, 1863-10-30
Correspondence Of the N. +. Tribune.1

Correspondence Of the N. +. Tribune.1
WASHINGTON, Oct Is, 1859
Private letters received mere from Ktch.
mord report that great excitement has pre-
allied In that city during the last two weeks,
on account OF the advance OF Gen. Lee upon
according to general opinion, could 10: fal
to take place between him and Gea- Meade;
and when the news Of Meade's successful re-
t1eht Has announced. the public disapPoint-
nent Vas great "At first" says my inform
ant, *Lee's fall campaign, vleXfd1 N the Light
Of the recent success Of the F:1al army ut
Cttckanauga,. apptartd to them pregnant
with they became informed ct M5aae's es-
caf:e, and Of the barrenuees ef Lees move,
Ment, tteir discomfort WAS shown IN censures
Of The leader Of the army, which they said
wns too slew IL moving. aud II public regret
at the death Of atoneWall Jackson" +
1t Ia not certaip, however, that the planners
OF this camp:igu we're rs confident Of its re-
tults e. r. nrajo:ity Of the people. General
Lee knew perfectly well that Gen. Meade'5
army was surrounded with s1gna1 stations,
ard that eFefy movement On his part would
be Transmitted to the latter Immediately. He
lrcw, a.eo, that II Meade failed in preyenti1g
1is tark movement, Is the line from the
Rapitan to Warrington Has shorter than the
cifcuitous route he would be compelled to
take, Mttde, # 6esirous to avoid battle,
could easily do 50. 1heee contingencies were
calculated before hand, II I may trust the in.
torn.kiion ! receive, and the programme Of
the ca1npa}gr, which my inform ant assures
ME Was obtained from clerk Of the War De-
ra1tnent at Richmond.
THIS programme clearly indicates that the
rebel Government had no intention Of expos
Ing the army iu any hazardous demonstra.
tlors, aud that its op operations mere to depend
uIton circumstances. They have abandoned.
It leems, a1lprc5ect Of invasion, and coniue
themselves Low to defensive war.
The fret article Of this programme or In
E:1uctienss says In substance that the CON-
nander of the army will offer battle to the
enemy on his OWE chosen ground, and at
sufficient distance from Washington to pre-
vent his seeking shelter behind its tortilca.
uone. II, against all expectations, the enemy
succeed III avoiding battle, and 1u occupying
! position from which he cannot be dislods-
cd, then tte Genera. ia- Chief mas to contlne
the enemy posi- sessed for an advance in the in
te1ior Of the corntry, euch as the tearing up
ot rai]1cads. blowing up Of the bridges, the
capture Of trains, etc.
There we're also other objects connected
with ibis plan Of operation, such as p.ocur-
irg hcrses and mules, Of Which the rebels are
in great wact,. the drilling Of the new recruits
attached to the army, and who had not ret
bten under fire, and the desire Of lowing
that the rebellion had rot been weakened.
But the naia object, that Of forcing Meade to
accept i battle, Was to compel lin to keep
forcements being Forwarded TO the Army Of
ahe Cumberland.
Another article Of this document advises
Lee to be VERY careful Of the Life of hi. men !;
cot to expose them unnecessarily, not to ven.
I ture into a1duous and fruitless expeditions,
bnt to preserve as much as possible the integ-
1ity Of his erny, whose task WAS not ended,
ara who might have, ere long, other duties to
peIfarn4 upon another field.
Many persons are Of opinion that Lees ad-
vance covered secret expedition, >. either
sEninEt Chattanooga or upon Knoxville. or
could see no reason for believing this to be
true. He eaJs, however, tha. be has good
grounds fer supposing that the rebel Govern
mint intends shortly to strike blow at Chit
| tanooCa, which is considered as the key Of thu
West; That they are now deyisipg the means
baEe Of further operations. Last week, seye-
raj rel,el regiments lett Richmond fer Atlantis,
to 20 1om there to sons points which could
mol be ascertA:ned. He thinks, however, that
the boinbardment OF Chattanooga cannot be
delayed 1o.g, ind will take place as soon as
lie occupation Of certain pointg In the rear
Of Gen. TGcnas' army, shall have been con-
pleted.
be regulated BY the will Of the people, or Il
tho actiyi:y Dow prevailing In every branch
ever, I shonld be inclined to believe that mill.
t1Y operations in the South, FIR from being
checked by the severity Of the seaso n, viii
be carrltd on during this winter, SO lar, at
lcatt, as the state Of the roads win permit
There is no relaxation In the drilling ani
aEnirg Of recruits, In the forwarding OF arms
guns, ind munitions of war; md eyea now
Ectwithstandlng The advanced stage Of tht
Eeason, Richmond LOOKS more like camf
thsn it did one year or slx months ago. Ths
actiyi:y and energy Of the rebels have nevel
been u great as It the present momeat-s1
BY thote u lo hayo ut hesrt the preferyatio.
/ nf the Union and the ClorY Of nur nrms