St. Mary's gazette., 1864-02-11
THE WAR IN TENNESSEE-LONG-
STREETS FORCE AND OPERA
TIOyS.

TONS.
Finn, TIE Richmond Eraniner. Jan. %
Whatever MAJ have been the misfortune
and fslly Of detach;ng General Lo,gstreei.
from the main army Of Tennessee on the
eve OF an important engagement. yet no
one acquainted with .shs facts can sisuhiI
that bis operations n Upper Esss 1,eniiss-
sec. considered 10 themselves, have been
highly successful aud vastly beneficial to
the cause. The failure before Knoxville
was cue to no fault Of General Longstreet;
but partly to train of circumstances over
which, he had no coutrol, and partly to the
vacillating orders of the ill-starred Bragg.
Tho capture of Knoxville could have
brought no permanent advanfsgc Since
the fall of Chattanooga and Cumberland
Gap it is uutcnable by C"nfederate arms
except at a great cost If troous. apainsf.
any considerable body Of the enemy. for
1t Is liable to attack in Fl ont from Chalsa-|
nooga. is aa"k from Kingston, aud IL rear
frou Cumberland Gap Ii Gcneral Lpngs'
street had taken the town, to have held 4
he would have to post an army looking Il
each .f these three directions each u,,r
sufficient to Withstand assault in any force
tie enrmy might triug from that quarter
The present position Of General I.osx-
streets army is infinitely more tcnable aud
more Jadiclous. occupying. as It does. an
arc OF circle bcudiug around from Rus
seilvliis to Mooresburg. Tenu.ssre. into
Lee county. Virginia; covering all the bcs,
portion of East Telnes.ee aud Southwest
ern Virginia.
The command Of General Longs.reet
was greatly strengthened on. euseriny the
country above Knoxville by the admirable
division of Maj"r General Ral,s,.u, which
includes the tue cavalry brigade If Gen
eral William f. jones, formerly part Of the
Floyd brigade. and the sterling infantry
brigadcs of General Curse (recruite.l chief.
iy from Richmond and Peter>burg), an..
ct General Wharton. formerly The old
Floyd brigade. Generals Rausom and
William i. Jones had but recently been
ordered to that country, and to those
veteran Commands General Corse had late
~ come up from the East, aud General
As.hssssn had jsse-hccu made atrixuiisss
and never was seen before, in SO sirikins
degree, the advantage Of placing good
generals in commaud OF good troops. The
conf lcnce inspired by such real soldiers
as Ransom. Corse. Jones, Wharton and
Colonel Glitner Commanding Kentucky
brigade OF cavalry. is wonderful. The
pe"ple are now disposed to Contribute all
in their power to the support of the army
and the defence Of their homes; whereas,
f"r several months before, seeing their
c"un'ry plun'lrred by thieviug cavalry aud
"vrrrun by droves Of Irresponsible troops,
under hundred irresponsible commands,
81 'rafficking c"!onels. captains aud MA jors.
reporting to drunken geuernls. they ha1
lost all heart. aud were ready "a; every.
alarm to cry sd"re que pcm. The feeling
now is. that the enemy will always tp.
fought, and that the appearance OF a blue
coat il not the iuvariab!c signal of dis
graceful cava!ry stampede. Our brav+
a"d atIe generals in that Country have IN
>pircd the enemy with a proper resprct..
and they n" longer dare to attack our forces
excep; with much superir number.
L"ngs'reet. Ransom. aud their c"n,,nan.as.
nave .Iune more fighting ia East Tennessee
than the same number of troops have dsne
before during the war in the same lengfl'
of time. and h,ve completely f,ied Burn.
side and Grant in their cnniiient cxpcct.-
ti"n "f wi"tering. 'un,nolested, on the urpcr
waters of the ilol.ton