Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1863-08-20
rE,,- nn,1.,x s,sua,,on-A Norsnern view.

The Military s,sr.zt,on-A Nortnsr" View
The Baltimore Gazette of the 9Th inst, in its sI1-
mary news has the following:
since the battle CT Gettysburg, and the~ capture Of
port Hudson and icksburg the Federal forces under
Meade, end Grant and RosecraDz end Banks, respec-
lively appear to have sUbsided into comparative mac
ton The Army of the Potomac rests somewhere IN
the vicinity of the RappahanD0ck, worn out By long
marches and greatly weakened by its loses ut Am
chester an Pen0syl ,ana by the return home OF the
Pennsylvania militia, OF the New York troops, bur
ritd forward by Gov, Seymenr, and OF the many Ieg
Elents whose tenn Of service had expsrfd General
Meade seems to DE IN no cond'tloD 70 take Ire
ef:zsive and will probably c0uteus himself il lie
is permitted to do So with watching the movements Of
the enemy until ad5 quae reinorc me1ts shall reach
him. II is position is said TO be naturally strong o1e
AID to siren CITIZEN it still further he has made liberal
use of the pick and spare. Il may be that the aufhCr
tiles at Washington have really ordered Meade TO al
vance as the correspondence Of tire Boston Courer
which we published yesteriay indicates; but the new
cOmmander-D.chit Of the Army OF the Potomac Will
scarcely hazard his reputation by taking the initiative
10 a new campaign unless assured OF sufficient sup
port TO Justify q forward movement, and we doubt
whether such support could be had without entirely
stripping tie deenc3 Ct Washington CT troops unless
Grant furnishes portion OF his Ofc3 Tor The purpose
In the meantime however, the COufdTate army under
Lee now lying bet weel the RapPahann0ck aud the
Rapdan, may not be content to remain inaCuTe lis
numbers are said to be al least equal to those OF tie
|
Gen Lee will scarcely be inclined to stand fJr any coz
sid rabe length of TINA The defensive, unless he too,
is expecting renforcemens from tie SouthWest Ii Is
not indeed improbable that there will be concentTa-
ton Of troops both sides, and that the next ren2n-
dous struggle viii be- the one hand t0c The pos&e>
sion Of Richmond, and On the other, oT the capture oi
Wa-hingt0n.
Since the retreat Of Bsagg, Cen L25actans has 90;
venturad beyond iuQh0ma, and far good and sufficient
rsas 1ns-his army is not strong enough to advance
any ur her intO tie IN er0r aud keep up at the sane
time Els Gae OF communication with TIE base CT lis
supplies at Naslyle 70 what point Gen. bragg has
fallen back we are not Informed. Z portion ot bis
forces, under RArdee, occupies Chattanooga, and, IS
the position very strong one and is also well tortl-
fed tie latter is not in any serious danger OF having 1t
Wrested from hin.
Gen. Grants army h s been broken mp into several
divsions-paro CT garTis0n8 lciza3Drg, pait hos
gone up the iver, and part has gone down 20 assist
General B4nk8 many Of whose troops have served their
time cut ard have been, will be, mustered cut OF
service. HE o@p1s2 OF lcksbui5 a1d Fora Hudson
Was not ,;shei without heavy loss, and apart
from casual.ies Of battle, tie diseases Incidental 10
the climate NUT be taken mo account. These com
bned causes have, a matter OF c0UEsa, sin1py re-
duce the number Of elective men which Grant had at
his disposal whilst the comparatively small force ul-
der Banks has been still further reduced by The return
home Of those volunteer regiments whose term CT sr
vice has expired Notwithstanding, therefore, the sue
wlich have been achieved in the Southwest it is
manifest that any further operations especially at this
sez3u Of the year. would scarcely be consistent with
that prudence which governs sensible ccmnendaC.-
Il is true that We hear that Mobile and Savannah
to b. next points of attack but it is far likely
that such troops IS can be spared viii be seat 10 Meade
in Virginia, and Gilmore before Charleston, whilst,
perhaps those that dawn from Rosecrarz will be
returned to him.
The war On the lower Mississippi is evidently over
for the present. ard if Meade does not adyaucs aud Is
not attacked, popular interest Will centre Charles
ton where Gilmore is struggling 10 overcome the
fold difficulties which hesct him every side, Gnd
which are even G0w taxing lis engineering skill to The
utmost. VIII be succeed eventually There are those
who 5aDgQine enough 10 predict that he viii }ut
battery Wagner still holds out, shct and shell making
no serious impression upon the sand OF which the works
composed The garrison and its supporting force
can be relieved stIeng hened rCm Charleston 1T viii
ana i cannot be fiaukeG from the adj Dining isian7
Qualifications equally formidable have been constructed
there, or are IN progress OF coDSructon-tGEee tnou-
sand negroes having been called Tor by Gov. Bonham
for that purpose, in addition 10 those already actively
at work.
More than thirty days have elapsed since The Fedora
troops landed Morris Island two assaults upon Bat
terry Wagner have been made, and both were repused
with such loss that correspondents inform there
will be further attempt to carry that work by storm
TO take it by siege slow aud exEaustng process at
best 1t is believed, however, that although Battery
Wagner may hold out for l0rg time TO COME and per-
hars Indefinitely that the heavy guns being placed
in position will be enough TO batter down Fort
Sumter, and that Sumter Coce abandoned Charleston
must fall We doubt if this result follows necessarily
< The complaint now is, that the Monitors have
been but Of little service and that the capture Of
Charleston is necessarily dependent upon the success Of
operations on land. If this be true and if it be also
true that Gen, Gilmore nas suffered loss Of one third
OF his force il Is ct least matter OF doubt whether
Charleston be taken at all Certain it is this re-
suit only be attained by much larger army than
is now under the command Of Gen. Gilmore.