Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-07-14
NUMBER 13,,.,i 4

Generals; and thus as he moved porthward,
General Hooker moved too, and kept our
army constantly between the rebel army
and Washington. 1t was necessary for
General Lee to defeat our whole army be-
fore he could even threaten our capital. In
the present instance, the presence of Gen.
Grants whole army at Petersburg; the fact
that there Is not o single regiment of Union
troops between Richmond and Harper's
Ferry, by way of the Shenandoah valley;
and the defeat of General Hunter and his
retreat to the extreme Western limit of
Virginia, gave General Lee the opportuni-
ty, not only to move large portion OF his
troops from Richmond to the Shenandoah
valley unmolested, but also to,do so with
out the knowledge of General Grant, and
without its being in the power of the ad-
ministration to defeat the movement, even
If they had knownit. - 9'.,@1
MAEEUvERs OF GENERAL LEE TO CONCEAL
, THE MOVEMENT.
The show of force defending Petersburg
was kept up till the 9th instant; and twas
probably the movement of the last of Cen
eral Lees corps from the south to the north
side of the Appomattox river on that day
that led General Grant to telegraph to the
War Department that large portion of the
enemy had disappeared from his immediate
front. There is no need of haste, therefore,
in General Lees movement i'm order that it
may be successful. The only thing that
could defeat General Lees design, so far as
Washington Is concerned, would be for
General Grant to detach half his army from
before Petersburg and send 1t to the de-
fense of the capital. That, indeed. would
secure the safety Of Washington. But that
very movement on General Grants part
would accomplish for General Lee the first
nEs IL H.. H., ,.a...
namely, the safety Of Richmond; for II one
half OF General Grants army yleaves Peters,
burg, the rest will have to follow. -tg.fpaC
r -u. ~. MoND TO BE RAISED. .,-.- ...-.,....
- General Lee expects, indeed, that this
will ultimately be done by General Grant;
it is, in fact, Just what he wishes and desires
General Grant to do. But before he
does so, or in order to induce him to
do so, or in order to guard against
any unforeseen contingency, 1t is nee
essary for the rebel commander to wait
until the whole of the force which he In
tends to operate shall have been assembled
on the Potomac river. This is what he Is
doing now. ..f.
WHAT THE REBEL FORCES IN THE sHENAN-
I'll. DoAH VALLEY ARE DOING.
In the meantime, there are three other
important, but secondary, operations, which
are being executed. The first have allu-
ded to before, namely, to get in the rear of
the Union forces now holding the Mary
land Heights, and the Monocacy bridge,
and to cut them off before they can be re-
inforced. The second is to move suffi-
cient force to some point west of Cumber-
land, so as to intercept and defeat General
Hunter, before he can join Sigels troops;
and the third is the collection of the grain
@ crop in the Shenandoah and Cumberland
valleys, and its safe transportation to Rich
mond. 1t is in these three operations that
General Lees forces OH the Potomac are
now engaged.
AN IMMENSE CROP OF WHEAT BEING TRANS
PORTED TO RICHMOND. ,A
In my letter of July l, spoke of the lux
uriant wheat crop in Virginia. The wheat
fields in all the counties in Virginia west Of
the Blue ridge, and in the Cumberland val
ley, which, in Pennsylvania, is the contin-
uation of the Shenandoah valley in Virgin
ia, are of immense extent, and the crop of
this year exceeded all expectation in the
abundance and excellent quality of its
yield. In Virginia the wheat harvest was
for the most part over when this movement
began. In Pennsylvania the wheat was
just ready to be cut, and has been left stand
ing in the fields by the frightened farmers,
who have fled in terror across the Susque-
! hanna river. The collection of this harvest
/ and its transportation to Richmond, even
! by an army of thirty thousand men, will
| require much time. But it is now in full
| progress, and that it will be done success
| fully there is no reason to doubt. And II
| General Lee accomplishes by his northern
| movement nothing more than this, and the
| impressment of five thousand horses for his
! cavalry, the movement will pay him well.
| Was there not sagacty enough at WASH
| ington to foresee and provide for such an
/ attempt? Or was 1T foreseen, and not pro-
! vided for, because in order to defeat it, the
| plan of General Mcclellan for the protec-
| tion of Washington, and the prevention Of
| raids up the Shenandoah valley, would have
had to be followed? DRUID.