Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-11-19

lls-la.Ezllaaluru1aE
The Riehnond Correspondent ortba
London Times on Lees Difficulties.
The Englishman who writes from Rich
mond to the London Times for the edifca-
ton Of John Bull, must occasionally tell
some truths which are not very encour-
aging to the rebsl sympathizers. In his
letter under date Of October 9Th, he thus
discourses on Less difficulties:
Your readers will understand, that in
such an attitude as is occupied BY the
armies Of Lee and Grant, the army which
takes the initiative and acts on the ae0res-
sive had an immense advantage. Lee is
like skiliul one-armsd prize aghter, who
Is fighting big bully with two arms
stronger taller, more sctive and keener-
sighted than himseR The most temptin0
and prompting opportunities offer them
selves 10 him every day. He eaaRot afford
to risk eveH tI1e7Ity ttUes IN teltati1s opeT-
alton. The fact Of his great numerical in
'eriority to his enemy, and that he is
tethered down, and forced to keep always
large portion Of his army before Petera-
6urgh, are Disadvantages equivalent to
tue loss OF an arm BY prize fighter.
Grant, on the other hand, has, in the eyes
OF those who rightly survey the ground,
such advantages as make il astonishing
that, IN the four months between the 18th
Of june, when he crossed the james River,
and the present time, he should have
made so little use Of them.
..
1t is almost impossible for Lee to know.
if Grants demonstrations, whether thew
threaten Richmond on the extreme Fedef-
al right, or the Southside Railroad on the
extreme Federal left, are feints or realities.
On the other hand, from the eoniRura-
ton Of the ground, it Is slmost impossible
for Lee to cut Grants extended lines in
any vital place The most tempting place
to ssssil those lines would be somewhere
not far from the spot where Grants mine
was sprung. But the shape of the ground
together with the position Of the
forces if such that the lines can only be
attacked ct two or three confined spots.
and here naturally Grant has defended
himself with triple tiers of Notifications,
and always keeps the position guarded. But
Io,z;yc,. ,.' 'Ast of all advantages is the fol-
From the Attn Of May up to the prsszu.
hour Lees army has been continuously in
the trenches, either actually under fire OF
st any rate knowing at what moment IL
might not be attacked By 3 savage and
multitudinous foe. The Confedarstes have
been fighting on the rack without in
termission for more than i've months. On
the other hand, the Federal General who
knew from the beginning that Lee was,
through the pauc;ty Of his numbers, re-
stricted 10 acting on the defensive, had it
IN his power at any moment to give four
htths Ofhi aCmy an entire rest. There
was nothing to prevent Grants saying on
the ist of August, 81 shall want great ef-
forts from you on the goth of this month.
rest aud recruit yourselves until that dsv.'
On the contrary, for $50 days Leas troOps
have known no rest either BY night or day.
We all remember how the work in the
trenches told upon our officers and pri-
Yates in the Orimes. It cannot be won
dered that far more uninterrupted pres
sure for more than Eve months shoasLd have
told fsaTfULty upon the poor Confederatss,
exposed to one Of the hercest summers
ever known in IN Virginia, sesntily fed
upon uieat-mOstly salt meat-and bread,
without vegetables, with only occasional
coffee, with no other stimulant, and threat
eneI eessslessly with overwhelming num-
beri, t0ho haze at their eo1smossd al tie
Lavish pTofEsioE of expenditures and the
experience Of the whole civilized
world can contribute. I cannot Be blind
to the fact, as meet 0nicers and priVates
Of Gen. Lees army, that they are half
worn out, and that, though the spirit is the
same as ever, they urgently need rest. I
am in hopes that during the coming win
ter this rest will not be denied to them,
as Lees army becomes stronger; but be
that as it may, am convinced that when
the true history of the Confederate cam
paign of 1884 in Virgins Is written, Il
viii record struggle unsurpassed in he
roism and In the patience and self-deny-
ing endurance Of the troops since the tine
when blood was hrst split upon the earth,
and man first lifted his hand in anger
against his brother.