The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1864-06-18
THE Pacific
Commercial Advertiser.
s~kTURDAY, JUNE is.
The EoscIgn News.

The news receIve1 by the late arrivals, an
nouncing the openinXof the spring campaign in
America, and the successful progress of the ma
tional arms. must haze carried a thrill of Joy to
every one who sympiflizes with the Union cause,
and desires the supp %sion OF. the most powerful
as it is the most unr Siteous and causeless rebel
lion that has ever ,Egraced the annals of any
nation. Little did Cost Of our readers dream
of the magnitude of sAe revolt that was opened
when the first gun W = fred on Sumter. or that
instead of the rs. 600 hunters called for by the
President in April lSG! a million and a half of
men would be requir' % quell it. By no means
is it subdued yet, but = ever, since it began, have
loyal men had more cause for hope that the unity
of the American Nation will yet be preserved,
peace restored, and slavery, which is the origin
and cause of the present trouble, forever extin-
guished.
The general complexion of the war news re-
ceived up to the 25th of May, is favorable to the
national arms, though it cannot be denied that
there is yet to be very severe and hard fighting
in Virginia before the struggle, even in that
State, is ended. The Importance of the conflict
there may be seen by the following telegram,
showing how the Richmond papers view it
The Richmond Examiner, of the 10th, says The
enemy have concentrated IL Virginia; if beaten there,
they will be beaten everywhere if they win there,
they win everything. The war and the Confederacy
might continue, but if Virginia is lost the present
Confederate organization will not, probably, survive.
From the opening Of the spring campaign,
which was on the 4th of May, the fighting in
Virginia has been most terrific on both sides, the
losses very heavy, and up to May ODD, one con-
tinued series of battles. 1t is stated that on the
side of Lees army they have been between
25 900 and 80 900 killed, wounded and captured.
The losses in Grants army have been probably
nearly as many. This, of course, makes large
gaps in the regiments on both sides, some of
which have been filled by veterans and recruits
from the North and South.
The steady and uniform advance of Grants
army, ever since it crossed the Rapid Ann on the
4th of May to attack Lee. and the continued
forced retreat of the latter from entertainments,
which he has been months in preparing, show
that the victory, thus far, is on the side of Grant,
and the Richmond papers acknowledge the battle
of the 10Th May to have been such. Still, as
Lee is in a desperate position, he must resort to
the most desperate expedients, and may recover
temporarily from his reverses.
1t may be well to give a little sketch of the
progress of the conflict IN Virginia, and the
position at the latest advices received by the
Keeler, which brought dates to the 25th of May.
The battles of May 4th and 9Th, opened by
Grant advancing his forces over the Rapid Ann
River about midway between Culpepper and
fredericksburg, and along the line of that
stream. The fighting on those days was very
severe, the bulk of both armies having been
engaged. The next two or three days the fight
ing was rather desultory and not general, the
result of which was that both armies changed
tba aoSif;opS rbiob tbnv held on the OnpninU
of the battle on the 4th, and now ranged nearly
parallel with the Richmond and fredericksburg
Railroad. In this position of the combatants,
the fighting during the whole following week,
especially on the 18th and 18th, was terribly
bloody. Grant all this time appeared to be en-
deavoring to move his army by flank move
ments, or sideways, towards Richmond, holding
the railroad by which he possessed constant COM
munication with fredericksburg and Washington.
AS Grant pushed his forces slowly south, Lee
was compelled to leave his entertainments and
fall south also, to keep the former from cutting
him off from Richmond. And by the latest
reports from the two armies, May "a, Lee had
crossed the Gordonsville railroad track, prob
ably somewhere near Beaverdam, and had re-
treated rapidly the South Anna River, which
would place him in the vicinity of Montpelier
COuEI-uOuSe, DOuIQ u IhlCIIIlOIlu. al Tie sIiunc |
time, Grants army was pressing him hard, and
must have been on the line of the railroad
somewhere in the vicinity of the junction of the
Richmond and Fredericksburg r. r. and the
Gordonsville r. r. This place is called - Sex
toms Junction on some maps. In passing, we
may say that a good map of Virginia for refer
ence at this time, will be found in Harper's
Weekly of May II, 1862, or May %, 1868,
which those who preserve their files can easily
refer to-.
We infer from the news received, that Lee was
pushing south to again occupy Richmond. The
next clash of the two armies will, therefore,
be in the vicinity of that city, which has, in all
probability, become little else than a strong for
tress, and if Lee succeeded in occupying it, and
effected a junction with Beauregard's forces, he
will be in a position to make a strong defense
against the attacks of Grant from the North,
who will, of course, be supported by Gen. But
Ter from the south.
1t must be borne in mind that all the railroads
leading from the south and west to Richmond
have been broken in several places by expeditions
sent out by Butler and Grant, while the latter
holds the railroad running north. This destruc-
ton of the railroads and of some of the largest
bridges, will render it difficult to reinforce Lee
from the south or furnish him with ammunition
and food for his army, except by the ordinary
roads.
Gen. Buffers forces are strongly entrenched