. Upon this autho-
rity the rebel force now in the field in Georgia,
drawn for the emergency from every part OF
the Southern States, numbers one hundred and
seventy five thousand men and nearly two hun
dred and fifty pieces Of artillery. With this
force, under Johnston, Bragg and Longstrcet,
and now disposed in semicircle around Chat
tanooga on the south side Of the river, the
rebels propose to completely invest that town
and capture General ROsecrans and his whole
army, and to do for us on the Tennessee what
Grant did for them on the Mississippi. In the
numbers that our Baltimore correspondent
gives we do not believe. People in Richmond
may think that the rebel general in Georgia
has such force; but it is because the thought
is in consonance with their wishes, and not be-
cause they have any better reason to think it.
But lessen the numbers, for exaggcration, by
one third, and that will still make d very for
midable army.
Salvation for the confederacy lies now in
successful resistance to Rosecrans; but to cap
ture bis army would be triumph equal to the
most that the most sanguine rebel could hope
for. As the plan is one full Of temptation, we
may be certain that the attempt will be made
to carry it out. We have seen hitherto with
what earnestness and energy the rebels 60
about a favorite project, and we have seen the
lethargy of our government on all critical oc-
casions, and while we remember these we GER
tainly cannot regard the rebel plan as very
wild one. But we shall see.