The New York herald., 1863-09-28

The Situation or General Rosecrnns-
Change OF Programmc-Six Months
Volunteers and Militia.
The late terrible battles near Chattanooga
have developed an ofensive-defensive system /
Of warfare on the part Of the enemy which de-
mands corresponding changes in the pro-
gramme of the government The remark attri-
buted to jeff. Davis by one of his most devoted
organs-the late Chattanooga Rebel-that be
"would snatch East Tennessee from the Yam
KEGS if it required the combined armies Of the
South" and the confessions Of the Richmond
journals that the late victory of Bragg amounts
to nothing while the opposing army remains in
occupation Of East Tennessee, are sufficient to
explain the designs of the enemy, the vital
Importance Of the position held by Rosecrans,
and the necessity Of heavy reinforcements to his
army, and without delay.
We are gratifed with the assurances that all
this is fully comprehended at Washington that
the supporting detachments of troops within
striking distance Of Rosecrans render him posi-.
lively secure for the present against all at
tempts Of the enemy to dislodge him, and that
his army will soon be strong enough to sweep
down into Georgia, and thence to the seaboard,
against the combined armies Of Davis. Nor do
we suppose that in the meantime the Army Of
the Potomac will remain in position of "mas-
terly inactivity or that the operations of
| General Gilmore against Charleston will be
suspended or slackened, or that the opportunity
will be neglected for reconnaissance by land
and water in the direction Of Mobile. Surely
from our six hundred thousand soldiers in the
field oil these enterprises may be prosecuted in
addition to vigorous and overwhelming cam
paign from Chattanooga.
But as the Union armies have advanced, and
on all sides, they have been, and must be, more
and more reduced, in order to guard their lines
OF communication in the rear. We dare
say, for instance, that had General Rosecrans
been able to bring up to the front
| against Bragg all those detachments guarding
the different depots, bridges, railways, &C.,
| In his rear, the result Of these late damaging
battles might have been vastly different from the
result achieved. So, too, but for the heavy
force required to guard his railway communi
cations with Washington, General Meade might
have been in Richmond q month ago. Two or
three hundred thousand additional soldiers are
demanded in order to prevent the frittering
away of our armies as they advance farther
and farther from their bases of supplies.
Without liberal achievements, at all events,
we cannot safely penetrate into the heart Of
South Carolina, Georgia or Alabama.
But how are these reinforcements to be sup.
Piled! The conscription is a slow process
What is to be doneg There are yet many hun
dreds OF thousands of able-boded men, ex
cellent raw material for soldiers, in
the loyal states. New York alone, against
hostile invasion, could still raise an
army equal in numbers to all the armies Of
the rebellion combined. We have the men in
abundance; but how are they TO be brough,
into the field at this junctures There is only
one way in which they can be Immediately
procured, and that is as volunteers for term
of only few months service. Thousands O
men will volunteer for six months who cannot
afford to abandon their private affairs for ever
one year. and tens OF thousands will come for
ward in answer to six months call who viii
shrink from a term Of three years or the war;
We would again urge, therefore, our PROPOSE
ton to the favorable attention Of President Lin
coin ofa proclamation appealing to the patriot
ism Of the people for an immediate levy, oppor
toned among The loyal States, Of three hundret
thousand sic months rol,nteers and militia. Th
whole force might thus be raised, armed an,
equipped, and moved forward to the field, with
in lees than two months. They would reliev
: perhaps two hundred thousand veteran soldier
from garrison and railway duties TO
active service in our advancing armies; an,
there can be no doubt that, thus strengthened
. they would utterly crush out the last fragment
. Of the armies of the rebellion In brief cam
paign East and West
We earnestly invoke the attention Of Pres
, dent Lincoln to this proposition. New Yor
; and Pennsylvania alone from volunteers an
their State militia, could readily furnish fit
thousand six months men for garrison dut
around Washington, and Kentucky and Ter
nessee would doubtless promptly raise thirt
or forty thousand six months volunteers to "a
sist the army of Rosecrans in driving the arme
forces Of the rebellion from their borders