Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-03-13
Important from the South
1 west. a.e9
Strength Of the Rebel Armies.
$4,000 Veterans I'm the Field.

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,3AA,OOO Veterans I'm the Field.
Especial Correspondence Philadelphia Inquirer.l
VIZ NASHVILLE, Tenn, March 2.
THE REBEL SITUATION.
The great war Of The American Rebellion
has progressed nearly three years, and vet
brilliant campaigns are being anticipated
by the nation, and, doubtless, being con-
ceived by the leading military and political.
spirits upon both sides. si. .,aJs,,
The interest taken in the rebel situation
engrosses the. attention of the whole world.
The dirty crowd which was to have been
annihilated before the 4th of July, 1862, ex-
lists as q veteran army in action, which, in
magnitude, y .ohllY second to pur own in
numbers and discipline, In the worlds pres
ent history. The country which was to
have been starved out before the 1st of Jan.
uary, 1854 still feeds its own army and
large portion of ours.
'fSifce' General SHERMAN has penetrated
the heart of the Confederate States, his scouts
have reported to these headquarters that
the country through which he has marched
abOunds In lifes necessaries for man and
b. asst. The people who heretofore had de-
p nded upon the manufactures and mechan-
ism Of the North for the simplest commodi-
ties of universal use, now loom up as q fra
ternity conyersanti with all the arts and
sciences in vogue throughout the hemis-
pheres. Such a people, who. have grown
from hill0ck to mountain in mechanical
immensity, must be attentively watched
during the next four months, lest they
achieve success which must postpone the
termination of hostilities for long time.
For the past month havebeen preparing
tie'following, which, with the facilities az
forded me here, in connection with those
which obtained in my last trip to Chatta-
nooga and Knoxville, place me in position
to give you a pretty complete and reliable
daguerreotype Of the present Rebel situa-
ton. 7'.'... q 'E"'Eis '1s' "if
First, let me make remark which will
often be contradicted, viz THAT the Rebels
hdre as large a force in the field, armed and
equipped, as Oursetces, not counting in the
colored troops. 500 ~.
The above paragraph is an absolute fact,
but in all other respects we are hugely adj
vantageously situated. 1t is really laugha-
BILE to read the correspondence of some gen
tlemen connected with the army. For in
stlnce,a telegram from the Army of the
Potomac to some northern journal, q few
days ago, stating that in the three armies
but seventy thousand men. This is an er-
ror almost too ridiculous to again bring into
notice. That these three Generals have
twice that number may be chrOnicled as a
fixed fact.
The following number and disposition of
the rebel troops you may rely upon as near
ly correct. There may have been some
changes since portions of my notes were
obtained, which the public must overlook.
shall only speak of veteran troops in
giving the numbers of soldiers in the re-
spective armies of the Confederacy, subse-
quently giving you the number of con-
scripts which have been added to each.
That portion of the Southern army which
constitute the forces under General Lee
Counting in Longstreet, who commands o.
portion of his army,) numbers ninety thou
sand troops. This Is also counting in the
troops which are in the vicinity of Abing-
don, Lynchburg and other portions of
South Western Virginia and East Tennessee,
formerly under General Sam Jones, who
was detached from Lees army late in Sep
tember, to operate against General Burn
side, and which are now under the command
of John G. Breckinridge. At Richmond
and at Petersburg there are, not counting
Ii citizens and Home Guards, about three
thousand men. Between Petersburg and
Welden there are one thousand menss All
along the railroad, between Welden and
Wilmington, there are at least six thousand
men. The forces under General Pickett
number eight thousand men. Imboden and
Mosby together have four thousand men,
all guerrillas. This swells the army in East
ern Virginia and North Carolina to twenty
two thousand strong. as.i {
The second great army in the Confederaoy
Is that under Gen. Joe. Johnston, large
portion of which is cavalry. The army
known as the Army of the Tennessee is
composed of two corps, each of which has
six divisions of infantry, numbering thirty
six thousand men. There are also several
divisions of cavalry, numbering at least
eighteen thousand men, making an aggre-
gate of fifty-toiir thousand. This includes
the four divisions sent to reinforce Bishop
Polk, and two divisions sent to Mobile, and
also the entire cavalry under Wheeler,
Wharton and John Morgan. Joe. Johns
ton also has the command of all the Con-
fedcrate forces in Georgia, Alabama and
Mississippi, except those at Savannah, Mo-
bile, and under Forrest, who has an inde-
pendent (roving) commission. Before the
arrival of Sherman at Meridian, Polk had
eighteen thousand troops, only two thou-
sand ofywhich were, veterans, however
Eight thousand Is q strong number to put
down for Joe. Johnston, of veterans, out
side of the Army of Tennessee, in these
three States. vFH7 .ytnFrpYg Ygrrfcsr'
The forces in South Carolina and at Savan-
nah, under General Beauregard. and in
Florida, under General McCown, will num-
ber ten thousand, (The reader will recol-
lect that this only includes the veterans, or
old soldiers, as the armies in these three
localities above mentioned at present num-
Der twenty-five thousand men).
The next regular armies of the Confedera-
.cy are the Trans Mississippi forces, scat
tered in different portions Of Arkansas and
Texas, and all under the command Of Lieu
tenant Generalo Kirby Smith, the army in
Arkansas under Holmes, and the army in
Texas under Magruder, the old soldiers of
which number twelve Thousand mens z
! The. forces at Mobile, under Generals
Dabner Maury and, Claiborne (not Gle
burne), number about eight thousand. The
forces under General Forrest and under
Chalmers, Lee and Richardson, will amount
to six thousand, which will include all the
veterans in the rebel service.
To this may be added, however, In the
same line, twelve thousand soldiers engag-
ed in important prison guard, and in the
Hospitals and Quartermaster'sa and Commits
,sstry Departments. There are also about
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