Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-03-17
hsrmen's tRaId--what, he DId and
IS $40 What he Failed toiDo.g bar 81
Prom the New York Tribune. ed

Gen. Sherman lefts-VicksburR with a
force of about 10000 men,! He had two
oblectsj fret to- desolate the countrv
through which he marched, cautl TO de.
sttoy its railways 10 order to make u rebel
campaign in force impossible duriGg the
summer; second, to go to Selma. In-ths
hrst object he has succeeded; 10 the sec.
ond sheshas failed. But he has .sncceeded
so completely in the. fret, and has done his
worktWithf snch unexpected and extensive
thoroughness that his. failure to reach
Selma need not be deeply deplored. The
Southern=M Mississippi Railroad, crossing
the stag az right ,anglesl to the ,yiyeE is
destroyed.Sf The dMb6ilA.aud 0hf6I 5Rbil.
road, running through the easterly part of
the State parallel 70 the river, has been
torn up audiIrrepsrably injured for dis
lance OF nifty six miles north and sauth,oe
Meridian. The immense supplies AcGdss 9
mulnted by the rebels Vt numerous points
on the line of these two roads have been.
burned, and the mills, mauufActories, ma.
shops, public buildings-in a word,
eVerythipgSYh hichi iconttl bu fsi1 I6l t6s .aiI
u Itary power of the rebelliOn-haVe been
annihilated..a There ares<no Longer. the
means OF transporting or of subsistIng any
considerable force OF rebel ttoopAA
perhaps excepted-in Southern or Central
Mississippi, y. The GHinterrupted nayipa.-
tion of the Mississippi river aud the secu-
rity OF Louisiana from rebel Invasion are
results of this expedition Between the
forces of the rebellion east and west of the
Mississippi, there can hencetorth be no
co-oPeration--scarcely any regular inter-
course. For all military purposes the
State which Sherman has lraYersed is :.
desert-its vast territory not merely;use.
lees to the rebels, but an impossible bar
rier4 between them and The region in which
they expected to have tpursuedi an -aReres 4
sive campaign '-a .7sa.'si'Ip % 70 >
1t is said that Gen. Sherman felt himself
able-notwithsIanding tbe inability of Gen
smith to join himT5tot thRYe marched direct
from Meridian on Mobile, and to have can.
tured the city, We have known before
that the, rebels expected hin to, aud maj
the. city was slightly defended on .the, land
side. Probably, itewoulda have fallen had
II been Alta cked, butt the responsibility for
the failure does not lie at Gen. ,Sherman's
door, 1FarraRutlwas sent. to New Orleans.
expecting cooperation from Blaud tofce-EE
but not under 4Sherman's Command He
was dtsAppointed5a and has been forced to
content htmselt with blockading 1arbOr
which he has not force enough. 10 enter
By the time the Louisiana lelections are
over, he may End meUther G eneFal than
at leisure to give him, helping
nanoH -d la ts'tf 1efupi IL isJlal q. 3. gssl
With the. return of Gen. Sherman to
fteks6prg, the expedition is of course at
An end, but not the campaign. The forces
embraced in the Division of the Mississjppi
were never in SO geod a. condition for work.
or soslittle hampered by defensive neressi.
Lles. I.a. They pass u holly under thetimme.
alAte command Of Gen Sherman, who is
Gen, 9Eants selectioR TO succeed him, and
who has the confidence both OF his sol Il
dtets and the country. What he has done
10 ibis exRsdittSa paSes the, way for the
decasiVestRoFk;,o the SummerLfori the
campaign which we trnst is to carry him
trresistably 70 the Cult, aud tbs success of
Yhieh must destroy the military strength
ofthe rebellion. ~ 81 r. 2