The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-19
OUR LATE 5UCCEssES.

from me lflCute
Though We have not yctrcCeived General Shor-
mans account Of his march from Atlanta to
Savannah, it is abundanhy clear that he encoun-
tered 10 serious rc,isanCc-nOt enough to cause
him even once to put his army in order Of blal5.
Some scared Georgia militia preceded his adj
vance, taking care to keep well ont of gunshot,
and a brigade or tao uf cavalry hung upon his
flank and rear, skirmi,hng cautiously ut inter
walls with his scouting parties or rear-guard, and
picking up the few stragg ,rs who fell out Of his
Ia ks, unable or unwilling % continue the march.
The haOluh aue"ta ion OF reserve by the Rebel
organs with regard TO General Shcrman's position
aud movement, was constrained by their pro-
found iguO anCe-Lney carefully retriued from
telling what hey did not know.
When you hear from is advcrsaries tina. the
movements If large army are Involved in myS-
terry, You NAV safely conclude that it is meeting
no formidable opposition. For wel-appOnted
army, advancing through hostile region, chooses
to cover considerable breadth of country, 50 as
70 replensh Its stores Of forage aul food and has
its flanks well screened by cavalry, who bar all
hostile observation of its batteries and column;
of infantry. Formidable resistance soon Compels
it to concentrate and show its teeth; but tho
enemy's admission that they do not know eX
actly where its main body is, implies that they
are not resisting irs advance. And that is the
material fact IN this case.
Sherman took the capital of Georgia without.
ming q gun anu might nave TAKEN NJ ICON
Augusta had he chosen TO be diverted from his
direct course TO either; but he did not. He has
marched through the very heart OF the COutede-
raCy-thr0ugh the most fertile, wealthy, and
popuiOus portion Of the Empire State Of the
Southland has encountered no OppOsti IN worthy
of the name. Had Rebel army advanced tight
ing from HarpeIs Ferry through ChambCrsburg
TO Harrisburg, thence moving unressted through
Reading, EastoD, and Trenton to Newark aud
there placed itself in free communication with a
Rebel H. o. in NpVark Raw gbpu1I bav
sidered the Union pretty well played ont /;
yet that would have scarcely parallced Sher-
mans triumphant progress from Chattanooga to
Savannah.
Nearly two years ago, Colonel Grerson, after
a cavalry raid ,tTom tho Tennessee TO BAEOn
Rouge, pronounced the COnfederacy "a shell,
with nothing in IT," Sherman's para ie from
Atlanta to Savannah gives emphasis to that
characterization.
II we had only room for a reproduction of the
bombaSt that has been the staple Of Rebel ac-
counts of Shermun's situation and fortunes since
he cut loose from Atlanta the ominOus whis-
peTs that the thuuderbOt was about 10 strike
him-the whOle-coth fabrications of outrages
committed by his trOOps-the dismal pOrrTayals
OF the fatigue, encouragement, and demoralizl-
tion of his 1orces-the bulletins of fierce
battles fought by Wheeler with his cavalry,
wherein our troopers were regularly cut up and
scattered the reports that Sherman was hurry
ing with all his might TO take refuge on ship
board at Darien, Brunswick, or some other
bOutneily pOlJ-lut fHS llDpJTllug tuAL Lrelneu-
dOus preparations were making to arrest him Al
some unmentionable point, &C. &c.-the cOlec-
ton would not only be read with amusement,
but would serve TO throw light on Rebel resources
and Rebel rhetoric generally. The proclamations
fired a. Geueral SHERMAN by Governor Brown
alone would have sufliCed 10 auuihia ate his whole
army II proclamauons were cartridges and con-
tanned bullets.
The calling out en- maSse of the militia and re-
serves OF Georgia and South CarOna-the sum
moning OF Alabama tot the aid Of her northerly
sistcrs-thc spirits called from all manner OF
Vastly deep,-surcly, something should have been
realized from all the,e devices that should have
sutIicCd 10 arrest Shermans march for at least a
day. II .eems, however, tbat slaveholdlng gas
Conads i TO be TAKEN with evermorc than the
average discount, though those who fire prOca-
ma ons in vol Us are seldom expected to dis,
Charee more substantial missiles.
The result OF Hoods Lacquer Of Nashville ap,
pears even more disastrous than the issue OF that
warriors usual undertakings. We cannot doubt
that General Sherman, when he parted from
General Thomas, directed him TO lure Hood 2,
army SO far norlh, and keep it across the Tennes,
see river so long as possible. Still, the audaCty
OF laying siege to a fortified city or depot like
Nashville, with an army inferior, at least numer
Caly, to that of its defenders, and those defender,
commanded by a veteran like Thomas, has haC
no parallel since Lee, with less than 10000 men
held MCClellan's 100000 spel-bOund ia front o
Washington, overlapping our mighty host OF
both wings
With Buell. al the head of our forces in Ten
nessee, Hood might safely have passed Nash
Vile and invaded Kentucky but with Thomas il
command he cOuldprudently do nothing but ge
out OF the neighborhood aG the earliest moment
This he was doubtless on the point Of doing, /
the movement had not already begun, wiel
Thomas decided to force battle, aud thereupOl
made the movement whose result now elec.rihe
the country.
Until Hoods account of the fight at FRANKLIN
was received there was a pretsNt for doubt o
cayil as TO the reality OF our success there bu
we see not how there can be any longer, On
army was Teireating 10 concentrate, and ben
sharply pressed, was compelled 10 fight or abau
don It's trains. Schofeld decided to fight, full,
aware of the enemy's superiority in numbers, bu