New Oregon plaindealer. (New Oregon, Iowa) 1859-1866, 1863-04-10
FROM WARRINGTON,
Special Correspondence the Chic 20 Times
=. WASHINGTON, March %.

| Special Correspondence OF the Che 20 Times
WASHINGTON, March %.
The administration is much chagrin.
at the complexion which aft irs are as
suming on the Mississippi and in The
West, after all their grandiloquent as
surances Of "brilliant Victories" The
War Department had gone the length
of authorizing telegraphic dispatches
to be sent all over the country, an
nouncing that Banks had got his army
up from Baton Rouge. and was attack
Ing Port Hudson in the rear ; that the
Yazoo Pass expedition had successfully
passed through the Tallahatchie into
the Yazoo, andwere hombarding Haines'
Bluff that the latter point had been
evacuated by the enemy that Vicks
burg itself was now unteuable, and
would be evacuated; that the Confeder-
ate army on the Rappahaunock was
retreating towards Rich uonl; and that
the Confederates were actually evacu-
ating Richmond itself TO day the
administration is forced to admit the
falsity Of all these stories, ardto admit,
too: that, instead of gaining victories
our armies have suffered defeats and
are in great peril. 1t is now know
that, so far as Banks is concerned, his
army has not left the vicinity Of Baton
Rouge; that it is completely demoral
ized and utterly useless, and that it is
now in full retreat, with the loss Of two
whole regiments. That. in regard to
the Yazoe Pass expedition, so far from
reaching the Yazoo, it had only got to
the mouth of the Jallahatchie, and was
there defeated at Fort Pemberton. with
great loss, and is now in full retreat
northward, having made a most dis
graceful fai!urc,-a failure, too, not at
tributed to the officers and men, who
fought like heroes, but to tha incapables
who planned such a Quixotic enterprise
without first ascertaining whether or
not Gen. Johnson had taken measures
to defend the Yazoo against just such
expeditions. In regard to Port 'iudson,
it has been found to be second Fort
Darling, against which all our guns
have been powerless; while it has been
found that it cannot be approached at
at al by land force. In fact. the in
d,eatioAs now are that the whole pro-
ject of opening the Mississippi will be
a failure.
The work ofpreventing the opening
of that river was intrusted by the Con
federate government, some months ago,
to Gen. JOS. E. Johnston, unquestion
ably one Of the aplest Generals of
modern times. For months past he
has been perfecting arrangements with
this end in view; and the events which
have just taken place demonstrate the
vast extent and the completeness Of
those arrangements. Instead of ford
ing us means of getting troops in the
rear Of Vickshurg, tho Yaz,o River
will be found to be one of Gen. John
st,n's defen ,ive lines. Fort Pemberton
where our troops were defeated, is only
one, and perhaps the weakest. of the
forts he has erected on the left bank of
that stream.
The fact that he left Vicksburg, and
Port Huds m, and the whole Of the de
fences of the Mississippi, in the hands
of his subordinate Generals, and has
gone with his staff to Tullahoma, in
Tennessee, is an ominous circumstance
and argues no good for the Union forces,
He would not have left Vicksturg and
Port Hudson at this moment, when
they are actuall y under the fire of our
tanops, ic he was not confident of their
ability to repeal any assault that may
be made upon them. And another
very ominous fact, which has just come
to the knowledge of the War Dep,rt-
ment, is, that he had previ ,usly sent to
reinforce Bragg a good portion Of the
troops which he had al ng the Miss,s
sippi. All military men know that,
after a place has been fortified like
Vickshurg, all troops in excess of the