Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-04-04

-.s,..~ .r--osss Of ne Federal Bzpe-
dsffea.

NAtItTHINas@
s,.,gai oorrssssadsace Of The Chicago Timea1
HsLEsa. ARK. March SILL believe that
within the last half year, / have started for
Vicksburp, in company Bith.sOme grand and
promising expedition, on an average about onee
: month, aud have not got there yet. confess
10 a good desl OF curiosity to see that famous
Hill City. IBave tried, with the cid Of great
military pow and naval strength, TO get into
it from at least three different directions, and
IL portals still remain closed against me. II
seems 70 have been foreerdsined that Mcclellan
should neves get into Richmond though he
struggled long. patiently, energetiealy, sklll-
f1liv. ana properly - accomplish the purpose.
1 can sympalhize with him. Hope, long defer
red. mekeih the heart sick. have hoped so
long and so s~snguinely to get into Yieksbufg.
and my hopes have been 50 often blasted, { ct
my heart is becoming most feaEfully sick.
THE BACK DOOR TO vIcKsBURG LEFT OPEN.
The last seempt I made to reach the desired
haven was via the Ysz0o pass and Tsllahatchie
river. This is what our Southern friends would
call a mighty promising route. Il looked very
much as Il tie astute Vicksburgers, while Sc
curely locking their front doors against the en-
frsnee of Yankee hordes. had uuwittingly left
She back entrances wide open. And SO, in fact,
they had. True they thought tnis back door
wss closed They immsgined that nature bad
sFsetuallv closed aud barred It. But in this
they deceived themselves. They forgot to con-
slider the acknowledged cuteness and penetra-
ting powers Of the great universal Yankee ma
tim. Who ever heard Of q place under the
sun where g Ysukee was MOTTO be foundi The
Vrcst wall of China could never keep them cut
Of the Celestial kingdom; and, long before Com
modore Perry visited japan, there was d very
slight sprinBling Of Yankees among the exciU-
sive people. How absurd, therefore, to suppose
that nature could ObstTuct a water course so
that q Yankee could not engineer q steamboat
through it.
HOW WE DEFEATED U PLANS.
It was not the distractions that nature had
placed in and over the Yazoo pass that defeated
lbe expedition that more than e month ago
started out under such apparently favorable
auspices to enter YicksbWrg through this neg
leCed back door. Nor yet was It any obsta-
eles the enemy bad placed there. All these were
. overcome with the utmost ease. The trouble
was simply that, when we discovered the open
door. our risibilities got the better OF our disere-
ton. We we're seized with q great fit OF meTTi-
ment. and, instead Of quietly and quickly slip
ping In, We had 20 sit down on the threshold
and have our laugh out. Hs! ha! hs he! be
/ hel . What set Of ninnies these rebels sre
How much trouble they took to fasten their
Z front entrance auQ hItcI Ga went " Nu4 AIaf-
mg the back door wide 0penl Ia! hs hs
hsw! baw haw Oh, how my side aches
Thus we kicked up a most unseemly hullabaioo
and managed 20 wake up the old man OF the
house. He very soon saw and comprehended
1.-The occasion Of the row, but II was 700 late then
I for him to close and secure the door. IN fact
be had no occasion 10 do that. BE just ran
through the hsD and locked al the doors open
ing into II, and then stuck his head out of the
window and cried out TO Us There, yen id
Yankees, you have got into the hall make the
NEST Of it When you gel suy further into my
house Jet me- know"
A RIDICULOUS SITUATION.
