The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-12-19
JUNE, 1889

roads, that they have no cars, and that the
upon Dalton and Atlanta will be made un-
til next Spring. With great general conf
dence in the accuracy OF statement and cor
rectness Of judgment of this correspondent,
we should, nevertheless, be exceedingly
sorry to learn that his opinions are derived
of Bragg's army, and that they
are shared by the President and the War
Department at Richmond.
To count upon the tardiness Of Grants
in consequence of the cond1i
lion of the turnpikes or the railroads, wod
be suicidal. Grant has proved that he can
do what so few Of our Generals have been
able to accomplish, follow up victory in
spite of natural obstacles; and it is certain
that he will not permit himself now to be
stopped, either by mud or want Of cars.
These difficulties are by no means insur-
Every one remembers the sanguine pre-
dictions of the impossibility of carrying on
the siege Of Vicksburg. Gentlemen own
ing plantations on which Grants army
his soldiers would perish for the lack Of
water, or die like sheep with the rot, from
drinking such as they could obtain. More
over, we were told that the malarious dis
eases of the climate would decimate his ar
my and compel him to raise the SIEGE
worthy operator who is now at work in
Atlanta, cheering US with the assurance
that the Yankees lost at least u, 900 men in
the assault of Lookout Mountain, that
Grant had lost quite SC, 600 of the flower of
his army in the various attempts to storm
the intrenchments at Vicksburg. How ut
tsrly fallacious all these predictions and as
sertions proved! The siege Of Vicksburg
progressed steadily to its conclusion, with
out so far as We have learned, any serious
.y,,,~ ,lpto 1vH1
climate, diseases and repeated repulses,
Grant compelled Pemberton to surrender
in less than three months from the day the
siege began.
Shall we again be the dupes of our ILL
founded hopes? Shall we rely for safety
upon mud and not upon men? Shall We
trust to cars and not to energy? Heaven
forbid The railroad from Nashville to
Chattanooga is, doubtless, now open, and
trains running all the way through. On
this railroad any quantity of cars and en-
gines necessary to stock the road from
Chattanooga to Atlanta may be brought
through in less than weeks time. Two
weeks more will be all that Yankee activi-
ty and ingenuity will demand to complete
the rebuilding Of burned bridges. But we
doubt if Grant will await the arrival Of
cars and the completion of bridges. He
has plenty of transportation, and the whole
| North behind him to supply horses and
wagons as fast as they break down. He
has ten thousand men already mounted.
He has cannon without limit, and mex
haustible ammunition. In front of him is
an army, routed, demoralized, half destroy
ed by captures and by struggling, poorly
provided with clothing, very many OF it's
} small-arms abandoned, and most of its ar
tillery missing. Is it to be supposed that
he will wait a whole Winter long in idle
; ness, and not avail himself of the Splendid
opportunity to complete the dispersion of
3 dispi1ited and weakened foes, and to insure
f the capture of Atlanta? 'Twere madness
, to think so.
In view of the false hopes and erroneous
conjectures which lured Bragg 10 his de-
ment made in letter of ''Sallust" to the
Dispatch, written just before the defeat at
Lookout Mountain, in regard to Sherman's
Corps. Although the passage of the Ten
, nessee by this corps had been announced
in the Richmond papers week or ten days
before the battle Of Lookout was fought.
"Sallust" states that it was expected that
e Sherman would not be able to effect Il juno
ton with Grant until February.
And while the people Of Alabama and
0 Mississippi were boasting that Gen. Lees
s cavalry had driven Sherman ba cll and COM
e PEELED him to abandon the route he was ta-
king to reach Chattanooga, itturne6 out that
Sherman, under cover of a feint made by
: Osterhaus's division, was marching to join
Z Grant with great swittness and without
should be slow to build hopes upon the en-
. emy's incapacity to overcome bad roads
and conceal his movements from the not
u too piercing vision of our commanders
!. A quicker and larger brain is needed in
q Georgia: strategist who bases his plans
. not upon the wind, weather. or railroads,
i but upon the known bravery of his ,op-
Z ponent.
~ The great disaster near Chattanooga can
y be repaired only by the means which the
"a enemy adopted to repair their defeat at
:, Chickamauga. What those means were we
:, all know. The defeated General was dis
II placed, and the ablest men in their service,
" Thomas and Grant, were put In his place.
n Three great armies were concentrated into
a one. Their Assistant Secretaey of War
4 and the Quarter Master General took per-
!. manent quarters at Nashville, to be in easy
- reach of the new commander, and to rem
>. der him ell possible assistance. The i'm
, mense resources Of the United States were
=. applied without stint, and with that vast
ss and untiring energy for which the Yankees
N may justly claim distinction. They con-
!. centrated, worked day and night and,
no bors. Fds est at hoste docert We can only
retrieve our misfortunes by initiating the
of methods adopted by the enemy to retrieve
;s theirs.
as Every rejecting man perceives the vast
ae ness of the stake at issne, and the imperi-
,d GUS necessity OF energy anu concentration.
a. None but the very first order of military
es intellect will answer the requirements OF
n Georgia; no army Of medium size will
IN serve his purposes, and nothing but inces-
a SAINT activity and good faith on the part O.
v, the Government in sustaining the new
a. commander will enable him to arrest the
D. too swift and steady march OF the enemy
e. into the very heart Of the South. What i.
tv to be done must be done without one mo-
ty ment's delay, and much must be given u,
e. in order that something may be accom-
n plished. Grants goal is Atlanta. He viii
i be there before Christmas, and half tn,
a. cotton remaining in the Confederacy will
of be in his handso or destroyed, unless atrul,
it great general and great army are placed
al athwart his path within three weeks from
III this day.
id
IN SIX TRIALS AND FOUND GUuTT EVER,
ne IINE.-The butternut Democracy say. tha
t. II man is found guiltp Of treason towar(