, 1864-05-27

fully; and the question Of supplies for his
army, In thestrong position at spottyslvanla'
began to be a practical one. Hence he hss
scarcely choice but to retreat As to his
advancing on Washington, though the road
may be open to him, had he twice the force
he has, he could not make 1t, for the good
renaon that he could not subsist this army In
that direction. All this is well known to
Gen. Grant, who has no fear on that score
BIS rstreat, which may be longer or short.
er-to the South Anna or to Richmond-Win
give him some advantage, and leave him
eome; and the same will be the case With
our army. II will not, Of necessity, very
much alter the relative position Of the two
forces as toward each other-at least imme-
diately. Those who may think Lees army
routed and broken In pieces, will soon find
themselves mistaken ..s
On the other hand, his retreat will bring
him nearer his base Of supplies; win enable
him to concentrate the whole Confederate
army-at least the Northern portion OF II
and In case Of necessity be able to use the
Notifications Of Richmond for his dstease.
On the other hand his retreat Is, morally, for
him. disastrous. It Ia q confession Of defeat
AL his lying, and all the help he eau get
from the Richmond newspapers, can neTer
convince the Southern people, Or any other
people, that anything but necessity drove
him back to his capital; and the army Of
Grant thundering about his heels will give
force to the conviction, and his former
claims Of victory will now have their day Of
reaction. The people will see that his dis
patches have been false, and viii fear to be-
Ncre or trust further; and tue present des-
pondency will bo IN the ratio Of the past
confidence. Troops, too. lose heart rapidly
In retreat, and If heart is all that Ia 1ost 1t
wi1l be I wonder. One Thousand stragglers
were picked up in 8 couple Of days. and it
viii be lucky for, him II they arc the last:
And although Lee will be able to concen-
t1ate by retreat, Grant Will also gain some
what He will gain open ground for one
thing; will bc able to communicate closely
with Butler for another thing; and although
}arther from his base will be able to get nj
most any line Of communication he may
choose He may have the Fredericksburg
Railroad; Ut the Pamunly to White House ;
or the James River; or altogether, ns he may
prefer. And as Lees troops are discouraged
by retreat, so his will be encouraged by sd,
vance. =
II, too, Lee pnts himself into Richmond
we may look very possibly for another move
ment on the chessboard, not even thought
Of now BY the public; and which we canno
at ell indicate; but which when 1t comes of
will be Of no inconsidcrable effect
II it comes to fighting about Richmond
| either Grant will be worstcd, or Lee will b
| forced before great while into the city
unless, indeed, he abaat1ons 1t and puts ou
for more southern region.
When it comes to Grant hammeriug at tn
walls of the city, then may It come to Pass
is IL Is already rumored, that JEFF Davis aut
othe7s will take themselves ont of harm
way. But for the present there is more worl
before us-more marching, moro fighting
more waiting-mo1e mancuvering-al o
which tends to one result, the weakening
/ and breaking down OF Lees army. It is not
day, hut Of some weeks. The conteat Is nov
not one Of bravery so much as one Of e.du,
ance. The question is Who soonest get
weak in the knees; who first gets. hungr.
and can 60 no further; who first exhibit
lncurable "grogginess," and sways this va,
and that, TIL it comes to q hopeless tremble
Now is the day for pluck-gpod English
American, Yankee pluck, which holds on til
sundown and dark, and then holds on till tn
faint hues of morning streak the east whe,
the death rattle and the final gasps come
God grant that our hopes In our Eloriou
| army au6 Its Generals, and its Lieutenan
General, as to their tenacity, are not misplas
F! ed. We Go not believe they are