Was ever q situation more sbsurdly ridicu
lous than ours Il is notorious that, when vi
struck The first spade into the great Mississippi
levee across the upper end Of the Yszoo pass
there was nothing whatever save a few trees
and logs, to prevent our passing straight through
70 Yicksburg, or at least as far on the way as
Yszoo city. But, instead of doing that, we
managed to putteF sway SIX weeks in getting
two hundred and Fifty miles on cur way, anC
then we ran against a snag that the enemy hsC
placed there during the Time we had been &C
/ conplishing our wonderfully rapid Journey, snC
against the snag We sill stick There as ever
a more contemplate phase Of the matter thar
this. The other day an Intelligent deserter cam'
into our camp before Fort Greenwood he may
bs reliable and truthful or be may not be. Il
was q rebel officer, but says that he is q Main
man. and entered he rebel service because h
could not get cut oS the South, ana this was hi
only course 10 avoid persecution. HIS state
ments have been substsntiated ia all respects Il
which it has been possible 10 substantiate sacl
statements.
A DEsERTER's STATEMENTS.
HE sforv Is so niausibIe tbatmr commander
are acting upon some Of his reports. he say
that When We arrived ia front Of he rebel fort
fcatoas, they had not a single hesyy gun II
position. And yet we suffered the slight casually
that occurred on that day on the Chillie0thl
(sHght, Of course, only in comparison with th'
Sacrifices this gigantic war demsnds)i we al
lowed the loss OF four hen killed and ten wound
ed 10 stagger as end cause US 10 fall back. TwI
Of our most formidable iron-clsd gUuboats wer
actually Tepulsed by a battery mounting moth
ing heavier than a 32pounder. Justice requires
that I should say thSt this was not the fault o
the gunboat commanders. Further than this,
have no apologies TO make.
THE ENEMY TAKES ADVANTAGE OF o DE
AVS.
That very night, after we had Withdrawn, tbs
rebels commenced work in earnest, and in tn
morning had rihed ~64pounder ready to tall
TO Us. And Il has talked 70 US earnestly snl
telHugly. And sinea that night they hay
mounted new guns, of greater caliber, nightly
DONELsOE DEFINES HIS POSITION.
dislike. very much to c%ritieise severely IL
conduct Of officers who take their lives ia thei
hands and go ont and fight the battles Of thei
country I do not believe the officer exists VIII
Is a taii0r and yet stands up AID lights. iacinl
TIE same dangers himself thst he calls upon hi
command TO fses. believe that It takes a tru
1880 food rn krnunfn aud E~hf and Nnnrc
fore I en- svarse to crisicisiag their conduct to.
closely. I think my record viii bear me on
that 7 seldom indulge ia criticisms, bat rather
in my communications eOufine myself 70 rsa
lions Of facts. The case is an extreme one il
which I suffer 70 violate this rule. And in sue
cases | prefer to omit names. If an officer j
incompetent for the position he fills, be yet ma
BE- q brave and true man, and brave and tru
men are not SO plentiful in this day and genera
ton that they can be eavalierly condemned 0
denounced as imbeciles. These consideration
sctaate me in retaining from mentioning name
someGnes in whatI may say Of this Yszoo pas
expedition. The relevancy Of these Temark
viii appear in the sequel.
so A THE EXPEDITION IS A ALLURE.
It might have been a most signal and gloriou
success, the precursor Of greater victories tha
we have yet achieved in this war. To hay
been ell that I clam it might have been,
should have hadno battle to fight at Greenwood
! The mere failure 10 reduce that position IS n,
what / consider the failure of the expedition
Fort Greenwood is nothing. To be sure it hs
resisted us so far but tbs force that we no
baye there could take two such places at tn
same time and not make q desperate effort
that. I do not despair Of Greenwood. Soon
or later it must be ours,
i IN WHAT FAILURE CONSISTS.
TIE failure lies IN the fact that we had an
fortifcston st Greenwood to take. It was OF
4. own fault that that work was in e~xistence whe
we got there, and that we had TO reduce it. Tn
Is freely admitted by al parties concerned. u
fortunately the opinion as to where the respoI
sibiity for this failure rests, Snot so unanimeu
The public know the facts as well as / do, an
the public may Judge who is to blame.
+ TIE ACTION OF THE 18TH INST.
AID yet, even with Fort Greenwood in exis
ence. We ought not to have met with 50 cor
plets q fixture as has thus far befallen US. tn
- -.-fs.T Irr Teunnuefrnaad in fia action