Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1864-02-11
THE REBEL PLANS.
An Invasion Of the North Recon
rsmigs- aiet mended. vtianiui sira I

An 1nufVtdudf arrived mere IrOm ftlcu-
mond day or two ago who processes to
be well posted upon the affairs of the reb-
Ell War Department; and, having given
me the benefit OF his information; lay II
befare the public. In regard to the degree
of reliability to be attached to this account,
/ can only say that know he occupied
position at Richm mond, unit! very recently,
which afforded him good opportunity to
become correctly posted upon the subjects
referred to, and further, that have the
best reason to believe his information has
been communicated to the War Depart
ment, where it received that marked con-
sideratio1 showing its importance.
? From him Ilearn that the news of the
powerful and successful efforts Of the rebel
leaders to largely increase the armies here
tofore received by me and published in
this correspondence. is strictly true. A
sweeping conscription has already com
menced in South Carolina. Georgia. Ala
bama and Mississippi, and will soon be en-
forced in North Carolina and Virginia,
which places in the army every male be-
tween the ages of sixteen and fifty-ive.
capable Of military service. In the first
four States the State authorities are coop
Grating with the Richmond officials in ad.
vance of the final action of the Confederate
Congress. In North Carolina the con-
scription has not commenced. and will not
be until the existing difficulties between
the State and Confederate Governments
are ssmicably adjusted; strong efforts to
that end are now being inaugurated; while
in Virginia the operations of raising new
levies will not be commenced until it is as
certained how many fighting males are
left, the object being not to enforce the
conscription SO sweepingly within her
boundaries, in consideration of the large
levies she has already devoted to the war.
and the sacrifices she has made to the
cause.
This conscription, though exhaustive to
the very last, and manifeslly an admission
that the prospects of the Confederacy are
now in do-or-die condition, it is not an
popular with those whom it affects, as rep
resented. While q spirit of dissatisfac-
tion is often displayed, and in a few in
stances open resistance, an attitude of op-
position is by no means general among the
masses. The rebel leaders have not con
cealed the desperate condition of their
cause from the people. and the latter, tho
their confidence of final success is much
shaken, refuse to admit that the time has
come to dispair. They admit the necessi.
ty Of last and desperate effort, and the
majority are determined to stand by. the
Confederate Government to the end.
| In recent letter, / stated it was ex.
pected this conscription would raise hun.
dred thousand new recruits. My inform.
ant states the increase Of the rebel armies
thereby will be much greater--at least one
hundred and twenty-five thousand, perhaps
one hundred and fifty thousand. One
hundred and twenty-five thousand vii
make the total forces of the rebellion or
this side of the Mississippi an aggregate
of two hundred and seventy FIVE thousand
troops-an extraordinary number under
the circumstances; but the following esti
mate of troops in the field at this time
will show il is not an exaggeration, provi
ded the ultimate results of the conscriptior
are correct. General Lee has forty thou
sand troops in the Army of Northern Vir
ginia. to which must be added ten thou
sand scattered throughout the State. IL
North Carolina there are five. thousand
State troops and few thousand Confede
rates. Beauregard has fourteen thousand
at Charleston and Savannah. At Mobile
there is force Of three thousand. John
son has thirty thousand in Northern Geor
gia, and Longstreet twenty-eight Thousand
in East Tennessee-the whole amounting
to about one hundred and fifty thousand
veteran troops.
This force of one hundred and 6fty tbou
saHd veterans are relied upon as the last
resource of the rebels in their desperate
extremity, and it alone will be employed
in fighting the spring campaign. All de
tached commands of veterans will be sent
to the main armies. and the weakest regi
ments alone will be held back and filled
! up with conscripts to guard the forts. rail
roads. DC. and to occupy positions in the
lear OF the troops engaged in active war
fare. E. fnsfrc.-.- .l ~ vfi.f i
General Lee arrived in Richmond on the
% day OF this month, and remained there
nine days, during which TINA he was in
constant consultation with jeff Davis and
The rebel War Department in regard to
the military condition and prospects cl
the Confederacy. and to the plans for fur
ther operations,--i. O., the spring cam
paigns. aa fe q
1t was admitted by all the parties to
these consultations that the prospect oil
success was gloomy in the extreme; that
the affairs of the Confederacy had reached
desperate crisis, which could only be
passed in safety by the successful adoption
Of the most desperate measures; and ano-
ther year Of snch war as had been waged
against them would end In their complete
defeat: and that the question OF the hour
was, whether they should surrender now.
or, gathering up all their resources and
concentrating them in last and final ef-
fort, continue the war and trust to fortune
and their own desperation tor success
They choose the latter course. 80 lr
In the course Of their interviews the fol-
lowing plans were developed. jeff Davis
was in favor of employing two hundrsd
thousand troops, as follows: IL : ss4 -
An army Of seventy five thousand under
Johnston to hold Grant in check; another
column Of fifty thousand to oppose the ar
my of the Potomac, protect Richmond.
hold Virginia; while grand army of one