Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1863-10-28
The Situation In Tennessee.

! From the Chattanooga -(Atlanta) Rebel. Dot O.
Upon reaching tue Tennessee river from
| the field of Chickamauga Rosecrans addressed
his troops. "Fellow soldiers" said he, ''the
object of our expedition was the posse ssion
| of Chattanooga, and here we are" Brief,
| and to the point; forcible and adroir. Thus
| far, the campaign whose mysterious surges
are rolling above Us. has no clearer, as it Ger
tainly cannot have 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 ewes to the
| somewhat painful glare which they throw full
| upon him.
Not even Gen. Bragg himself can contra-
dict them, except with his sword, and s1ch
strokes as it may please Heaven to send
US through his hands, in the few DAYS of fall
weather just before Us. Unless ne hasten to
make hay while the sun shines, the story as
| thus told viii hold good through all time the
spring viii 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 untended, 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 III 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
| hight; we have repealed powerful invasion I;
We have preserved Georgia, and secured a
commanding position around the enemy Rose
Grams, tie other hand, has dcqati ed all that IRE
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
| PlySl 1lxra md 10 oil
| 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 deficit, in the long sum total, glory
included, does not make up FOR any results
vet achieved.
In a 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, night be turned in three
adroit movements to his eternal ruin If this
be so, and the movements specialized, but by
no means explained, are made, the victory of
Chickamauga will be complete, and the many
lives there sacrificed will become as so many
trophies to a noble work. But if this ainion
be false and the movements suggested as pos
gaze istlessly from the bold knobs of Mis-
sionary Ridge upon comfortable barracks of
the blue yarletS below, then may we tremble
for the neSt campaign for as sure as there
is any surety in the future, the spring of lS64
must see US far from the borders of Georgia,
or near to the verge of destruction Nail it
TO your dOor-post, 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, ave,
better give up Richmond without a struggle,
and win these than lose the golden field,
whose grain and wool 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 yeIy place.
Be Rosecrans the victim. Defeat him, pull
yerize 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 a
clear road before them. Fed sumptuously
through the winter, we'll shod and clad they
have only to meet a dispirited foe, retake the
valley of the Mississippi, secure the election Of a
peace Democrat TO tie Presidency az tie fail and
arrange the terms Of treaty and tRdepe5datce.
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
speedily as our need calls for the deed.