Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-11-17
rRon WARRINGTON.
usueuvers of the two Armies ON the
Hap'dan-Advaata OF Gen.-Lec'-
Po.iIion-Thc Consc "a pfion act be-
cIored UNCONVENTIONAL.
Special Correspondence Of the Chicsgo Times-l
" E-....f... ~


W.sHiSaros. November "
Gen Meade has Md considerable progress
toward ''6nkng and fighting the enemy" since
nv last letter On tie 1ih. sth and 9Th insis
the Armv OF the Potomac advanced from Warren
ton and WArre1ton Junction 70 tie Rappahar-
mock river. engaged tbst portion 81 Gen Lees
army which was statiorei on this side crossed
The river after sharp skirmish. and advanced o.
far a. CulpepDsr. The poiBis At which the cross.
ing was effected were At Keily's Ford and AZ the
railroad bridge four miles ab0veit The engage
ment, which 80 CALAMITY contested on both
side- before the crossing effected. was Tough,
on the part OF the COnieierates with very small
portion Of their army--only the rear guard in
fact The main body OF Lees army has pursued
the line of tactics which have before intirnated
tnsy would adopt. namely: being slready the
south aide Of the Rappahannock. they Withdrew,
frs; 70 Cnlpepper. and thence 10 the south side
OF tho Rapidan river. where they are nov posted.
Our armS is nov It CuIpepper; aud the ques-
ton IS shsiI Gen Meade advance. and cross the
Rspidan alsog tor be cannot dght the enemy"
unless he does so Il is beginning 10 be evident
that il is hot such an easy matter 10 make Gen
Lee fight. It j. beginning 10 be understood that
when the great battle taxes place 70 which
Abraham Lincoln has been bounding on HE
brave soldiers u must be, long as this route to
Richmond Is persisted in. at a time that will suit
tie convenience OF JEFF Davis and Gen Lee, and
on ground tina, the latter has selected IL NAV
take place when Gen Meade attempts To force
the passage of the Rapidan. OrGen. Lee NAV
retire still further southwark and leave the pas
sage of the Ra pidan unobstructed; and General
Meade may hnd second Wilderness; seconf
Chancel0rville, at some point nearer 10 Rich-
mond than either Of these two places; or a Sec
ond Manassas at Gordonsvie Junction. There
are, IN fact Gozen places between the Rapidan
and the Pamunky rivers where an army of fifIy
thousand troops. acting the defensive, would
have decided advantage over an army OF 75.-
900 marching 10 attack them. But that fact is
OF no consequence in the eyes Of Messrs Lincoln
and Stanton. Nor j. the fact that 10 900 or 81 :
OOD, or 1000 OF our brave soldiers " i'll be
l.ssiy slaug entered on that route to Richmond
this winter. OF any consequence in their eyes.
They have the control OF all the men and all the
money in the country. IL matters nothing 10
them that 40 900 or so 900 more lives must be
sacrificed to their own stupidity and TO Halleck :
obsfnacy.
Ii Gen. Meade obevs Lincon's order, however
he must cross the Rtpdan. de will then find
his army IS miles from his base OF operations
with all his supplies. for men aud horses, trans
ported over single track. rckety railroad
swarmin- each side with guerFillas. To pre-
serve this line tor has supplies alone will give
full employment TO 80, 600 Of his troops | use
diers posted along this long railroad will be
found Inadequate 10 It's protection. But, with his
army weakened 10y 10000. or even By Is 600
men. for this purpose, IN what condition will he
be for offensive operationsg And, whatever be
the result of the battle OF the R,pidan. or
whether there be any battle there, the matter in
this respect will become worse and worse every
day as he advances farther south There will
probably be battle on the Rapidan /; So there
kalsa -
one. But whether there is or not. il will be the
policy OF Gen Lee TO retire It'll farther south,
and to draw Gen. Meades army still farther and
further away from its base of supplies On this
account alone. every mile farther south General
Lee retires. Is direct advantage to him. and a
direct disadvantage to Gen. Meade Even il
Gen Lee should retire as lar To the south side
OF the Virginia and Tennessee ia lroad holding
nothing north of it except Gordonsviile, there are
military reasons which would give him decided
advantage in az action fought nj that point.
or course need not take the trouble TO refute
the assertion that our troops had taken and now
occupy Fredericksburg. The Government au-
thorized the statement to be made, when they
knew il was false. in order To affect the stock
market for their friends. Nor is there any more
truth in the silly report "that the Confederate
Government is making preparations to abandon
Richmond and the whole of Virginia" Ii is
amazing that any one should be found with Gre
dulIty enough To believe such ridiculous stories
And yet such people do exist
Your readers will he glad to learn that the Su
preme Court of the State of PENNSYLVANIA ha
decided the conscrpton act passed by the last
Congress to be entirely UNCONSTITUTIONAL null
aud void. You will remember that stated, at
the time It was declared passed. that it would be
pronounced unconstitutional wheney er it could be
brought before the legal tribunals The Chief
Justice ami Judges Woodward and THOMPSON
all concur in the decision: and this, too while
Chief Justice Lowrie l. ia favor of vigorous
prosecution of the war with the distinct object OF
the restoration of .he Union in view
This decision ought TO be carefully studied by
every member OF the Congress now soon to as
semble Ii cannot be doubted TINT the Supreme
Court of the United States will follow suit aud
pronounce similar decision. Being uncoustitu-
uonal, null and void, therefore the CONSUMPTION
act l. no law at all but nullity in the eve of the
law. II - probable that strong effort will be
made ~ the next session 10 effect its repeal II
II J. not repealed. however. there can be little
doubt that the administration will enforce ITS oh
servance. notwithstanding the decisions of the
courts. The Judiciary is made. by the constitu
ton. co ordinate branch of the government
quite as much the executive or the legisla
tive But Abraham Lincoln claims to be 9Th,
government" alone, and has plainly indicated hi.
purpose TO ignore both the other branches of tn,
government, whenever they stand in his wav
Y
From the Louisville Journal
Governor Andy johnson.