Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1864-02-13

re ksszsllss sc xsnsask Aaslrees
A. ~ back q Go pears ego. prssldeat
Iinssin called tise attsnloIt Of conksees 10
The inpursaheb and necessity Of tappibx she
Krsat New Orleans and Iliehmohd Iind 81
railroads. II this place, With = road isasIihs
from Central Kenfncky in This slirestiou. :
III that no displayed tho elenrest bfssselss
and wisdom. II BIS views hnd been adnptrd
and carried inso execution, tie Eational ar.
my might have penetrated East Tennessee
twelve months sooner than Il did, while ils
graharies were still fall pf The frriis Of her
bountifal fields. For Il il iAet viii known
to our citizens, 20 great WIS her supplies,
and 80 productive were her landa, that Che
rebel army for two years mainh, drew its
supplies ftom this region. And yet whom
the National array entered on the first Of
September, there was still much LEFT, on
which that army and T.ongstFest's have
inainiy sabsisscd ever since. These pro-
dncts, during tho last eighteen months, were
tho results Of the labor Of less than half her
population, for ct least ten thousand Of her
able.bodicd citisens, Voluntarily or by con-
scriptioa, had entered the rebel army, and
frora fifteen 10 eighteen thousand had en-.
tared the National army. out Of a voting
population Of about forty -ssyen thousand
Sow, suppose this railroad had been built
at the time Mr. Lincoln recommended e.
the result would have been ~ we have nj
ready ssid, that our army might have en-
tered and held East Tennessee one year car.
licr than II did; when il came itwoul1 have
found ample supplies on which 70 subsist !;
thousands Of Union men would have been
sayed from the mereilcss eonscriplion Of the
rebels the present state OF destltution,
want and suffering, 10 which our people are
reduced, might have been avoided; and the
army itself. instead Of being on short ratipns
would now be enjoying plentiful supplies
and pushing forward toward the Virginia
line, instead of Yielding one half of East
Tennessee, and that the most productive
part of it, to I,ongstreet and his plundcrrrs
Our army now stands still for wnnt VI bread;
bread is wanting because there Is not ade-
quate transportation, either 10 advances. or
from the region Of supplies; and transpor-
tation is wanting because there Is no corn
with which 70 feed mules or horses. Ssarv-
ing animals cannot haul wagons and artiI-
lery over the mountains and through the
deep mud Fer these reasons our army
hslts Longstreet hoyeFs within q few
rifles of this place, the army consumes the
seanly substance Of the country, and the
people siarvs J
hut laying aside the consideration of the
delay to military operations. and the dread
fal loss of life, both in the army and among
the people, for want Of bread, and blood and
muscle, how does the case stand 10 point Of
mere dollars and cents Il is estimated ly
an officer high in rank and intelligence,
whom We have consulted, that Cen Barn
sides army has required, since it LEFT Ken
tGeky, thirty thousand horses and males,
and that these have cost the Government
on an average near one hundred and fiffy
dollars each, Indeed he estimated them at
two hundred dollars each, ye@clusive of their
subsistence. OF these il Il estimated that
ten thousand have died Here Is clear
loss of one million 1--WE hundred thousand
dollars. One half of the others arc worth
less. That makes three millions of loss.
Vow, these have chiefly died and become
worthless from starvation. The cost of
wagons, harness. shooting and feeding, and
of tearnstels, wagon masters, DC, would, at
low estimate, amount ato two millions
more, making IN all IRE millions y doilars'
This great number Of horses and mules has
been necessary because supplies bad TO be
transported from Nieholasyille over the
mountains By wagons and pack nlalcs dis
tance of one hundred and seventy five miles.
Bat the end is not yet. The country Is ex-
haustcd. The people arc starving Sup
plies both Jor TIE army and people must here
after be brought from Kentucky, or from
Cinr innaii, the great depot of supplies -
Months must elapse before depot of sup
plies can he established here. At the pres
emf time it Is hard, very hard for the army
| to live much less accumulate Spring must
come and the roads dry up before that pro-
cess ean commence, and then again viii
commence the process OF killing mules and
breaking wagons. When forward move
ment is made, each step the army takes win
carry it away from its base Of supplies
Thus the difficulty will Increase ~ time
wears ON, and ~ the army advances. Now,
suppose this road were built, Cincinnati
| would then be within twenty hoars Instead
of twenty days travel from KhUxyiilg, and
a great depot Of supplies could Be establish
n a. - ~ <4..a..