The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-06-21
LATE AND IRPeRfAHF IRON RICH.
~t r NOM.
Surprise Of Gen. Lee st Cen. Grants
Movement.
his Army too Much Reduced to light
rra. IN an Open Fight.

a1 ~ @A St~N @teAt'
TremulOHs 0pislons IN Richmond
Concerning the Prospect. 2.
i F. al lG sar su.l
The Evacuation Of the oity considered
a Military Necessity.
J, Correspondence Of the New York World
WAsHNGrOS, June a.
The late adviees received from Rich
mond represent General Lee as having
been completely taken by surprise by
the movements Of the Union forces to-
ward the James--ah event for which he
was no ways prepared Bis hope was
that General Grant would remain on
the Chickahominy, and direct all his
efforts in that direction This sudden
change of base having upset all the
calculations of the rebel leader, he has
been forced to give up all his prepare
tons, and to tranpose his system OF de
Tense elsewhere.
This explains why our troops have
been enabled to accomplish their
change Of base without any opposition,
ard to march almost within sight of the
rebels without any attempt OF them to
hinder their advance Another reason
more patent yet. is that their forces are
so much reduced by the various battles
in which they have been engaged, that
they can hardly afford at present to
fight in the open field They must ne
eessarily have line of rifle pits and
earthworBs in front of them before
i they venture to fire. This has been
stFikingly illustrated IN the present adj
vance of our own troops through Bot
tom land and the Long Bridge, an OBJ
Grafton which it was in the power Of
General Lee to prevent .laI he been
strong and wise enough to do it.
Since GEN. Grant has safely reached
the james, the impression in Richmond
is that he will build a strongly intreneh-
/ ed camp on the shore of the river. or
perhaps avail himself Of that already
prepared by GEN Butler, and march
from that point in the direction Of Fort
| Darling, which it IS his intention, they
say, to take by storm. Once in posses
sion Of that fort, he will advance on
/ Petersburg and proceed from that city,
in the vicinity of which Gen Lee is
likely to give him battle, straightfor-
ward to Richmond.
The uneasiness of the rebels is not,
however, caused so much by the fear of
having a battle, as by the apprehension
of seeing all the communications con-
Meeting Richmond with the interior cut
and destroyed They know well that
their cavalry is incapable Of competing
with ours, and to protect efficiently the
roads through which they draw their
/ supplies and ammunition, and that
their capital may, at any moment be
insulated and deprived of the means by
which it has been hitherto enabled to
resist.
This is one ofthe most peFplexing pros
poets Of the rebels, one which they are
now discussing with that great earnest
ness and glow of feeling which they
bring in to their discussions. Many are
of the opinion that if General Grant
succeeds in completely seVering Rich
mond from all its lines Of communiea-
tons, the evacuation of that city be-
comes a military necessity which it Is
impossible, for all the forces of the CON-
federacy united, to prevent In other
words, Richmond deprived Of provis- |
ions and munitions of war; Richmond |
isolated and invested, cannot stand |
thirty days and must be evacuated. |
This is the gloomy conclusion to which |
rebels have arrived since the transfer Of |
our troops from the Chickahominy. At |
the same time, Richmond, represented |
by some writer as being well stocked |
with all kinds of grain, has hardly |
enough to subsist two months TO come, |
and the inhabitants are now waiting for /
the new avenues to replenish their gra-
nOries, a circumstance which makes stin !
more probable the fall of that city, and |
the complete success of the expedition |
under command of General Grant
WHAT PEACE PAPER THINKS or THE SIT
UAuoN
The New York News (BES WOoDs
psper) realizes the danger TO the rebel |
capital Reluctantly It confesses this |
in an editorial which closes as follows |
The Lieutenant General has left Che /
line on which he proposed to fight his
way to Richmond, and essays its cap
ture by an untried route. 1t is idle to
speculate as TO what may be the result
of this movement at this early period,
but we believe that the Army Of the
Potomac will meet with obstacles OF
that route quiet as formidable az those
it has hitherto encountered Gen
Grants soldiers are brave men, but 1
they cannot achieve impossibiiities and
they could not carry the simple
works at pOttsylvania, at Hanover
Junction, or those along the line Of the
ChickahOminy. They viii be confronted
with similar works on the south side,
defended by the same COnfederates
who repelled their fierce assaults at the
place we have named. The transfer Of /
the army to its present base also leaves
Washington uncovered, though we be
heYe this Is unimportant No large
body Of the Confederate army can safe
IL be detached from the defenses Of
Richmond 1t is menaced by one Ofthe
mightest armies of modern times, and
is commanded by a general who is bold
and daring, and confessedly able The
entire army Of General Lee are neces-
sary to the successful defense Of the
Confederate capital
But there are many advantages gain
ed for the FedeTals on the south side,
which we will present a. another time.
We viii mention one, however DruFys
Bluff-erroneously called Fort Darling
may be invested and possibly captu-
red IL this can be done, the irOn-ciads
may reach a point from which Rich
mond could easily be destroyed for
the fort IS the real obstruction 70 the
passage Of the James. The sunken
boats and other distinctions which are
below the fort could soon be removed I
So the iron-clads reach the Rockets "
a mile or 20 below Richmond, IL be-
comes untenable for obvious reasons,
and thus it might fall On the other
hand, if Drurys Bluff can be held,
there is no reason TO anticipate the sur
render Of the Confederate capital Il
may Be taken By strategic movements,
bat never BY coup aemabL a
The Boston Transcripts says Andrew
johnson Is the man who, in the United
stSses Senate, in one Of his speeches,
denouncing accession said "A he nointed