, 1863-07-15
Chicago 0ribn1re.
WEDNESDAY, JUET Is, 1868.


Gen. Lees Plans.
The Richmond 6.4stiuel ef ,July {;t;, make
the fo}lerir 8 staten ut OF Lec's pl.ns, in hi
grand Northern inyasion:
For some three weeks past, and mora al
dAtkeedom has been przzlins itself to divine
eener4 Lees plans, Lincoln, Halleck, Hook
slonal Paul Ptys Of the North, hare beer
ootieripg their brains 10 get at these myste
Fious plnns. Tint Lee was exactly the kind
Of man 10 have plan they well knew. Gen.
scott had told them, and the idea WAS pretty
well beaten into them at Richmond, Manas
sar, and eundry other places. But their spec,
ulation seems to have been In vain. The
Yankees cannot imagine what arc General
Lees plans. Some Of our OWE critics are
I equally curious and chagriued. They do moi
tancy Gcneral Lee over and abore much, aud
until they find ont what are his plans It would
not be prudent for them to attempt critt
c'sm. They might uclnckily indorse the VERY
programme which tho General has always bad
IN view, and then nothing would be LEFT the n
| to do but to praise tie division Generals, and
omit all reference 10 this Gcneralin. Chief, In
speaking Of the battles.
Feeling a good deal Of sympathy for these
earnest in4uirers after truth, we propose to
tell them something about General Less
plans, although they are secret. First and
foremost, if We haye been rightly Informed.
General Lee, before undertaking his FORWARD
| movement, made ont plan and formally sub.
nitted it tor the appreciation Of President Da.
Wis. We lave been assured on the authority
Of q number. Of dniIy papers that President
Davis il went to override and control all hts
| Generals and manage all the operations hin
| felf here at Richmond, by which means It
would appear We lost Dane15oq, Roanoke. and
New O'leane, and won Manassas, Gaincs' M,lI.
Shiloh: Fredericksburg Chancellorsville, &c,
f. - y<ou&{ h$o 4e -A.k -.
statement, a1d We are very snro that on this
last occasion General Lee was allowed to hive
bis own Was and tarIy out his plans exactly as
he pltated It follows from this that If the
thing goes wrong, both General Les aud the
President are greatly to blaue- They cannot
escaEe. II, Oh the other hand, important re-.
sultE, CAPTURES Of towns, cannon, victories,
DC, are the consequences, then all the credit
Is dur, MOTTO General Lee, but to some one of
tue division Generals, who may redeem, by
skillful execution, the errors IN the concep-
tfon Of the plan. .
But what was "tho plan ~ 4 primary and
nott important part Of the plan presented to
The War Department By Gen. Lee WIS to uuit
the defensive and to assume the Offensive to.
ward the enemy. Next, to move his army By
. flank march near: 1he enemy's farces-pcr-
haps The most delicate and difficult problem
bank If the Rappahanntck, to keep . suificl-
Client force under that skiIlfal tighter, A. r.
Hill, to check Hooker, detain him and keen
hlm from moving On toward Richmond. But
Te beg pardon. In our hurry to let out the
tsclet Of Gen. Lees plans, we forgot to state,
to KEEP his plan and his preparations for NOV.
Ing lis large army secret from the enemy
aid from the public, Also: to cover his
march, conceal his men by mountains, seize
all the noun ain pnzses By which Hooker
could detect and interrupt his operations. aud
IN eoirg al this to fight more taau one fierce
cavalry batt1e md win them all with inferior
forces. It was another plan to accumulate
provisions and supplies beforehand, so that
the troops should not suffer on tho march,
ard to choose for the route country not ex-
hausfed 81 war, full Of forage and food, with
q point which looked all a-onnd-like the ere
in q, coed painting-at Winchester, Cham
be7sburg, Pittsburg, Hnrper's Ferry, Balti
mtrc, Washington, and even at the rear Of
the fierce Hooker himself, for second and
closer view OF the reverse side Of the finest
army Oh tue planet It vas also in General
Lees mind, II Hooker chose to stay where
he Vas. to let him alone severely for while,
and ii he chose to follow after, to coudenri
his army to an e1hausting mnrch over
waste country aboundlng in dust and scant Of
Water.
But this is not all. It was also mart Of the
plan to send jenkins and Ewefl {the lat.
ter more active eren than when he had both
legs) to the valley, there by skillful aud rapid
movements to enyelop M1lroy at W1uches-
ter, to storm the works, to capture that place
and all or nearly al1 Of Mlroy's army, can
non, stores, &C., &C., and deliver the uncon-
qusrable, long oppressed Population Of the
valley from yoke Of develish bondage, and
give our noble women there the protection Of
our own flag instead, Of the slender |
ntrcieb" Of cruel fanatic, and armed negro |
na1 1s 1baIians. 7 Vas possible consequence Of
alto be abandoned by the foe, and ultimately
nearly the whole of Virginia north ofthe Rap
pahanuucE and cast of the Blue Ridge. It |
WIS deemed important to secure the growing
crop OF this large region thus to be redeemed
from the foe, aud keep the Yankees from get
ting them.
Again, It was part Of the plan to occupy the |
western part Of MaIyland, and the large towns |
OF Cumberland and Hagerstown, md to draw
supplies from this, the least southern In spirit |
ot all parts Of that State Holding these rich |
TSu4tiss firmly Ge1 Lee proposed to destroy
berland canal 60 that in no event could the
enemy use either for long time to come.
Tlese things accomplished Gen Lee proposed
to push Large column If forces under Eweu
into Pennsylvania, to take Chambersburg,
Carlisle, Gettysburg, and to seriously threaten
Jenkins aud I1nboden we're to gather up all
the cattle and horses they could lav their
hands On, and "send 1hem South" like Val
landlglam. The whole If this army was to
live or the ererny-and thus transfer the bur-
den Of the war from our shoulders to his.
The Pennsylvania Central railroad was to bo
cut. and The bridges destroyed; the Columbia
eDd FORK connection ditto; the PENNSYLVANIA
cauA ditto. The Baltimore md York connec.
tlou Eas to be Threatened, and so, too the
Baltimore md Philadelphln road. Washing
to" and Baltimore we're to bo specially men
hrtd III $}a rYn1nr r. l
and Philadelphia. All this was to he done
According to The plan sketched ont, without
strlons tntertert1ce By Hooker, without q |
loss of 500 men at the most, without dan
geTous dispersion Of the army, md consis-
te, t1y with the readiness and ability to deliver
a general battle, whenever the enemy should
be tired of having his towns occupied, com,
lnnnications cnt of, and property taken by
lbtse Who had '1ebelled against "the best
the world ever eaw."
So much for Gen. Lees plan. Perhaps we
hight unfold even more Of It, but we certain
y have done enough for the present to satisfy
lawful cnriosity, and We may, perchauce, let
put Il tie more In day or two. But take
The plan rs far as we hare 1ecited 1t, aud does
It not look pretty well on paper? Suppose it
viii say tits not a good thing? For our own part
although addicted to peaceful pursuits, and
knowing little Of war, VIC are bold to say that
wc consider the plan good one, and General
Lee an exceedingly sensible man. We only
hope nobody will repeat these plans to Gen.
Hooker, lest he should take advantage Of 1t
md do something to check the execution Of
what appears to our limited vision to be
most pralseworthy design-Worthy indeed Of
J geat general. We hope, also, that the
e Old Tycoon" (as Lees staff call him) will
act order us to disemboWt1 ourselves be-
,auEe we have disembosomed ourselves so
rely in the mattel Of his secret plan Of inya-
:ion- =.