The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-28
vEDNEsDAY, DEcBMBER IS. 1854.
THE MILITARY SITUATION.

THE WILT AIRY SITUATION
The capture Of Savannah is the legitimate
conclusion Of the fall Of Atlanta, and Of the
information long ago acquired that the Con
tederacy was only "shell." To show how
Ear the popular judgment is often astray, It is
only necessary to prove the inaccuracy Of what
Is generally believed--that the march Of the
Union army through Georgia, and the taking
of Savannah, are the great achievements Of
The campaign. Effects do not cease with
cause. AL the fruits Of a victory are not
reaped on the field Of Slaughter. Upon the
capture Of Atlanta, the fall Of Savannah
should have beeR a foregone conclusion. Even
before Atlanta was taken, we felt sure that
Savannah would lie the next objective point
A we did not ascribe less perspicacity to the
Rebels, when we ascertained how slight was
The resistance which SHERMAN encountered
on his march. we for the first time realized
the weakness of the Contederacy. For, with
ample time for preparation, the Rebels scarcely
embarrassed the movements of SHERMAN's
columns. Then dawned upon us the full
truth conveyed in the expression Of GRIER-
soN:-"The Coniederacy is only she'll"
Mol II was not the march across Georgia,
nor the fall of Savannah, that viii render the
name Of SHERMAN glorious as that of great
military chieftain. 1t was the maintenance
OF the long line of communication from Nash
vile to Atlanta, the terrible defeats inflicted
upon the enemy, and the final coup de main.
by which, throwing a heavy force to the
south Of Atlanta, he severed the communica-
lions Of his opponent and compelled the evacu-
alton ofthat place and the retreat of the Rebel
army. For these feats will his reputation be
emblazoned. Savannah was captured when
Atlanta fell.
BY the occupation Of Savannah we bold
position which must result fatally to the Re
bellion. The Confederate she'll was hardest
on the seacoast. One of the cities of the At
lantic coast was needed as a base Of operations
and supplies. Hence the enemy made the
Atlantic ports almost impregnable. The navy
(no shame to itl found the Confederate sea-
board a nut impossible to crack; but that
shell of the Coniederacy is now broken from
The inside. On May 0, 1861, we wrote edi-
torially in a Philadelphia paper, "Charleston
cannot be taken by ships" The event has
justified the prediction in which, when we
wrote it, we feryently prayed that we might
be mistaken.
The Coniederaey is like a row Of bricks,
pne of which topping over on the next,
involves the whole line. Charleston is the
sext in turn. The only way in which it can
be taken, is that which in all probability is now
being essayed. If BUTLER take Wilmington,
and column of his troops march from any
point north of Charleston towards that city,
while SHERMAN advances from the south, the
capture of Charleston will be inevitable. But
even assuming that BUTLER is unable to take
Wilmington, or to march a column towards
Charleston, he can at least prevent reinforce
ments to any large amount from being sent to
Charleston, and SHERMAN alone will be equal
TO capturing that city.
GRANT is not idle because he is still. He
holds the Rebel Army of Virginia as if in
closed in a vice. There is no aid to 20 any.
where from that army. In vain did Governor
Brown, OF Georgia, appeal and threaten by
turns-Savannah was left to its fate. Charles
ton and Wilmington must soon fall. Where
then will Richmond beP Did not DAVIS con-
fess, in his great Southern speech, that Geor-
gia supplied the Confederacy? Have not all
Rebels confessed that they could not do with
out the blockade running at Wilmington
How then will Richmond fare without either
Georgia or Wilmington, especially as North
Carolina is not very loyal to the ConfederatesP
The Richmond Wing may say. as it did of
Savannah, that all Of these cities do not make
the Confederacy; but If Richmond, Whining
ton, Charleston, and Savannah fall, where is
the Conederacy? Nowherel
1t is our belief, that the last regular
campaign in the Middle States ended with
HooL's recent defeat in Tennessee. Future
operations there, if operations there be, will
exhibit nothing but fltful warfare similar to
that which ensued in the West after PRIcE'5
first signal defeat in the trans-Mississippi De-
partment. All armies, all interests are now
about to converge towards the Atlantic coast.
The Rebellion is smouldering smothered in
the ashes of the flames it lighted. 1t has
almost burnt itself out. II will probably
flicker long enough to light the ocean-path Of
JEFF. DAVIS and a few fellcw-spirits, as they
seek in foreign land that peace which nas
been so long denied them here.