Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-03-22
EFea de 4, Z, Fisis1.
Ghs Further InVRAIaH pFthe 00Rfevls

AaAs = uEHASE AnNAsl0h pE ths 001IeUa
- eFhe1.
X Theexpefience OF tho wsr is Rradaally
setuih some problemR which al first Wers
very doubtful. When the struggle opened,
the Popnlat imsginntion pictured a gallaut
army of one hundred thousand Union
troops marching gayly down through the
Southern States as Napoleon marched
through Prussia before Jena. There SEEM
cd no more reason why Mcdowell and Nc
Olellan should not ''ihyade" the South.
than tor the French not Invading all Eu.
rope iuzt the times of the Revolution. The
thought OF where food and forage for the
one hundred thousand were to come from
did not trouble the popular mind.
The trst great shock was received When
Zen. McOlellan's army stood at the aban-
doned camps of Manassas. as a cononerinp
most might stand on the seashore, and see
DO possibility of movement beyond. The
people then saw, for the first time, that
taere was some great mysterious obstacle
70 the march of large army over our
vast Interior. Since then it has come
gradually TO be assumed as an axiom that
hundred thousand men on either side
must keep within fifty or sixty miles of q
base of supplies.
IL " ls seen. that, in sparcely settled coun-
tEy ike the Southern States, where there
are no great depolS of provisions or forage,
Tiers can be no extended march or inTa-
sion OF q large army, unless supported by
river communications. This difficulty,
togetner with the rough aud broken char
Iacter of the surface, has made VIRGINIA.
snchan unfavorable country.for a campaign
with large armies. Wherever we advance
We must, unless we uncover Washington,
have Immense trains or an exposed rail.
Eoau communication, and every river dell
becomes new post of vantage for the re-
treating army. There is nothing in the
character of the country which shouId
prevent Davis, as he is reported TO have
said, defending Virginia for twenty years. -
But It isa hasty conclusion from these
tActs-as is inferred by our Europeua crit
ies-that no invasion of tue South is pos
Stole. IL must be remembered that the
richest and most central portions of the
rebel States are accessible by rivers. Tn.
Lomoigoeeiand Alabama will open up Al
ALBANIA aud Mississippi, the Savannah pre-
SCENTS Ru approach to, the interior of Geor-
gia, and the Richmond Journals acknov-
ledge that our possession of Georgia will
break up the Virginia armies. They can
no longer iced thems when the great gran
airy and source ofisupplies for their armies
Is in our hands. For this reason it is thar
our advance into Georgia is direct and
most effective step on our way to Rich
mood The point from which to ASSAULT
the south isevideutly the Tennessee noun.
tain ridge.
But in addition to the help We shall de
rive from the rivers, it Is now clearly nm.
derstood that flying column ii 25, 900 o,
on, o9o men can live anywhere In the South
sEn states which have not been occupied
~ armies, aud can march 20 or 20 miles
k1nR
strAted this fact in the most satisfactorv
manner, aud the western armies bavs re-.
peatediy proved its truth. Gen. Burnside
supported 10000 men for weeks in Eas,
tennessee, and Longstreet coming after
nim' Kept his men for months on the nm.
fortunate country. It is true that now,
EAST Tennessee, like Virginia or AIississip.
Pl, IS stripped bare, and the people are
starving. But when first entered. the
country could easily support a small army.
1t IS proved that this is true of all parts
OF the South where armies have not re-.
pie, $50 = '-'' psO
Such fact viii b deeply important as
Isne large CRIMES Of the. rebels become
broken up, for flying columns of FederaI
troops win no doubt march tbronsb tbs
South, sweep the country of means ~
feeding armies, enlist and arm the negroes.
andicsncentrate at given points in the in
terror, and so effectually s1biugats the re-
bellious districts. Thus will be solved the
great problems of invading and conuueripe
SO vast territory as the South. :
Il We by no9 means assert that this ia the
ouiy possible manner of penetrating the
great spaces that are yet left to the rebel.
llon' Tue real and formidable obstacle to
our ADVANCE through Virginia, or to oul
board, is the army of Gen. Lee. The de.
molttton Of that is ths problem of the wear
the main problem of the rebellion. We do
not doubt that the Lientenant. G eueral viii
devise means of getting at 1t, either from
the front or fromiths rear, and will vel
Plant nus own army in a position whence
territory. - 's''''tUu'
General NIooleIlan's FrIend..