The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1863-09-19
NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY.


Activs Operations OF Oar Armies E"sf
and West.
The whole army of the Potomac is in mct"".
ard from the sbarp preliminary skirmshings oe-
| tween ts advanced cavalry and the rear euasd
Of the enemy it liz evident that the whc'e
rebel army Of Virginia il in molten also
and that there is a probability that at any
moment we may hear Of general engagement
on the soath branch Of the Rappahanpoek.
known A. the Rapidaa river We suspect how
ever al the rebels appear TO depend more upon
the strength Of their position on the Rapidan
thsn upon their numbers. That a flank aove-
ment on the part Of Gen. Meade will dislodge
the road 10 Richmond without mach additional
lighting.
II Ia difficait TO determine from the conflict
ing reports upon the subject whether the army
OF Lee has been depleted or strengthened. We
incline to the opinion that he has sent of some
Beauregard. Johnston and Bragg; but we dare
say that their places have been partly filled
by now conscripts who in the veteran army
Of Lee, will soon be ss efficient as old soldiers
Our accounts from Fortress Monroe, New
bern. Richmond. Chattanooga and Charles
ton indicate that large bodies of rebels
have left Virginia for North Carolina,
South Carolina and Georgia, and per-
haps East Tennessee. We adhere to the
opinion that Lee has adopted the policy Of
fighting and falling back. in the hope Of draw
ing Gen. Meade into snare in which his
army may be fanked aud cut of from
his supplies, or demolished in detail by the
concentration OF an overwhelming force in
succession against its detached columns. But
Gettysburg has shown that General Meade is
not the man to be caught by such tactics. In
this present advance we are confident that he
fully comprehends his situation and that Of
the enemy, the impediments before him, and
the will and the capacities Of his army to over
come them. His advance is also well timed;
for it will compel General Lee to bring for
ward to his own support all those accessible
outlying rebel detachments around Richmond.
which otherwise might be hurried of to swell
the armies of Beauregard and Bragg
The magnitude Of the danger to the rebel
capital itself from the advance of General
Rosecrans into Georgia is thoroughly appre-
ciated by the rebel leaders at Richmond Their
anxiety about Charleston is settling down into
the resignation Of despair; but they cannot yet
venture even hint of the possibility of being
cut off from the last remaining railway line
which connects them with Georgia, Ala
bama and Mississippi And yet it is upon
this slender thread that their failing confedera-
cy, "whose sands of life are nearly run out"
now depends. We must not therefore, expect
too much Of General Rosecrans. From the pa
rolled regiments of Pemberton's late vicksburg
army. and from the odds and ends that Joe
Johnston has picked up in Mississippi, Alaba-
ma and Georgia, the army Of Bragg may per-
haps be increased to an army Of a hundred
thousand men. Even such an army, considering
the discordant and crude materials OF which it
must be composed. cannot stand a day before
the disciplined and victorious legions Of Rose
Grams; but in the heart of the enemy's country
he must establish, from point to point. some
secure base Of supplies as he advances or he
may be cut Off from his stores Of subsistence.
The rumOr that he has met with repulse rests
we presume. upon no better basis than some
desnltory skirmishing between an advanced
detachment Of his forces with some squad of
the rear guard Of Bragg. As we understand
it. the advance Of ROsscrans and the advance of
Meade mist 60 on together; for each depends
to a great extent for its complete success upon
the other.
From the west side of the Mississippi we have
at length the positive information Of the occu-
patton of Little Rock. the State capital Of
Arkansas. by the "old Gag" This settles the
question for Arkansas. The expelled rebel
forces Of Price and bis associates in their re-
treat, will probably get down into Texas Just
in time to be gobbled up or disbanded by the
lberating army Of Gen. Banks. From the Rap
pahannock to the Arkansas the army and the
navy of the Union have the best organ
izsd armies and fragments of armies of the
rebellion ingloriously reireating, or vainly
struggling in their stronghods to hold their
ground.
We have yet. however, only two months Of
the year left us upon which we can rely for
military operations in Virginia, North Carolina
or Georgia. Within this interval, IL we dispose
of the army Of Lee and the army of Bragg, we
shall end the rebellion: but IL we fail, JEFF
Davis may thereby secure new term Of three
or even six months grace, during which we
know not what may be the developments Of eur
foreign relations. We must. therefore. again
admonish the administration 10 make its hay
while the sun shines. and to hurry up the work.
war with England and France.
The probability Of war with England. or
with France, or With both Of these Powers
combined, is now the general and absorbing
topic of conversation, and even exercises a
considerable influence upon the speculations in
Wall street. But those persons who talk so
glibly Of foreign war forget a few very i'm