The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1864-11-30
TFEE siTUATHGN.

The rebels haVd abandoned the cehtFaI
Sopth 10 SHERMAE. This is the meaning
of the advance oiHooD into Tennessee,
that he dcspairs II olovcrtaking SHERMAN.
That General can korz his will, unopposed
by auy army, aud the defence OF Georgia
is now entrusted ii the winter rains, to the
bridoe burners, tcithe selfsacrifclng spirit
of the Southern reople. They are called
pnop to defeat Sherman py the destruc
tion of their ownI property, and by antici-
Dating the devastf ftion tney Tear from him'
. -, i the strateh Of Moscow that is to
ruin his campaiI Senator Hill appeals
20 the people of Georgia to fly to arms.
Seddon approves his words. Beauregard
demands that til / roads be destroyed, and
nre6icts the sta walton of our army. Lea
ding rebels of Gb borgia publishes call, ex-
claiming, "Renl love your negroes, horses,
cattle and provisions away FROM Sher-
mans army, and burn what you cannot
carry" Not thE negroes, we trust though
slaves have suffered such martyrdom -
But not one Ibrd is said of an army to
meet our own Beauregard promises to
Join the GeoIgians, but not to bring an
army with hi Ih The appeal resembles
almost exactlf that made to Pennsyva-
mans when Lee crossed the Potomac In
1868. Whal could we do then against
a great vetraI army? We sought to rouse
the spirit of HE people, but with all onr
success, and with aid from other States,
nothing savdd the State from devastation
but the prod pt arri7al Of the entire Army
of the Potomac, aud the victory of Gettys-
burg. Thd parallel Of the Georgian and
Peunsylva biau situation Is close enough
to show the folly of supposlng that efec-
tive resistance can be made TO Sherman
by the few men who have been left in
civil life by the perpetual rebel eonScrip.
tion. Sherman caunot meet his Gettls-
burg till he loses a battle to Hood, and
Hooi at waynesboro, Tennessee, is now
two hundred and seyenty.fve miles from
Macon. BY no possibility can another
army be organized out Of the scattered
rebel garrison5 in time to give Sherman
any real trouble.
Difficulties, Of course, he viii encounter.
They are registered iu his programme, and
anticipated in his preparations. The rains
will fall, and the roads be clogged with
mud But it does not always rain, and
November IN Georgia IS as mild as early
September in the North. Fruit trees were
blosSoming at Atlauta on the llth ofthis
month. Provisions will be removed, roads
will be obstructed, bridges Destroyed
But there is but one obstacle that Sher-
man cannot surmount-an army as large
as his olia, commanded by q general as
uGle LIE has gone upon this bold and
mighty expedition not recklessly, cot
with thorough knowledge Of his own
sources and those Of the enemy. For \
mouths he prepared for a movemeutN
which was contemplated six months ago,
and was known to General Grant. the
Secretary Of War, and the President, when
our army first marched from Chattanooga,
in the early summer. 1t is not likely
that the lmprovised and uumilitary oppo-
sition of the citizens Of Georgia will cause
a weeks delay in the colossal and thor
roughly organized campaign of first
class army. Georgia is abandoned to her
fate, to the mercy of her invaders, and
the courage Of her people.
This terrible situation Hood is doing
al IN his power to retrieve. His advance
upon the Tennessee border was an expect
ed result Of Sherman's strategy. To wait
in illeness 10 Mississippi would De folly
for Hood. Nothing could be gained by
inactivity much more might be lost
Hood is compelled by his own precarionS
situation to try conclusions with Thomas,
and a rebel vivtory in Tennessee would be
the most efficient service he could render
TO Georgia A decisive victory over our
troops would compel Sherman to return,
and, until his return, would leave Nash
vile aud all Tennessee at the mercy of the
rebel army. Desperation in such a case
is wisdom, and if Hood has an army ca
pable Of fighting battle with any hopes
of success, all sound strategy would JUS
tify the risk of defeat But it was pre-
cisey 10 make such misfortune imposi-
bic that Thomas has been reinforced The
rebel general is reported TO occupy Way
nesboro, Tennessee, threatening Nashville
seventy miles distant, and confronted by
portion of our army at Pulaski, forty
mles away. Paducah, which Hood is in,
correctly said to threaten, is one hundred
and twenty miles away, and he would not
dare to march upon it without first de-
stroying the ofsnsive power CT Thomas.
The more prudent course Of our General
might be to postpone a battle as long as
possible, and content himself with thwart-
ing the enemy. But it is possible that he
NAV do more than the country expects of