The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1863-05-08
The Siege of Vlcksburg.

The Chicago Tribune, OF late date, IN
the following on the siege of Vicksburg:
The situation of our army at Vicks
burg is one of great solicitude 10 all wh'
know the difficulties that have been en-
countered the little progress that ha:
been made, and the remoteness of tn,
probability that the country will be cleo
trified by Gen Grants success. We neeC
not disguise from our readers the factiha
up to this time all the plans land they al,
many ofthose in command have failed
and that the prospect for triumph a
last is far less fiattering to-day than it wal
six weeks ago. We do not by any means
despair. The taking Of the place is a vi
tai necessity of the war; and taken il
must be, at whatever cost but we can
not conceal our anxiety lest, at the end
OF six weeks more we shall be Obliged Ia
confess that Gen, Grant is unequal to the
task that has been assigned him, or that
his force is too small to cope with the oh.
stacles that nature and the enemy have
interposed between our army and the &C.
complishment Of the nations Wishes
We apprehend no aggressive movements
on the part of the besieged which will in
volve the destruction OF our force; but
the day is fast approaching when, in those
pestilential swamps, our men will encoun.
ter foe whose attack, though stealthy
and noseless, will be more terrible than
any sally, no matter how desperate and
Infatuated, that the beleagred garrison
could make. We mean that sickness will,
as soon as the sun gains more power, and
the waters, now at their flood, begin to
recede, commence its work; that before
the tevers and diarrhpas, OF which hard
labor, great exposure and bad diet added
TO the miasma Of the region, have planted
the fatal seeds whole regiments will dis.
appear as if under deadly fire at point
blank range; and that. ere the Govern
ment is warned Of the iacts-indeed al
most before commanders can realize the
real condition of those under them--the
country will learn that it has no army
that it has melted away and disappeared
like one of the unstable and oozy island
in the river upon the bank Of which those
tens of thousands are now encamped.-
1t is TO this apprehension. which must be
ever present to the mind Of a prudent
General, that we must attribute the re-
ports that make their way up the river
that the expedition is already a failure,
and that deep dissatisfaction is felt by tho
men, and portentous dependency by
their officers. 10 it must, perhaps, be
charged the other rumors-that General
Grant, without coniessing defeat, has re.
solved upon a change OF plan, and that
we shall not have long to wait before we
hear that the new strategy, involving 9TH
er modes of attack, and new and untried
routes, has been crowned with glorious
success. We pay no attention TO stories
OF either class, but hope on, knowing if
we do not succeed tomorrow, or next
week, or next month, and even If this
army is wasted. that Vicksburg will surely
fall. To suppose anything else is to adj.
NIT that the whole war had been fruitless,
and that the Government and the coun.
try must give up the contest in disgrace.
II must not be supposed that the exc.
cution, the loss Of men, and the squan
dering Of resources, are all on one side.-
The enemy has no sinecure in possession,
and though the national pride may be hu.
inflated, and the national expectation
bitterly disappointed in the present fail.
ure that we apprehend, it is something TO
know that the enemy have suffered quite
as much if not far more than ourselves;
and that If our army should be compelled
to suspend active operations 20 await re-
Inducements and recruit its exhausted
strength. it will advance again to the at
tack Of foe whose resources are well
nigh exhausted and whose last reinforce.
ments were long ago sent 10 the field
So whatever the immediate result of what
now seems so painful we may be sure that
the enemy, considering his weakness and
his Impeachment, has lost far more
than the party Of attack.