Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-09-25
Special Correspondence Of the Chicago Times.

&c, &c
Special Correspondence Of the Chicago Times.
WAsniSeToS. September 10.
Your readers may prepare very shortly tn hear
OF serious reyerses TO the Federal arms. Unless
my Information is entirely at fault, the country
il now on the eve of rcaping the bitter fruit Of
the suicidal and short sighted policy of the ad
ministration. which ] have frequently pointed
out, and the abandonment of which | have so
often and so urgently advocated Instead of
carrying on the war according to the rules of
and in sccor ance with military principles. the
war, on the part of the North, has been. from the
first. waged in defence of those principles, and
solely With political ends in view. In a very
short time now, the result of this Republican"
management of the war will become apparent.
There are military combinations at work ut the
South which will overwhelm the armies of Burn
side and Rosecrans with defeat, while. at the
time the army of Gen Meade is being lured
southwark in order that it, too, nav be over
whemed with vasy superior numbers. The
plausible stories that have been brought into
our lines by reliable contrabands" ant BY de
serters 1.-THE latter of whom are often spies,) TO
the effect that certain divisions Of Gen. Lees
army have been sent To various points at the
South and West, are all groundless aud deceptive
ANY movements of Gen Meade army based
upon them will result in failure and ignominious
defeat. Gen. Lees army is intact and it
never stronger than at present II embraces nine
divisions of infantry. of 10 900 each; fifteen
squadrons OF cavalry, of 300 men each and 40
guns. organized into flty batteries, and manned
by 5000 artieri -: making a total force of
llb,OOO troops. For few days plst General
Meades army has been on the move from War
renton southwark. The railroad is in operation
as far as Culpepper. aud trains run from here 10
that point. This railroad forms Gen. Meade's
| line OF supplies Up to this time the army has
met with very little opposition. The news To day
Is that the Cunlederates evince disposition TO
hold the south side OF the Rappahannock. appear
to he posted in force from Barnetts Ford on their
| left To Fredericksburg OH their right. and will
prob ably oppose our passage of that river. This
my or may not he so. The probability is how
ever. that this is only show of force and that
very little real opposition will be made to our
passage at the river, whenever Meade essays TO
cross in force The probability is that General
Lees main body is alretdy posted on n line still
further south probably the line of the North
Anna river, with his left resting at Gordonsve
aud his right at snover Junction. and that there
he will await MeAde's advance. The advantages
Of this position to Gen. Lee, and its disadvantages
to US. are at once obvious.
| Holding this line, General Lee NAV be said to
be almost fighting within the de'enses of Rich
ltSelI, since tne extreme lett OF MS armv
| only four hours ride by railroad from that city
and his right is only twenty five miles north of
the same He requires therefore, very little or
no transportation. and is not required 10 burden
| his army with any large quantity either of ammu
| milton or supplies As defensive position, the
| lire is an admirable one The North Ann river
IL stream of no great depth or breadth, but its
banks IRE high and steep. and il offers great OBJ
srructons to the passage of artillery. No good
4 L L
rear, in addition to the Rapdan and the Kappa.
hammock, unless he had ample means of recross
ing them in all cases of disaster. On the other
hand, To attack General Lee in that position
would require our army TO be l2O miles from
| their base of operations with only n single line
of railroad TO depend on tor their supplies, and
with two deep and wide rivers in their rear
Reaching General Lees position. they would be
compelled to fight the latter on the ground that
he has selected, and while his artlerists have
been practicing until they have got the exact
range of every foot of the ground. The advan
tage of position we'll illustrated by the battle
of GETTYSBURG for 1t was that and that alone that
saved Meade's army from defeat there Here
advantage will be the side of the Confeder
ates. Nor is il at all Likely that the main
body of Gen. Lees army in front of them will be
all that Gen. Meade will have to encounter. Ii
is more than probable that. as soon our army
has crossed the Rappahannock. and has placed
any considerable distance between them and the
stream they will find themselves attacked in the
rear. and their communications cut, bv strong
attachments of Lees army. sent out from his
wings. An invading army, advancing into coun
try like Virginia, ought to be three times As
| strong, numerically, "a the army opposed to their
advance, in order to give them good prospect
Of success. Does Gen. Meade's army come up
to these coniitions7 If he had even twice as
many troops as Gen Lee, there might be some
hopes of success But while il is known that
Gen Lee has ll6.0n0 troops. have never yet
met with any one who claims that Metde has
over half that MANY. But that IS the way that
the administration of Mr.. Lincoln make. war.
But that Is not all | have the most positive
evidence that French Intervention favor Of
the South will soon take place in such a form
Ne will place us IL anything hut envitble 20
stion. Ny intelligence thus paint is from for
elm sources. and il is to the effect that the new
Emperor of Mexico will be- not Macmillan of
| Austria, but a member of the Bonapirte family,
and American at that. namely: the son Of
Madame Bonaparte Miss Patterson. OF Blti-
| more; that tretty has just been negotiated on
the subject between the Emperor Napoleon and
Mr. Slidell: that the real mission of Alexander II.
| Stephens To Washington WAS 10 lmplnre Mr. Lin
coin to stop the war, guarantee 20 the South their
rights and restore the Union. in order that the
| South might Join with the North in indicating
the Monroe doctrine; that, when this last effort
| on the part of the South ftiled, the latter was
convinced of the hOpeessneSs of reunion, and in
order TO secure their INDEPENDENCE ratified this
| treaty with Napoleon: that. by it, terms Napo-
leon is to acknowledge the independence OF the
South. and is TO send French army Of 81 400
tronps to CO operate with the Confederate armies.
and is 10 keep that number of French troops in
| the service of the Confederate States until the
war u over; and that the territorial and CONNER
cial advantages which Napoleon will derive from
this treaty will more than compensate him Tor
/ this assistance
To all these pregnant facts the Administration
is still wliully blind y.
The Failure Of the CONSUMPTION.
The Springfield Mass Republican, lead
ing Republican paper, gives the following beg
- ......a.. In ~ n.,.Ete-.