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

military hero, renowned in war, will feel
aggrieved at this comparison. The analo-
gles OF nature are very strong. The great
and luustrious men Of science are now
engaged in tracing man back to monkey.
For my own part, / consider comparison
never. saw a balloon without supreme
contempt for him, while game cock has
many admirable qualities.
To return from our DEPRESSION. Meade's
army did not pass by Lees; because. if it
did, Lee could pass behind it, on the road
to Washington. In fact, we must consider
the Army of the Potomac as what it has
been for a year past, mere movable breast
.0ork for the defense of Washington. Nor
IS that fact of any positive Importance
Unless Richmond can be taken, from the
west side of James River, there is no great
use in taking it at all, for, in any other
case, the army and the great criminals who
compose the rebel Government, will all es-
cape to Lynchburg or Danville. Rich-r'
mond, as strategic point, is not worth al
straw. -
Leaving the Army of the Potomac to its
winter quarters, at Brandy Station, we
pass to the glorious Army of the. Cumber-
land. That army, which: in the poetic lam
guage of General Meigs, fought part of 'its
battle ADORE the clouds which stormed
Lookout Mountain, 1900 feet high, and
crowned its SUBMITS with living tlaurels,
green as its mountain pines. That army
may be thankful, if covetous Of fame, that
it is not within reach of Washington. To
that army our eyes must turn. VIII that,
Grant, with his characteristic vigor and
Judgment, asking no leave of winter or OF
enemies, push on. dealing deadly blows at
every step? This is what ought to be done.
Can he do it? The first thing in the way of
the army is the necessity of establishing
new depot of provisions and munitions at
Chattanooga. Whenever an army advanc-
es a hundred miles. or more. a new center
OF supplies must be established, and one OF
the first considerations in the plan of a cam
paign is where the depots of supplies shall
be. Admitting the successful advance of
the army, new depots must be established
at each and every successive advance
Nor is this all. Their communications
must be kept open, and their defenses such
| that they can stand a moderate siege. Gen.
Grant has had one very instructive exam
| pie OF this in the seizure of his stores at
Holly Springs. Heretofore Nashville has
been the great center of supplies for the
armies in Tennessee. Now, Chattanooga
must be made center. Nor will there be
any great difficulty in this. From Nash
vile to Chattanooga by rail, is Isl miles,
which will make an easy and safe line of
| transit, when we occupy, as we now do, the
defensible points south Of Bridgeport. The
bridge over the Tennessee mnst be COM
pleted a great mass of stores removed
from Nashville to Chattanooga and the
defenses on the Northern extremities of
Mission and Lookout Ridges made strong.
When this is done, the army is ready to
move two hundred miles further. But this
is heavy work, and may take two or three
weeks or more. Will Grant then advance?
Certainly. if he does not contradict his own
character and all the demands of the war.
He has already given us an example OF
what he will do in his march on Holly
Springs and Grenada, in the middle of De-
cember. Besides, what is there to arreS
the march Of an army in the South in win.
ter? Is there any reason to stop the opera
tons Of an army in Southern Ohio, during
i winter? Not at all and there is still less
in Georgia. When the troops get disentan.
gled from all the ridges Of mountains, that
extend about forty miles south of Chatta.
nooga, they will find winter march
com paratively easy. 1t will not do fol
our armies to stand still. Now is the
time, when every blow tells upon the rebels
with double force. They are like the sink.
ing pugilist, who after having stood severa
rounds with apparent strength and cour
age, begins to feel the blood oozing from
his veins; his sight grows dizzy; his limbs
become unsteady, and he deals hard, bu
ill-directed blows, wkeh often strike the
empty air, till he begins to stagger. Ther
two, or three blows from his adversary
, fell him to the earth, and he rises no more
Cut off from half their territory; cut off
from their cattle in Texas, and their sugar
in Louisisna; their men exhausted by wal
and disease; their money worthless; theil
people dissatisfied, how much longer car
they last? Toombs' speech; the North Car
Dina election; the Richmond papers; thu
constant accounts of distress and exhaus
ton from every quarter, tell the story with
out any resort to argumentor Imagination
The rebels are staggering from exhaustion
, and their only hope is that Lee and Brage
may keep the field till somebody offers
them peace or compromise. The hope is
in vain. Unconditional surrender is the
only terms they will be allowed. Whe
ther their rebel dominion perishes in TIM
last ditch or not; whether they die in bat
tie or by exhaustion, they will come to ar
early end, and be remembered only for thu
most signal folly and the most signal pun
ishment which the world ever saw since
the downfall of Rome.-Cn. Gaz.