, 1863-06-08
Ql)ifdgo Gribnue.
TIRE SITUATION

Whatever movements are being made
on the great military chess board, it is evi-
dent tllut the interest Of the game, at the
present stage, is centering in the South
west. Take the map Of the United States,
aud you will discover the reason why the
rebels are about TO make desperate re-
sist:nce to the progress Of our command
crs on the lower Mississippi. If Grant
and Banks triumph, the Confederacy is
hopeless1y cut in two, by the opening Of
the Mississippi river, which our patro1ling
river guard Of gunboats viii take good heed
shall not be again closed. Not only this;
the position Of these strongholds now con-
tested, will constitute powerful hold
upon the State Of Mississippi itselt, with its
tccmipg plantations, and swarming negro
population. With victorious Federal
army in Mississippi, and Rosecrans i'm
Trcgnable at Murtreesboro, the rebel cause
in the Southwest would be confessedly in
q Lad way. The single tier Of gulf and
Atlantic States, are but husk Of the Con
feder;cy, whose very heart is Chattanooga
and whose best Drawn and muscle is now
In jeopardy in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Without these two noble States the rebels
will never contentcdly set up house keep
ing: As to their chances Of getting them,
let us sec.
They evidently intend it. Our dispatch
rs for some time past have been conceal
ing more than they told, and still had to
deal with ar almost impenetrablc mystery
as to whnt the rebels are about in this broad
theatre ofwar. All is quiet at Charleston
and Savannah. Mobile is unattached, nor
even Threatened. Whether actual or bogus,
1lerc is no war news from North Caro-
IQa. There is indeed q movement
OF troops in Virginia where Lee
and Hooker are matching strategy
with stratcgy, out Of which, however, will
spring no fighting ut present. There will
be, in our opinion, no movement on Rich
nond these months to come, and the
enemy fear none. The rebels know, and
the Fcdcrals havc begun to discover, that
The rebel capital is but capital after all,
TO q column whose base rests in the South
west. This marching to and fro across
the Rappahaunock, our word for it, is
prcsage Of nothing but movements Of the
samc character, to he repeated indefinitely:
The rebels are really massing an immense
force in Mississippi, and for other move
mcnts intended to operate Northward, and
TO strike at other points on the
Mississippi and possibly the Ohio rivers
The rebel Generals arc again itching to
get into Kentucky. The sparing Of nearly
all the troor, ut Memphis to reinforce
Gen. Grant has, us the enemy believe,
greatly exposed Memphis, and rumor says
heavy rebel force. is marching thither.
Our Cincinnati dispatches begin to give
shape to the rumors that an invasion
of Kentucky On large scale Is pre-
pairing. There is evidently some
thing in the wind. In our opinion, Lee is
sparing a liberal share Of his troops from
Virginia to reinforce Bragg and Johnston.
He is urged to this by the desire Of his
Govcrnment to save Pembe1ton, the espe-
cial pet Of JEFF. Davis. Set it down that
the rebels are resolved On stalking every
thing to relieve their present gloomy as
poets in the Southwest
We do not believe that our own authori-
tics ut Washington are blind to these facts,
CT to the necessities such knowledge sug-
gcsts. This transporting troops from East
10 West is game two can play at, though
hitherto We have left the rebels to play it
alone. This time it will net be so. Ope-
rations in Virginia will wait, OF be carried
on only on minor scale, for the Govern
ment must spare liberal reinforce
mcnts to strengthen the points Of
vantage We already possess in the
Southwest, to make security doubly
cure against raids Northward into Ken
lucky, like those Of last season. This
work Of transportation Of troops from the
East cannot begin to soon. Our Army Of
the Potomac, strangled and fettered ever
with red tape, must and will, We believe,
have an opportunity to show how much
better IN army 1c3 its COM
mGnder does when far enough removed
from the Capital. When We state thatth
movement should begin at once, We write
what we believe is to take place, as sug~
gested by the fitness of things. Stirring
times are in store to be developed in the
campaign for the next month or two in
A., ronno., fror., tfo Eopouho con+h4yoa4ar
If to Vicksburg and elitted by the Missis-
EipM and Ohio rivers.