The New York herald., 1863-10-21

rhe war i'm virgintn-The War fn ths
West-Aovy Goes the War.
We have the report from Washington tba'
Lees army is in rapid retreat for the Rapidan
and Is hotly pursued by the army Of General
Meade. But, even If not pursued considering
that Lee, In following up his adversary from
Culpepper, came in light marching order. sc~a
tily supplied with provisions, and over coun
| try completely stripped OF its subsistence there
is no alternative left him but hssty retreat
The country abandoned by General Meade "a
occupied by considerable local population
chiefly of old mon, women and children. who
must now be subsisted. to very great extent
by the army in occupation. With Indian corn
at five dollars per bushcl In Richmond, Lee can.
not undertake this Office of charity. We have
no doubt that one Of the main objects Of bis
desperate attempts against our retiring army
was to secure train or two of provisions; and
that. failing to capture anything. he will fnd the
country this side the Rapidan wholly unteDablc,
even II left TO its uudisputed occupation. A
country tho local population Of which have to
be fed aud clothed from tho army in posses
sion is no place for Lees badly fed and bare
footed army or any other army Of tho rebei-
lion.
The question now Remaining to be solved is,
whether General Meade relieved Of his cum
bersome wagon trains and reinforced from
Washington, will push forward and bring on
the issue Of general engagement, or be salts
fed with the retreat Of the enemy. AS there
will probably be still some six weeks Of good
campaigning weather in Virginia, il is to be
hoped that this available remnant of the season
will be turned by the War Office to good ac-
count The Army Of the Potomac is always
more anxious to advance than to fall back, and
we are sure that it is now as decidedly superior
in numbers as il is in equipment and efficiency
to the diminished army Of Lee. Within day
or two. however, we shall probably he relieved
Of all doubts on the subject.
Passing to the field Of operations on the
northern border Of Georgia, the presence of
JEFF. Davis with the army of Bragg betokens
some momentous impending military move
meni. Thus far Rosecrans has baffled and de-
fcated all the enterprises Of the enemy to flank
him, shell him out and 10 cut off his supplies.
lie has cleared the rebel cavalry from his rear
and their batteries from the height in bis front,
and is evidently master of the situation At the
same time, from rebel sources, we are informed
Of the successful advance, including several
rebel defeats, by portion ofGeneral Burnside's
army, from East Tennessee towards the Virginia
border, its destination being Abingdon. town
Of some military Importance in Southwestern
Virginia
At the same time General Joe Johnston. who
has turned MP again at Meridian, Mississippi,
reports defeat or two of some detachments of
his forces in the northern part Of that
State, who were aiming to cut some
Of the railways between Memphis and
Nashville. We suspect, however. that the
special business Of Joe Johnston is the
defence of Mobile and that accordingly he
occupies position in Mississippi from which he
may 60 to its rescue against an advancing Union
force, whether irsm vicksburg or New Orleans.
1t is not Improbable that General Grant will
soon end it expedient to send Sherman once
more to look after this man Johnston, in order
to start him again, minus his artillery, Or the
road to Alabama.
Our latest advices from the great Texas ex-
pedition Of General Banks represent it as get
ting forward prosperously. The leader and the
army engaged in this enterprise will unques-
tionably render in good report Of their labors,
although We cannot comprehend why they
should have been detailed to Texas in prefer
ence to Mobile. But, accepting things a. we
6nd them we are grati1ed to say that over the
whole field Of the war. from Virginia to Texas,
our latest reports, embracing number Of vic.
tories and no defeats. are full OF encourage.
ment to the Union cause, and betray no point
of positive danger. series Of great successes
il within the grasp Of the government, and it
is hardly to be supposed that the managers of
the War Ohice will 60 10 sleep again until they
have secured grand glorious and decisive
victory, East aud West.