, 1864-09-18
PROGRESS OF TIE wAE.
The Difficulties the North hae had tn
6nc0unters

Il Is common ts(lscy In estimating the
nmount Of force the Government could btlug
to bear on the revolted States to state it
merely In the ratio of the population Of the
TWO tecsione-twenty millions in the 1oyal
States, sgainst eight In the revolving States.
But 1t is proper to consider th,t the rebels
bad within themselves slaye population OF
over four millions, and that this population
was able to carry on nll their slmp1e indus.
tries, while 1t required mora than double,
that number to carry On tha much more
complicated industries Of Northern civilian
tion. It Is thus apparent that the whole
fghttpg white population Of the South was
available for service in the field, While nearly
half OF our population WIS necessarily ne1.
tralixcd in the Wsy Just mentioned. II is nor
wonderful, therefore, thnt this rebel leaders
were able to put irto the field, at tbs yerT.
though our own levies Wcto unparalleled il
To ,nis must be added the astonIsb,pc ~.
scsndancy which = small minority OF leadinr
men had required over the southern popn.
lAtlon, and BY which, when they had once
absolutely despotlc control over ali ths a ~. ~
sources Of men and material in the S1uth.
: Theee men, in fact, had long been preosricr
for this war, as many Of them pu6jtcig rnns
feteed after ths inauGuration of the rehnI-
Hon. I'VE have" said Ar. Barnwsll Rhett,
South Carolina out Of the Union, aWa ha1e
been engaged In this wsr Tor mora than Ihir-
ty yea5s. 1t Is no consequence of Lfnco1nsa
election OF The failure to execute the fnaifiv9
alnve law, but We hare been engaged ii this
var for more than thirty years" 70 en-.
the Administrntion. the theory Of tho wnr
into which 1t was driven By the very natura
Of the contest, was that Of the offensive.
Now military history Is replete with ,llus-
tratiod6 OF the enormous advantage which a
people hts when able to stand at bay (coyer-
Ing Its own communications and holding in
fedor lines, and awnIt In chosen positlouf
the attacks Of the enemy.
The career of Frederick tho Great affords
m eminent example Of 4 small nation, never
able to rasse m army ofover = hundred thou
eand men, conducting defensive war, with
for seven years the attempts ot coaiitios
ct i've Of the leading powers Of Europe,
But offensive operations aga{ust~a peopie
holding tuch defensive attitude becomes ten
fold more difdcult when. the war becomea
what 10 called A'"naftonal wnr," the nature
Of which ~ thus depleted by the greatest
modern writer on the theory Of wsr, Gen.
Jomtnt-
''Ths dimcn]ties In The p,th OF an army ,re
VII a1tat, APO render The mission OF the General
condutttnR them very aEduous The invader has
only N army; hts sdIezsarie. hsve IN arnJ and :
peopld wholly or almost wholly in arms, and
oaetnG me.ns Of rcsiftaucc oct OF erc1JthinR,
Each 1udlshaual ennfplres against The conmo1
eetmg-eTen tht noooomb1t1nts htye an interest
IN has Fulp. and heet1erAte It by every means IN
thdr power. Each armed tnhAbIt4nt knows tAa
smautst paths md counectiun.-h1 dnds eye1J.
whcle Z relative or friend who s1ds him tho CON,
E1abders alko know the country, aud learning
tumeolstely the slightest movement On tsA uart q
he in.adtF, ean adopt the best measures to defeat
Tcess. embazrassments, enormously in
creased BY the prodieions extent OF tho
theatre Of war, the topography OF which Is
an against the offensive and in favor Of the
defeneiye Us witncss the immense depth Of
/. the lines OF communications in any great ag-
K7esaive movements, the impossl6illsy Of
.upp}y1nE cur armies from the county as Ia
done tn Europe, ets.,) entered into tie por.,
tentous problem which the Administration
had to ao1Te; ,Foa jet, In faca Of this. aecu-
mutation ot difficulties, forming : task, the
grayest that ever met an Executive, the war
has been pushed successfully through to the
splendid Tetults VIC witness-tho ssnIes OF
the rebellion have been driven tom tne yast
e1tent Of territory the rebels cleimcd. hi
now the one IL shut 1p In the States border-
Ing on the Gulf. and the other il besIeced
without hope Of escape In Richmond,