The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1863-09-17

e"sS actory TSices There was Increased anuznton
fre'sats and more hrmncss 10 tho mArtet
Hichmond, Atlanta snd Charleston 2 h
Present Defensive Programme OF ia
Rebellion.
The retrograde movement of Ito rebel arm.
OF Virginia towards Richmond, and the preci
pitate fight of Bragg from Chattanooga int,
the heart of Georgia, show that the retreatins
defensive system. the last resort Of beateI
and broken army, has. together with the guerill!
system, become the general war programme 0
the rebellion
The little triangle Of Atle confederacy" en-
closed in the lines from Richmond to Atlanta
in Georgia, aud tbcace across to Charleston, i,
the contracted field selected for the Operations
OF the remaining regular rebel armies east o.
the Mississippi. AT the northeastern point o.
this triangle is the army OF General Lee; al the
southwestern point is the army OF Bragg and
at the southeastern are the army and the de-
fences of Boauregard at Charleston. Outside
OF this little triangular fragment of the dminish
cd kingdom Of the rebel King Cotton it APP
pears to be the purpose OF JEFF Davis to rely
for the time being on guerilas and BUSH
whackers. Cfe.s-. .
The adoption Of this plaa Of operations, occa-
stoned by the late heavy disasters inflicted upon
the rebel armies East aud West is demanded
from the vital Importance Of Richmond, Atlanta
and Charleston to the rebel cause. With the
loss Of Richmond, granted that Davis, with his
Cabinet and Congress, may move OF TO some
other place, with their government archive and
Confederate scrip in their carpet bags, the CT
feet, with the news, will be tine Immediate col
lapse of the Davis confederacy at home aud
abroad AT this stage Of the game it needs no
statistics of the supreme Importance Of Rich
mond 10 satisfy the intelligent reader that with
its fall the whole G, moderate fabric, military,
political and financial, will tumble to tAe
ground. On the other hand, The occupation Of
Atlanta hy General Rosecrans, together with
his occupation Of Chattanooga, will cut Off all
the confederacy" south and west Of those points
from Richmond, North aud South Carolina; and
thus, while it leaves all that section completely
at the mercy of Grant and Banks, Farregut and
Porter, it leaves South and North Carolina at
the discretion Of Rosecrans. Ia this view the
strong position Of Charleston is quite as import
ant as Atlanta. The loss Of either of these
three vital points Of defence places the other
two in jeopardy; bat Richmond is the most i'm
psrtant Of all.
Hence the great rebel army which is still
maintained between Richmond and Washing
ton. We apprehend, too, that as Lee is their
only general who still commands the conf
dence of the rebel sofdiery and the people Of
the rebellious States, his army has not been,
and will not be, materially diminished until
there is 6nsl settlement between it and the
Army. of the Potomac. We presume that nei.
Their General Meade nor the administration will
be led astray by. reports Of the depletion of
Lees army to strengthen Bragg or Beauregard,
without positive proof OF the Truth Of such
reports. We set them down as weak device
OF the enemy for strategical purposes, involving
offensive as well as defensive tactics, aotwith-
standing the retreat Of Lee. Much more now
than at any time heretofore, the main defence
OF the rebellion is Lee, with the army under
his command.
We have indicated the defensive character OF
the present war programme Of the rcbel lead
ers. They have, since the beginning of the
war, tried four other different general plans of
operation, and, all having failed, the fifth will
probably finish them. In the outset they es
tablisheda defensive boundary, running from
Manassas to the head Of the Potomac river, and
thonce across Western Virginia into Kentucky,
and through the heart of that State to the Mis-
sssppi river at Columbus, few miles below
the junction Of the Ohio, and SO on. They held
this line through the whole year of 1861; but
by the middle Of March, 1862, our armies had
moved it down to some distance below Nash
vile in the West and to Richmond in the East.
JEFF. Davis publicly confessed to his chopfallen
ruling confederates that they had attempted
too much, that defensive boundary was not
the thing, but that great movable armies, near
interior lines, for concentration. would do the
work. This plan was accordingly next tried,
and, though ii failed at Shiloh, it partially sue
ceeded on the Richmond peninsula and in the
campaign against General Pope.
Next, partly from necessity and partly from
inflated ideas of the invincibilty of Southern
cbivalry, the third general plan Of aeon
federatei operations was resolved upon
to wit, general invasion OF the North. Lee.
by way Of Maryland and Washington, in pur-
spanoe Of this plan took up bis line Of march
for Philadelphia and New York. Bragg. pre-
ceded by John Morgan and his guerillas, ad-
vanced through Kentucky for the liberation Of
Ohio and the Northwest, while from the depths
Of Arkansas "Old Daddy Price," Hindman,
Van Dorm and others, with considerable
army, pushed forward TO "sweep the damned
Dutch and Yankees out of Missouri This plan
was bold, grand and comprehensive; but from
Antietam TO Missouri II proved disastrous
failure.
The fourth general plan Of the enemy was
then adopted, embracing powerful fortresses and
strongly intrenched armies of observation along
their frontiers, and cooperating movable ar
mics inside these lines and clouds OF scouting