Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-05-02

assuredly be met with forces very nearly equal
10 their own, and we do not believe IL possible
Tor Yankee force. however well commanded
and appointed, to beat equal force Of Coined
crates. let them be appointed and commanded as
lily As they may. The chances are therefore
vastly in our favor. and there is but one circum-
stance which renders their chances as good as
they were when the campaign Of 1863 apened.
That circumstance is the possession OF Gene
eral superior to any they have ever yet had That
Grant is man of far more energy and ability
than any that mas yet commanded the Army of
the Potomac cannot be denied. But. then, what
sort OF men have commanded it3 The imbece
Mcdowell, the lying charlatan Mcclellan, the
low, brutal, boasting poltroon Pope. the murder
ing coward Burnside, the drunken braggart
Hooker, the timid but gentIemanly Meade. That
Grant is much superior leader to any of these
cannot be denied. And yet it may be denied that
he is great general, since he has never done
anything TO prove that he is so. Let US see what
he has done. We first hear of him at Belmont.
where he was sgnaly defeated and driven to his
boats by Gen. Polk. and whence he dated a lying
bulletin claiming the victory. He next appears
before Fort Donelson, where, with eighty full
regiments, enormous feet, and every adyan
tsge that vast superiority in arms and equip
ments could give them. he contrived. after a
desperate conflict of three days, in which the
Confederates were uniformly victorious. to cap
ture the place with 900 out of garrison orig
inally but ii 900 strong. having himself lost fully
as many men as were in the fort
A few weeks after, with forces not more than
one-thlrd as strong as his own, be was attacked
by Sydney Johnston at Shiloh and routed so
completely that. had not that great leader been
killed, his whole army would have been de-
stroyed. When re enforced by Buell., and while
one-half the Confederate army was dispersed in
search OF plumber among the tents of the Yankees
which they had captured, he attacked Beaure
gard. and was rePulsed In every attempt. With
one hundred thousand men and the most DO wer-
full feet that had ever been seen upon any river
in the world. he captured Ticksburg. after a trial
of six months. solely through the incompetence
of the commander who had but twenty-seyen
thousand men. and divided them in such way
"a to present on the battle field but fourth OF
fifth OF the eIemy's force. aud who PERSISTENT
disobeyed every order given him by his superior
General Johnston. Al Missionary Ridge he wa;
enabled to fall on General Bragg with an army
three or four times AS numerous AS his own Re
pulsed in the pursuit by Gen Cieburne, he never
afterward dared to make n movement in front
feeling himself MS much overdwed in the pres
ence of General Johnston Antony was in tina
of Caesar.
Such is the man with whom Gen. Lee has &c
contend, and such his career His performIu ce-
bear no comparison Whatever TO those of Gen
Lee He has hitherto succeeded by dint of brut,
force He has always had vastly superior num-
bers when he has been victorious. The man who
with small numbers and weak resources, con
trives TO perform mighty deeds. is the great Gen
eral. Such is not Grant, and such is Gen Lee
The latter has always fought against immens,
odds, and has always been victorious True, thu
Yankees trIel To claim victory at Sharpsburg
| but the very fact that they wepe unable to pur-
sue, and that they made no deT OnstraiOn fO
three months after, proves that the claim wai
false. They claimed mighty victory, too, a
Gettysburg, yet it paralyzej them for nearly
year. Gen. Lee now. for the first time. 6ghu
with numbers somewhat on equality. ca
there be any doubt about the result. For GU
part, all that we are afraid of is that our troops
] are too full of confidence