The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1864-03-29
MILITARY rsHNFs 90 raE LAST mo
MONTHS

mics. The successes of last summer
had materially reduced The limits Of
tie confe3sracy. and the brilliant op-
CREATIONS Of the iall months opened 10
oar advance ihai section of she eeun-
,ry n which the rbels, driven IN
from llle borders q shc section they
bad At frs, attempted 10 defend, bad
concentrated their armies and every
thing 90 which tie success &c those
armies depended. When tie wiuier
closed UPON a military silagiion 50 adj
yanlageoas, il did not seem presump-
tious 10 hope tina, the springs months
would open with campaign, " short,
quick, and decisive, which would re-
duce the efforts Of the rebels from the
mos ements Of great armies TO the fee
Bile and broken efforts Of a defeated
and despairing foe. After the rapid
and successful movements Of the last
year, which 10 a people sick with hope
deferred, seemed to display some
thing Of Napo leonic genius and
energy IN their coneeption and exc
culion, with the great Mississippi d.
yiding them in twain and the key OF
Georgia in our possession, - it was
perhaps natural for US TO underrate
somewhat the advantages which the
new position gave the rebels in the
concentration of their forces and our
removal from the rivers which had
hitherto served as the bases Of our
supplies. Whatever may have been
the correctness Of our views with re-
gard TO what ought to have been the
result Of the spring campaign, it is
certain that our hope of an early re-
sumo Of the onward march of the pre-
eding season has been disappointed.
Every movement Of our armies this
spring thus far, has resulted either in
actual defeat, or lack of decisive re-
suits, which, TO a people hoping for
better things, seemed little better.
Gen. Seymour's expedition in Florida
met with a grand disaster Kilpa-
tricks attempt TO release the Union
prisoners in Richmond Jared little bet
ter. The attack on Mobile, from
which so much was expected, has
scarcely been heard from. Smiths
cavalry expedition failed unaccount-
ably, ana, as consequence, Sher-
mans army which bad marched grand
ly into Alabama, marched graDdly
back again. Thomas grand advance
in Georgia dwindled suddenly into a
grand reconnaissance. Meanwhile the
seige Of Charleston drags along its
tedious length, and the army Of the
Potomac still watches and waits. In
all these things the people have been
disappointed, and yet, in spite Of it all,
the nation is hopeful and confident.
The cause Of this hopeful condition
of the public feeling is found in sin
gle measure and relates to one man.
Grant has been made a Lieutenant
General and put in command of the
armies Of the United States, and the
people, notwithstanding all their dis
appointments, are hopeful to-day
Blunaerine generals may lead their
armies 70 destruction, expeditions may
fail and nobody be to blame, armies
equal 10 those with which Napoleon
won Marengo and Austerlifz NAV
waste months in splendid movements
in which nobody is hurt, but the
people trust in Grant that he will
! correct all these things, and give Us
{ what W, want - victory.
Nothing can be more gratifying TO q
military commander than the fact that
his advancement is considered an
event SO suspicious as 10 counter.
balance il tile public mind the effects
of long list Of disasters. Since his
promotion Gen. Grant has, il any.
thing, strengthened the confidence
which the public placed in his char.
acier as man and a general. lie
shnns Washington and announces his
headquarters in the field. From the
fact that those headquarters are for
the present with the army Of the Pc.
tomac, we may infer that he intends
to lead in person that army on 10
Richmond" Mcdowell. Mcclellan
Pope, Burnside, and Hooker. have all
tried il and failed. They had TO con
tend with bureau dictation from Wash
ington he stands first in the army