Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-10-11

apprehension; but each and every man muse
d. his whole duty: there should be no holding
back, no waiting for the eonsosipt officer to
catch them aud drsg them to the fro4t, but
10. each and all come forward with alacrity,
and all will be we'll. I'D
THE AMERICAN WAR.
The Tendon "limes" gives tho following
views upon the war in America:
The singular prpli1ity Of American conflicts
probably esnrcsses something beyond mere
psrity Of military fotco. 1t is, perhaps, result
Ut the tactics smF loyed. Four great armies, un.
der al many chosen generals, have now been
in close contact for weeks, and even months
srgethtr, without any achievement which can
be regarded as decisive. The fighting has been
desperate; hut though each particular battle
| niay bring o repulse to one side or the Other
| there il nothing 1.-The absolute discontinue
We are applying these rcmarks, not to tho &C.
| tual march Of Grant upon Richmond, Or of
Sherman upon Atlanta, but to the operations
which have boon reported since each Of these
commanders closed bodily with his antagonist
and commenced tho work on which he had set
OUT. In neither case does it appear that the
proceedings resemble those of q seige. Grant
ia not formally bsaieging even Peters
| burg, much less Richmond, nor can Sher-
man effect anything like d regular invest,
ment Of Atlanta. From the latter quarter,
indeed, the only authentic intelligence rep
rsaenta Hood as being largely reinforced
q sufficient proof that his communicating are
! completely open. If W. look, however, q little
more closely at the accounts received, we shall
discover circumstance which will explain
the poei.ion Of affairs. The truth is, that both
in Virginia and Georgia beta armies are en-
uenohsd alike. 1t is not that Grant and Sher
man keep the field while Lee and Hood are
ehut up in their lines, for the Federsls have
thrown up sarthworks 90 we'll as the Confeds-
rates.
As soon az Grant arrived at point where
he could mako no more flank movements, "
but must either stand or go, he constructed O
found 90 strongly ert.enohed that Lee declined
the cost of assaultiing him in his position
| Exactly the same thing took place at Atlanta
| Sherman marched after Johnston in resolutc
pursuit until hs reached the city he wished tc
cartare, when he Immediately threw up field
wa.S. ind esconoed himself in bis lines. The
Rad, is that in Georgia as well IS Virginia
b, main ha5y Of each army hell, :. secure
position, end they only fight escb 6ller, as il
ware. by sorties.
! This is probably one consequence Of the i'm.
movements in firearms. Breech loxders and
errhworks appear to form the strongest cenbi-
nation of offensive and defensive power, and it is
somewhat remarkable that the result is directly
opposed 10 the theories formerly prevailing. /:
was N Kim o. military science that earthworks
could never stap good infantry; the meaning BE-
| ing that the slope at which such works warS ne
csssnilY constructed could always be assembled
by aoliiers brave enough 10 face tue fire Of the
defenders. But it how seems that the deRdliness
| and rapidity of the fire maintained by breech.
| leading r:aes is more than can be endured.
Grsn,' iesvieat losses have been encountered in
hs attempts to gtoim the earthworks Of the Con-
| federntts and Lee forssaw similar danger 30
clearly ;htt he refused to run the risk of it.,
and left Grant undi.turbed within his lines
That this is tho tIue history of affairs is plain from
the Incident reported Of the battle Of Cold Hsr.
bor-tEas the attack lasted scarcely ten minutes.
| II WAS much the same after the explosion of the
mine at Petarsb burg a quarter of IN hour of such
| u fire nj coed t,oors well armed can now main
,sin 10 enough 10 stretch whole divisions on the
| ground Grsrt, in one of hi5 assaults on the
Confederate Iioes must bavo loat thousand men
a minute There was nothing like this in former
limss, though our own attack upon New Orleans
did foresbadopg these modern tactics to some ex-
tent In fact, the Americans in their civil wsr,
annear TO have been perfectiDg the original tao.
t;os oT their countrymen, They were the fist
neone 10 Discern the value Of scientific muskeiry
sided bv defensive works, and they have now
carrisd both principles 10 an extent never known
before.
must lot be forgotten that though fortifl-
ostious enter thus largely into the machinery
If this desperate war, they must in most in
stances, :have been extemporiEed. America
VIA the ono country in the who'll, world with.
out atrors places and fortified towns except
an ,be seacssst. Even Richmond aud WASH
;ny.on have been fortified sinoe tho war be.
esn. and probably We may learn by and by
something more Of O system which Todleben
introduced, but which Beauregard and bis
colleagues have developed. We ass assured
that Richnond-as open town four yeats
ago a. Brentford or Croydon-is now one Of
ths strongest places in the world. We know
that Yioksburg, hastily encircled with dsfen-
siye works, resisted every hostile attack, and
Welded only to famine The very man who
tock it oannot succeed, though still at the
head of large forcs, in taking the little oouu-
try town of Petersburg. 1t is not easy to see
the design Of Grants late operations, but they
appear to be directed against the oommunios-
tions st Petersburg, with the hope of estab-
lishine suoh blockade of that town % NAV
possibly in the end lead to its surrender. ard
Thus perhaps open one Of tho roads to Rich
:apd. The defenoss themselves are too
onp even. for the reckless obstinaoy of the
r.hsrn commander, and If he cannot effect
purpose indirect he must give it up alto
her. Yet these Notifications had never
N heard of till tho other day, when the little
.soe all of sudden was found to be Antwerp
or Mantua in strength.
These remarks will help to explain the suo-
cassful resistance Of the South against an enemy
On aunsrior In numbers and resources Without
donht the chief credit is due TO the energy and
courage Of the Southern population; but the
Confederate engineers have shown that true
noaste,y of science which consists in turning
aotpal circumstances to Immediate account
Bapjnnine With old-iashioned muskets, the
Sonthsrne1s advanced to bresoh-losdera rs rapid
10 "a their means would permit, aud then econo.
miZe their strength by the adoption of forii6cs-
e;ons st every point. Grant finds himself in an
extemnorized Gusdrilateral. Which syer way he
tarns The dersncea Of thu enemy srs too strong
for him and co. in despair of doing anything else,
he a,teputs 10 reduce him to surrender by break
ing up the railroads This, however, is work Of
time, and, the result to which it might lead
would be distant still, whereas there is no
longer any lime to spare. So lapg and 20 skill
fully have the ConfederStes rnsiutsined their de-
fence that the issue Of the strife will now proba-
bly, be determined by the political quarrels of
their ssssilsD.s.