Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-10-30
FROM wAsHINGTON.
Absurdity aud Folly OF Lfnc"fn's Or.
der Co Meade tn find and right Gen.
Lee Execution of the Orde err can
only Resuit I'm Disaster-ffow Rich.
mond Night be Taken, and the War
Ended.
Especial Correspondence Of the Chicago Tines
u $1,000 O.....t.a- o.

Especial Correspondence Of the Chicago Tines.
WAsHIxerox, October %.
The movement Of the Army Of the POtOmtc
which j. now IN progress and which has been in
progress during the hole OF this week. will re
suit Ia nothing but disgrace TO our arms. For
the movement itself and for it, consequences
Gen Mesde is in no wise responsible IL - a
movement ordered 10 be made by Dir Lincoln
alone and his sole responsibility On Sunday
last the President sent Gen Meade peremptory
orIer Ito iut Gen. Lees arfnv aud attack It AT
once and lac (Me4de1 should have all the glory
of the victory. if he won one, and that he Mr.
Lincoln) would assume all the responsibility of a
possible defeat" Think for a moment OF the
independent assurance of a man ike Abe Lin
coin sending an order of this kind TO Gen. Meade
and OF the consequences of obeying the order
Mr Lincoln has no more conception than child
of what would result from the Attended execu
ton of this order IL emanated. in the first place
from those advisers of the President whose per
nicious counsels have always exercised such
baneful influence over the Executive mind; who
procured the FORMULATION OF the emancipation
proclamation; who are. At best. mere party poll
tcIan-; who make no pretensions TO knowledge
OF military affairs; but who urged this step upon
the President the same they bad before urged
upon him 10 issue the emancipation prUciama
from his command in the army. Yielding to their
persuasious, as he always does and always has
done, Mr. Lincoln has issued this unfortunate
order, aud the army has been engaged in attempt
ing To execute it Tor the last five days. Ii is MI
order TO do the very thing that the administration
papers have been congratulating the country that
Meade was no longer to do. When Meade's
army retire. with such precipitation from the
R,ppahannock to Washington, the admnistra-
a. :. n
partment, ode haste TO assure the anxious cOun
try that it was all right; that the retrogade
movement being made in pursuance OF or
ders from the War Department issued two weeks
before that the government had become con
WINGED that il wa impracticabie to keep the army
on line 50 far from the capital as the Rappahan-
mock because 10 do 20 require an army OF itself
to maintain the long line o. communication he
tween the RappihannOck and the capital IA line
consisting of single track. rckety railroad. 80
miles long liable be cut aud broken at any
time, to say nothing of The extreme difficulty and
terrible expense of transporting army supplies to
such "A distance This sound reasoning
But this order OF the President commands Meade
do the very thing that l. here wisely con
demned as mpractcatle The advance of Gen.
Meide's army To the X lppthannock in August
last aud his fruitless campaign there during that
and the succeeding month, only added one more
proof TO those already existing OF the imDractica-
blity of the overland route to Richmond. Yet
i'll view OF that campaign and of the shame ul
retreat with which it closed in the middle of this
month. tire President orders still another
campaign to Richmond bv this same overland
route. The NOV ement. which began on Monday
last and which still continues, wall only result in
a fresh disaster But what shall be said o.. an
administration that hastens to place the i'll used
Army of the Potomac i'm the very position OF
peril from which Meade so skillfuly extricated it
only week or two agOI
In obedience to this silly order o! Mr. Lincoln,
our army has already advanced "a far as Warren
ton, ami our cavalry as far as the Rappahlnnock
Mr. LncOins order cannot be executed unless
the army crosses that river In order to decide
the question whether or not to cross the Kappa
hammock Gen Meade lett the army at W aren't on
and came up here TO consult the President Oh the
22l. 1t is stated that Mr. Lincoln was not
pleased at this step of Meade's, and ordered him
To the front at once and carry out his order liter
ally and without delay. Certain it is. General
Meade went back To the army Yesterday. and the
whole force OF the construction bureau is hard at
work rebuilding the Orange and Alexandria
Railroad This work was so efectuaily DESTROY
ell by Gen. Lee that the engineers say it would
he far less work to N Ike entirely new railroad,
and il would cost much less, than to repair the
old one The bridges and culverts are all blown
up and burned; six eight of the deepest cuts
have been filled up with the whole trunks of trees
covered with earth, and the rails, for dozens of
miles have been heated red hot and twisted out
OF all shape
Imagine twenty thousand men engaged in this
work OF destruction for a week, and you can
have some idea of the amount of damage done
Till this road il in perfect order. the army can
not be fed; and the road cannot ne repaired Tor
three weeks at the very least. Yet Mr. Lincoln
shrieks to- Gen. Meade. go on at Oncel Find
the enemy and hght him
Llncoln's order is perfectly characteristic of
the man. He assumes that Meade has nothing
to do but march to the SPOT where Lees army is
supposed to be, and that Lee will stand still and
permit Meade to fight him. 1t would seem that
Abe Lincoln is the only person in the country
who has yet learned tn &, long the
seat of war remains in Virginia, battles can only
take place at such times as General Lee selects
and upon ground which be has chosen for that
purpose.
1t is heart sickenng to turn from the contem-
pation of this IdiOtic movement OF Mr.. Lincoln
70 the contemplation OF what might be done IT
statesmen and real generals were at the head of
our national aff,irs. instead of pitifu politicians
and sixth rate LAWYERS In order to overwhe m
Grants army at Chattanooga, all the available
Confederate troops in |ughia have been sent
to the West. and jeff Davis himself il there to
superinrend the work Richmond is left with no
troops except the gunners IN the lorthcations
The long railroad from Wilmington To the rebel
capital. il J. said. in.tead of being guarded by
IS titl0 troops, a. it was only few weeks ago j.
now left in charge of oulv 1000 The
Administration never had ~ favorable an Oppor-
tuuiiy for the capture OF Richmond If the proper
route he lecied. rs the present Rut this OPP
portunity, like all other real opportunities for
ending the war. will be thrown away by the Ad-
mnstration. whose aim il is. not TO termintie,
but to protract the war. y.