The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-07-25
LATE FROM THE SOUTH.
ABSENCE OF EXCITEMENT IN RICHMON
FonTuCoNIING STORM
PETERSBURG UNDERMINED.
Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc. Etc, Etc

iron. NE Richmond HhiJ,Juy2l.
The war is not to end in a thunder-clap. There
will be no Yorktown and no New Orleans but
gradual dri2zlng and dying ont of the contest.
Such, at least, are the present indications. Our
unried full general may eeCtrity the country
by an assault and a telling victory before Atlanta,
or he may Tepel an attack in force on the part
Of sherman, and follow up the success.
The COnfcderatcs in front of Petersburg may de-
liver or receive general engagement and in either
event they can hardly f.il Of success. All these
are possibilities. hut the history of the campaign
up to this time does not justify the expectation
Of decisive victory either in Georgia or Virginia.
IL is very certain that neither Grant nor ShGr-
man can afford to dawdlc much longer. Summer
days are long, but only one month and few
days Of summer remain while the fatal idcs Of
November are burrying fast. Lincoln must have
battles, nay, he must have victories within ninety
days, or his doom is scaled The fortifcations at
Petersburg and Atlanta are very powerful, and
every day makes them more so yet they must be
carried, and that speedily, at whatever sacrifice
of life, to secure the fall elections.
There will be bloody and desperate battle,
more desperate and bloody, we doubt not, than
any which have occurred. or that we may be
very sure, for tboro is no escape from Il. The
MolUch of AbOlitionsm demands fresh hcca-
tombs OF victims, and from that demand there Is
no oappeal.
StilI, decisive victory for either party is hardly
possible. How, when the war has degenorated
into question of mud and mortars The COM
first object of each is not to attack but 20 play the
part of the dirt daurer, and envelop themselves
in impeneiTable walls OF mud as speedily AS pos
sible. Days are thus wasted, and then ensues an
assault on one size or the other, with the newt
able repu'se of the party assaultng.
The defeated army returns to its intreuch.
menis and throws up more dirt, front, flank and
rear, while the repelanrs sit quietly behind their
iDtrenchmcnts, throw up more dirt and wait for
another assault. A conjoiut catalepsy of longer
or shorter continuance follows, enliyened by
occasional gavanic spa,ms of shelling aud sharp
shooting, when all OF Il sudden the one party or
the other (GankecS generally both in Virginia
and GeorGia) side steps TO the left right the
| case may be; the o'her party pursues or falls
| Lack, and the drt-daubcr game is renewed in
| another position.
What strange spectacle this TO the military
uitics in Europe 10 1861 there were field ca
gagements; in 1864 there is nothing but siege
| Gt or siege. What hOpe.is there Of signal vic
| tory to either SIDE Can Giant hope 70 repeat
Ulm, or Sherman SaraEOss We thak not.
Unoer such circumstances we do not perceive
/ how the war is to terminate excent by 9 tardy
/ and gradually diminishca dribble. But the
advantages are altogether on the side Of the Con-
f,ieracy. They can afford 10 wait patiently, their
| adversaTies cannot. No rapidly apprO aching
Presidential election urges the former on to des-
peTate and repeated battles no impending fiuan-
cal crash disturbs thu ir equanimity. With steady
and unqualiDg front they await the foe.
| We take II for granted that decision Of chlrac-
ter is not wanting in the new commander in
Georgia, and, If that be so, we see no reason why
| flank movements at Atlanta may not he brought
| TO grief as easily and certainly as at Petersburg.
| But we warn the sanguine reader against high
| wrought anticipatiOns. Sherman has prepared
| behind him, base after b lse, strongly fortified.
Deiea. is not annihation in his case any more
than in that OF Banks, If, indeed, so much for he
| ia a man of infinitely more abiity, and has with
\ him some of the best minds In the Yankee ser
\ vice. The repulse Of Sherman az Atlanta win be
| followed by succession OF siegc3 at the fortified
| points in his rear.
What Grant will do, or what will be done with
| him, is matter of conjecture. He is so com
| pletely incarceraed in redoub's, rcdans, ira
| verses and the like, we very much doubt whe-
ther he could eXtrcate himself If left entirely I'M
! molested. We think it not unlikely that he Will,
/ after one or two more fights, impercepdbly
] "dreen" away like dilapidatcd barrel of his
| faYOIite MonOngahela. lie is under the necessity
Of buttnR his brains entirely out, and we trust he
| will be permitted TO do so. The war may then
linger, spluuer, fare, and finally die out at its
| leisure. What matter, so we win our indcpen.
dence, as we surely shall
Rich mOnd Quiet-SppcuIat!O !Ons About the
Failure.
| From ne Richmond WAtg, July q.
The day promises 10 be of moro than ordinary
ddlness. Ii will belle The spirit OF the rime-onG
| eminenty sensational and eXctable The city
is dull, the heavens are dull, all things seem to
| partake of the same listless character.
We have looked for some excitement, some rare
| OFT OF news Wnich would serve 90 disturb the
/ equableness of the hour; hut our autcipations
/ seem doomed 20 disappointment. May we mol
read in the calm and lnll which pervade the signs
/ of forthcoming storm, which will be all the
| more fearful from its present supreme quietude
/ Nothing so presages the storm as the calm, we
| are accustomed 20 say. There are periods in the
| political as well as the physical world when O
! reaction takes place-when, after long and unin.
terupted spells Of quiet, the most dreadful con-
! YulsiOns occur.
viii such be the result Of the protraeted still
ness which has settled over the armies on the
banks of the AppomattoX, the Chattahoochee
and the Potomac. Even now, in the hushed in
teryals of battle, we listen with bated breath for
/ the shock of arms, which, whilst it will bring Ia
many a hearth its traughage Of woe and mourn
| ing, will wreathe new chaplets Of glory for our
devoted and peerless veterans.