The daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1863-1864, 1864-07-01

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h fErsi sSusakor rHftsY TO, aicHxosb. \
z Every day brings tome new facts al
going to show that Petersburg isnotgthe
key to Richmond; that its capture Is nnti
at all essential to'the capture of Richmond;
that the capture ofRlchmond will be positlv'
" further of after the capture of Petersburg;
if .Genersl Grant succeeds in taking 1t,
than it would be now, if General Grant
should remove his army to Bermuda Hun"
dred, and advance on the rebel capital from
that point; and nothing pleases the reDei
leaders so we'll as to see General Granrs
army melting away before Petersburg, De-
cause they know that nothing that he can
do there will effect the grand result Il e, the
capture of Bichmond) in the least; WINE
the longer he remains there, or at any POM
south Of Petersburg, the greater VIII on
losses be, and the less able Will ne % 10
attack Richmond with vigor. This last AZ :
tenpted flank movement of General Grant
affords striking illustration OF the act
The destruction Of tho Weldon and Peters
burg Railroad, and the Lynchburg and Pc
to rsburg Railroad (for this was the object
o the movement would not, even II sue
cessfll, advance the capture OF PETERSBURG
a single day. If the object OF the move-
ment was to prevent suppliesfrom reaching
Petersburg over those roads, that object
could have been attained by closely invest
ing the place on the south side OF the Ap
pomattox, instead of dividing the army,
and sending one half Of it to point ten
miles to the south, and thus exposing them
to be cut off.
GENERAL LEE EXPECTED RICHMOND TO BE
I, ATTACKED FROM BERMUDA HUNDRED.
This attempted flank movement of Gen
Grant was not at all what General Lee ex
pected. He expected that General Grant
had become convinced of the impregnabili'
ty of Petersburg, he would abandon hls
attempt to take it, and would move his
army to Bermuda Hundred, and begin nil
! operations against Richmond from that
point. In this case, arrangements ha1
been made to transfer the rebel army from
Petersburg to that city, and Petersburg
would have been abandoned, as an outworE
that had served its purpose, and that coult
be useful no longer. And this will be dons
now, if my information is correct. Tit
rebels only defend Petersburg, because
} Richmond is safe as long as they can keel
the Union army there
;, HOW PETERSBURG CAN BE TAKEN.
i Does General Grant wish to take Pc
tersburg? / can tell him, on rebel au
thority, how it can be taken with single
division, and without the loss of o man.
Lot him change his base of operations t.
Bermuda Hundred, and commence opera
tions against Richmond from that point =
On the very day that he does so, the rebe
army at Petersburg will be withdrawn
therefrom, and sent to Richmond; and then
| if he wishes to do so, General Grant Cal
take possession of Petersburg. But it
possession will not be of the slightest ad.
vantage to him. ...a ..is.
: BE DONE.
|, lit is said that General Lee is amazed
that General Grant has not done this be
fore, and that he looks for it to be done yet
1t is common thing among the officers o
} General Lees staff to say of General Gran
that he always selects the most indirec
, way Of getting to an object, and the way
that will cost the lives of the most soldiers
and that when that has failed, then he viii
! adopt some more feasible plan, and one in
volving not so much bloodshed. In thu
present instance they say that he willaban
don Petersburg, and change his base tt
Bermuda Hundred, now that bis f1anl
movement to the south side of Petersburg
has failed. But General Lee himself, it i,
said, expected him to do so instead of at
tempting to make this last flank movement
1t it is done in the manner indicated in
my last letter, it will give to General Grant
all the advantages which the capture of Pc,
tersburg by coup de main wouldhave secur'
ed to him; and it would enable him, too, to
obtain possession of the Richmond and Dam
vile railroad and thus to cut off all communi
cation, not only with Petersburg and
Lynchburg, but also with South Carolina
and Atlanta. General Lee believed that
these considerations would present them.
selves to the mind of General Grant, and
this is the reason why he thought that the
latter, as good soldier would make Der.
muda Hundred his base because from that
point he could secure without loss all the
advantages that the capture of Petersburg
would give him, ard many others which
would not have resulted had Petersburg
been taken by bombardment or assault
WHAT THE REBELS THINK ABOUT FORT OAR.
LING AND GENERAL FOSTER.
Speculation is rife at Richmond in re-
gard to the recent mysterious movements
of our iron clad feet in the James river,
and also in respect to tho landing on the
north side of that river, above New Mar
ket, of General Fosters division. So fur as
Fort Darling itself is concerned, no appre.
tensions as to its safety are entertained I;
for it is believed to be impregnsble to at
tacks by both land and water. 1t consti>
tutes the left of the outer line of the south
ern defenses of Richmond. There are weak
points in that line, but Fort Darling is not
one Of them. Nor is there any more prob.
ability that the distractions in the James
river will be removed now than there was
al nopfho mn