The New York herald., 1863-07-27

the Rappahannock, and that accordingly they
have done all that could be done to embarrass
our army in re-establishing its base Of supplies
at Aqua greek. We cannot believe, however,
even If Gen. Lee, in full strength, should next
be discovered on the heights Of Fredericksburg,
that General Meade will accommodate him
with the repetition Of the blunders of Burnside
or Hooker.
Nor do we imagine that Lee intends to try
his fortunes again at Fredericksburg; for, with
all his boasted victories there, his losses have
been great and positive, while his gains may
be summed up as practically amounting to
nothing. He is wanted nearer Richmond; and
to gain time to bring in reinforcemeats to his
army he will most probably continue to fall
back as General Meade advances, and thus
avoid q battle till again behind the Chicka-
hominy. At all events, from the situation of
the two armies, as we now understand 1t, there
is no probability Of any important collision be-
tween them for several days to come. Between
the main body Of Meade's army and the main
body Of the enemy there is an interval, per-
haps, Of fifty miles, and before it can be crossed
events in other quarters may result in COM
plete change Of the present plans Of both
Meade and Lee.
We only know, from the facts before us at
present, that Lee has escaped out Of the She
nandoah valley, that he oan escape to Rich
mond without battle II he desires to do so,
and that he has evidently no desire for another
battle without some considerable additions to
his army.
Important from CharIsston-The Duty
Of tho Governments.
There seems to be no relaxation of activity on
the part of General Gilmore or Admiral Dahl
gren in their combined movement against
Charleston. Our army occupies the greater
part of Morris Island, where IL is strongly In
trenched, and its immediate object is to become
possessed Of the whole island, by driving the
rebels from Fort Wagner, which seems to
be the key to that place. In this work the
iron-clads are participating. We had known,
by the arrival at Fortress Monroe, three or four
days ago, Of the United States steamer Circas-
sian, which left Charleston on the 10th, that
Q general engagement was to take place on that
day. Since then we have direct news from
Charleston to the 22d inst, by the arrival Of the
Arago and Pocahontas at this port yesterday,
and to the same date through the Richmond
papers Of the Esd, which publish dispatches
from Beauregard in which 1t Is claimed that
the attack on Fort Wagner was repulsed with
great loss to our side. Our dispatches, pub
lshed this morning, correct this The fighting
seems to have been most furious on the 18th
and l9th-Saturday and Sunday. According
to Deauregard, the Ironsides, I've Monitors,
five gun and mortar boats and two land
batteries fred at the fort oil day Saturday,
ing Of one gun carriage, and ON Sunday,
after bombardment Of eleven hours, despe-
rate and repeated assaults were made upon the
fort, and repulsed with great slaughter. In this
despatch he sets down the Union loss In killed
| and prisoners at two thousand, and states that
| nearly eight hundred were buried under hag
Of truce. In this last figure he probably In
cludes those who fell on both sides; although,
for that matter, Beauregard's reputation for
romancing Ii such that no reliance will be
placed upon his statements. According TO our
report, our whole loss in killed, wounded and
prisoners, during twelve days. operations
amounted to only one thousand. One thing
seems pretty certain: that up to the 23d inst.
Fort Wagner was still in rebel hands.
1t now appears that upon the success
or failure Of our efforts 10 take Fort
Wagner the fate Of Charleston hangs II
Is the key to the entire position. With 1t
in our hands Fort Sumter would Of necessity
| fall and then Charleston would have TO sur
render This Is as well known to the rebels
as 1t Ia to ourselves, and therefore they are
making the most strenuous efforts 10 hold
the fort. We hope that the military and naval
authorities at Washington realize fully the i'm
mcnse importance Of insuring tho success Of
this movement upon Charleston, and omit
nothing that might tend to that result Even
though General Gillmorc's force may be re-
garded as sufficient for the purpose, there
should be reinforcements sent TO him, so as
TO "make assurance doubly sure" The rebel
force defending Charleston is probably being
largely increased from day to day by sccessions
from Bragg's and Johnston's armies, and this
contingency should be guarded against by
similar movements on our side.
Now, above all other times, there should be
nothing left to chance. The rebels must not
be allowed to recover from the depression
caused By their recent great .reverses BY any.