Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1863-10-29
The Situation In Tennessee.

TFrcn the Chattanooga (Atlsnta3 Rebel, Oct. g
Upon reaching the Tennessee river from
the field of Chickamauga Rosecrans addressed
his troops Fellow soldiers" said he, 1.-THE
object of our expedition was the possession
of Chattanooga, and here we are" Brief,
and to the point forcible and adroit. Thus
far, the campaign whose mysterious surges
are rolling above Us, has no clearer, a. it GER
tainly cannot have a more laconic history
The few words of the Federal General illu-
inmate the whole page as a ray from dark
lantern, and no man can close his eyes to the
somewhat painful glare which they throw full
upon him.
Not even Gen. Bragg himself can contra
diet them, except with his sword, and such
strokes as it may please Heaven to send
US through his hands, in the few days of fall
weather Just before US. Unless we hasten to
make hay while the sun shines, the story as
thus told will hold good through all time the
spring will open untoward dangers to our
arms; the cause which now turns upon the
pivot of its crisis will droop like a flower
which has been INTENDED, and the end must
fade out Of sight in rolling torrent of disas-
ters-in fogs and gloom. God forbid it
At present the case stands in about this
wise: We have lost the gate to the lower
East Tennessee, the river which was our base
and the facilities which these afforded for
progressive movements in East Tennessee and
Kentucky. We have gained a hand-to-hand
fight; we have repealed powerful invasion ;
we have preserved Georgia, and secured a
commanding position around the enemy. Rose
Grams, on the other hand has acquired all that are
hare lost. He has reached Chattanooga and
fortified it, taken up the river line as his base,
and now prepares quietly to winter in his new
quarters, leaving US unciyily out in the cold,
to take care OF ourselves as best we can or
must. Physically and to all appearance, in
the aggregate, he is the winner; for, after
the prisoners, standards and artillery taken at
Chicka.nauga are counted, our victory is told,
whilst our defect, in the long sum total, glory
included, does not make up for any results
yet achieved.
In word, we have lost ten or twelve
thousand men without gaining an equivalent
in producing territory. The whole question,
therefore, turns upon the situation, and what
we will do with it. In military circles it is
generally believed that Rosecrans has blum
dered into position which, improved by an
adversary of genius, might be turned in three
adrot movements to his eternal ruin If this
be so, and the movements specialized, but by
no means explained, are made, the victory of
Chickamauga VIII be complete, and the many
lives there sacrificed will become as so many
trophies to noble work. But if this opinion
be false and the movements suggested as pos
sible fail to be made, and we continue to
gaze istlessly from the bold knobs of Mis-
sionary Ridge upon comfortable barracks of
the blue varlets below, then may we tremble
Tor the next campaign; for as sure as there
is any surety IN The future, the spring of 1864
must see US far from the borders of Georgia,
or near to the verge of destruction. Nail it
to your door-p0st, men of the South, and re-
fuse to be deluded into any other belief
Food and raIment are our needs We must
have them. Kentucky and Middle Tennes-
see can only supply them. Better give up
the sea coast, better give up the southwest, aye,
better give up Richmond without a struggle.
and win these, than lose the golden field,
whose grain and Woof are our sole hope. The
enemy has just one army too many in the
field for us. We must crush this overplus :;
we must gain one signal, Stonewall Jackson
campaign Destiny points to the veIy place
Be Rosecrans the victim. Defeat him, pull
verize him, run him to the Ohio river, and
then close the war with the next summer
And how? Nothing easier. The bee which
has really stung our flank so long, once dis
posed of, our triumphs and legions have
clear road before them. Fed sumptuously
through the winter, well shod and clad, they
have only to meet a dispirited foe, retake the
valley of the Mississippi, secure the election of
peace Democrat to the Presidency IN tile fail and
arrange the terms Of treaty and independence.
These results can be accomplished no where
else than in this Department. The northwest
is our real adversary.
No matter how often we whip the East, the
effect is still born to the end. Let US teach
the true contestants a lesson of peace and
soberness, and the difference will be seen as
speedilv as our need calls for the deed