Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1864-11-19
THE DEVAsTATI0N OF THElsHEA
GyAH VALLEY.
views oi the English Press.

From the London Times.
o. We doubt If fulidoscrpiion Of
the achievemeutwould excite any applause or
be approved by any assembly oi Christian
men, unless party hatred had converted them
into demons The incident tells tor little on
the issre OF the civil war, but it gives tern.
Bile Illustration OF the spirit in which il is
carried on. by an order from Gen Grant
the federal force under Sheridan, which has
pursued the confederate army down the val.
ley of the ShenaPdOah, has turned nothwatd
again Bat in retiring it has devastated the
whole OF the valley, from Brooks gap, the
most southery point reached, to Strasburg,
its present quarters track Of fertile count.
ry, 60 miles in length. with au average
breadth Of 40, between the Blue ridge and
the North Mountains, ia burnt into IA wilder e
ness
We hope the general has exaggerated the
extent OF the destruction OF which he has been
the instrument, but he reports that 200 barns
and 10 mills, stored with corn aud forage,
neal and implements of agriculture, have
been gwen to the Aames One OF his men
was shot in carrying The order into effect, and
in retalistion every dwelling within radius
OF five miles from the spot where he tel' was
burnt Comment on such an atrocly is need
less. Some psychologists have asserted that
the Americans have gradually acquired some
thing OF the red Indian cast of countenanct.
Can the spirit Of the savage have also enter
cd into them2 But if the war is to 20 on thus
il will be the modern disgrace Of mankind
The destruction of what invaders spare, il
even for their own sake, looks more like des.
peration OF success than reasoning conf.
dence, The tederals must have given up the
hope of possessing in future the soil they raw.
age. Memo sac Vastdt Sua.
From the London Post.
The intelligence from the Shenandoah Val.
ley possesses features which we regret TO say
are not novel, but which, in presence of the
loud and repeated proLests made by every
state in Europe, we had hoped would have
ceased to characterize the military operations
Of the federal generals. Ii is at all times in
vidious to draw comparisons, but it must be
confessed that since the commencement of
this most unfortunate war, the couiederateB
have pre-eminently distinguished themselves
by the scrupulous regard they have shown for
all those usages which civilized nations, have
with common consent prescribed for the ob
servauCe Of belligerents, On the other hand
many Of the federal generals have ostentaiioss
y eylneed a contempt Tor the code of modern
warfare, and have on but too many occasions
committed acts for which it would be necess
ury TO search the records Of past ages to dis
cover parallels in atrocty. The federal gov
ernment made themselves responsible for the
acts OF Blenker, Batter, Mcneil, aud others, by
ueglecting to evnce their adherence of their
acts by at least dlsmissng them from ser
vice which, in every country in the world, is
regarded as one Of honor This neglect on
their part to mark their reprubution OF deedl
which they must have felt deserved cou
demnation, has produced the results
which might have been anticipated
When brutality is accepted rs zeal, and gen
erals are hailed as heroes who ought to b,
! drummed out of tho service with every mari
| OF inamy and disgrace candidates will no
be wanting for new honOrs. We are now Ole
! that Sheridan, having bsen in what he hoped
would have been Il victorious march through
out the entire lenght of the Shenandoah val
! ley, has been compelled to return to Srasburg
/ he has however, pensated himself for hi
disappointment by devastng the countrl
| through which he passed Nor is this all Il
retaliation for the death of an engineer office
who was killed by some confederates actin
as guerrillas, he actually burned every hous
| within an area of five miles Ii i
scarcely necessary to remind our readers tina
these atrocities were committed in regioi
/ through which the coniederates had prev ous
/ ly retired, and which had been left uniniured
| Nor ia it necessary either to contrast with thi
conduct Of the federal general that Of tn
confederate generals when in Mary land an
Pennsylvania, TO show how utterly uuprovoke
have been tho ootrages now committedo or hos
1 devoid OF oil excuse has been the terrible
crime (for by no other name can II be known
+ by which Gen. Sheridan hopes to secure tn
gratitude Of his eountrymep.