Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1863-08-07
THE MILITARY SITUATION.

lOi btTluOnbt OO CenGd oAcn. nOuNlt-'oS
THE MILITARY SITUATION.
From the Richmond Examiner, LIST.
The military situation has no longer tha
degree OF interest which it possessed dur.
ing the past three months Lee has COM
pleted his retreat, and holds his old lines
of the Rapidan and Rappahanuock in Sc
curity. Meade's army is in front, but not
probably near enough to render battle i'm
minent. The general public, in which we
count ourselves, do not anticipate immedi-
ate or extensive action in that quarter
! Both armies have had their fill of fighting,
lately, and will probably do little of moth
ing during the heated month of August.
| II is feared that Meade's inaction is due
TO the delay required by a concentration of
the chief armies of the East and West (;
that Grant, with all the force TO be spared
from the garrison of Yicksburg and Port
Hudson, will be transferred to Virginia /;
and that the next battle will be efought by
a combination of the army eff the Potomac
and that of the Mississippi Valley. This
supposition appears to be ill supported by
I any known facts save the oft recurring
report that Grant has wholly withdrawn
from the interior OF the State of Mississip-
pi, and that he is shipping large portions
of his men up the river. BUTT is far more
probable that these men have gone home
on the fuTlough promised them as the
chief reward of their late arduous cam
paign than that they have commenced to
journey to Virginia. Western troops are
averse to fighting the battles of tie East
They came in large numbers to the battles
before Richmond, and were beaten and
slaughtered even more completely than
the true Yankees, who are, despite the
vulgar idea to the contrary, far better
troops than the brutal horde of the North
west. Since then resolution to mind its
own affairs has settled in the heart of the
Northwest. They will fight for the Missis-
sippi, but not for the James. Grant him
| SELF has refused the command Of the Army
. r A. |4."D''sS4v, uuu LIIS trUUps VIII uecllne
the honors of the Chickahominy. All the
forces of the Northwest will be necessary
in the Autumn to hold their late conquest
of the Mississippi Valley. Yicksburg and
Port Hudson were powerful against the
navigation of the river, but are worthless
to defend it. .-...-- y.s.r .-..rfr.r...
For these and other reasons, tits thought
improbable that Grant and his VicksbuTg
host will ever be seen on the bauks of the
James. But if mistaken, we should have
nothing to regret. Lee would be compell-
ed perhaps to fall back on the extensive
4 Notifications of Richmond. But this place
cannot be invested; and if its thirty miles Of
batteries are manned by the army of North
ern Virginia, it can never be taken. While
the armies of Grant and Meade would be
shattered by assaults, and wasted by dis
ease, the Confederate Generals of the South
would have an opportunity to recover Ten
nessee aud the Mississippi, which they
could not allow to pass unimproved.
Meanwhile, Bragg and Rosecrans have
| inf Cia
nessee and West Tennessee are alike under
the hoof of the invader. The people have
taken the oath Of allegiance almost unGnins-
ouSiy, and are reported to be worse treated
since they did SO than before. They have
been robbed of everything that is capable
of being robbed from men; have no protec-
ton, aud scarcely any hope; are fixed in
their miserable homes, sulky aud bitter
The land lies without cultivation. What
is the use in drawing produce from it for
their Yankee masters to seize even before
it is garnered3 The negroes are gone, and
the cattle with them. Bragg has abandon
ed considerable tract of country, but he
has at last gained line which seems to be
Iimpreguables Rosecraus will hesitate long
before he concludes TO stretch away from
his base toward Chattanooga, and knows
too much of that position to fancy it an-
other Murfreesboro
Mobile is not threatened, and is not likely
to be so, during the three sickly months
which have now hegun. Charleston is
ALWAYS threatened, now more than ever,
but holds on gloriously well. Charleston
is safe. 1t has lately been represented as
a Canua. Not only the citizens of both
sexes, and all ages, but the troops, from
Generals to the privates and the drummer
boy, are said to have been stepped in lux
ury procured by smuggling and blockade
running. The corruption is reported to
have extended to all classes, and 1t wa:
supposed that every noble sentiment and
gallant Intention had died before the lucre
of gain. Happily the recent events do no
confirm these gloomy views of Charleston
The fire on the altar is not burned out
the palmetto tree Is SQUAD at heart, and IT
roots still hold firmly.
) We need never fear an ignominious sur
render at Charleston; and while Its inhao
( itants aud its army are determined toIpAE
use of their means of defence to the last
liz will be the block on which as manI
yankee heads will be laid low as there ar
;, stones in its walls. Ifit could be securei
invested by sea and land, charleston Woar
7 fall at the appointed time; but 1t canno
Ibe 40 invested while Richmond stands
The United States has not an army OF
hundred thousand men to employ on 1t
decentralization; and if it bad, that arm
would be cut into two and destroyed b
/ an attack from the interior. BefoF
Charleston can be- invested Richnon
must fan. Eastern Virginia be couquereS
and the army that accomplished thes
feats. might, without doubt, pierce Mort
: and south Carolina, lay siege 10 Charlesto
!, and take it,, But before such events hap
Ben, there will yet y
n Many 4 Knight to earth be borne,
And many a banner rent and torn. Ala
& Ills far cry to Lochow; it isa'further or
~ 10 Riehmund,