, 1864-05-12
,GhlfaAt5' Grihnne.
" Eat Ii to Go the Fato ofNichnoud
and Lsess Army.

SPECIFICATIONS 011*Tua
REBELS.
| ~ Fat Ii to Go the F3to OF; Nich5uout
and 1sess Army.
lRichmond corrrspondenoo d, Mobile REGISTER
80 R,ouKoap, April Z. 1851
An impression prevails in town that til,
women Eud children are to be ordered intt
.tne country. In another form, the rumur is
| that Gta- Bragg Las sald that In case L-e's
| army has to fall back he will depicts the cttj
| Of lis slrplrs population aud prepare ior !
| 9lege-a YET unnecessary thing for General
Brsgg to say; since 1t follows as a matter o1
| courAe that aiege would, Of itsclf, drive
| LNay I'll who EcIe. not obliged 10 rsluaia.
| Hence do not believe Gen. Bragg made any
euch remark. A more Trustworthy ruuor ii
| itat Charlottesville will be abandoned If Lee
Is compelled to retire. In that event, the
| University would, a. matter Of course, be
burned By the enemy, whose vundal tastes
Eagration Of that houored pile, In which SO
| much treason has been taught, aud from
| which go many gallant officers and psivates-
| natiycs Of tue various Southern Statt4-have
been eent to the field. It would be great
Eity to lose the University just when Gov.
Smith has quicted tho difficulties and dissen-
sicEs of yeAra by appointing new Board ot
1essors. There are now on1Y thirty Ire OF
| forty Students ct the University, and tbev
are mere lRss. not within tho couscriot age.
Of course, tho e4!srJ aad fees Of the protes.
EoIs " no means suttics to support them,
but Dr. Maupin hss wisely decided not 10
close the institution SO long as there ia =
single student iu attendance. Onca shut,
there is nQ telling when the doors of tho
University would open again. or under what
auepicc6-aay nothing Of the uateuaatel
buildings going to nack and ruin.
Much to our JOY. the long hidden sun ca11c
forth to-day, and put rev faco on nature,
and brighter Light In the eyes Of men. 4
week or two of DAYS like tliia would dry the
roads sufficiently for Grant to put in execu-
Lee ont Of Virginia. But the rains arc not
over Jet. It cleared Oft warm, and the spring
must make amends for the exceeding dryness
Of the past winter. Active operations on
the lino of'the Rapidan will hardly begin b.
fore the first Of MAY, even If tke roads per
NIT; for Grant will not be ahle, with all his
energy ard diligence, to get his men toseth-
CT and well In hand before that time. Leo IL
qucitl5 watching his game What that game
is will be disclosed tho moment Durnsido's
Annapolis expedition lands. The Fredcricls-
burg correspondent OF the Ezamiter thinks
! Barnetde will disembark st Urbana, near the
mouth Of the Rappahannock HYer, and march
thence upon Richmond, efecting / junction
on the line Of the ChiclAhominy, with foree
coming up from Williambnrg and Fortress
Monroe. But Urbana would Be An Ill chosen
point; for he rould hare tao rivers to cross
sbetore he comes within striking distance OF
Richmond. Port Royal, twenty miles below
Fredericksburg, would serve his purpose
much better, for there he wouId be immedi-
Ately upon Lees flank and rear, and force
Linn either to retire from the strongly forti{l-
ed line OF the RapidAn, or 10 divide his ar
What piece hare We to piay against Bu.a-
side. There is Pickett commanding at Peters.
hurg, and the general, whoever he may bo,
commanding the forces between Weldon and
Wilmington; but the two united arc not
strong enough to be regarded as any thing
the knight on which Lee Telies to check Buro-
sice's movement on his flank. In my
opinion LongEtreet il not going into Ken
tucky, but 10 held in readiness to appear In
the Valley, just as Jackson did when McC1el-
Ian wae before Richmond and Mcdowell lay
At Fredericksburg, ready to join him. But
Longstreet will not attempt to repeat Jack.
son's Valley campaign His ain will be, "a.
ther to take position on Grants flank and
rear, ana1sgous to Burn6Ide'a position at Port
Eoy1d. The question then.Will be. who will
fight or fall b"ck first, and Grant will attempt
to force solution by sending Wistar {But-
lcr's man friday up the Penfns11a- hoping
yiding or retreattng.
But Lee will do neither the one nor the other.
Instead OF dividing LIE will concentrate. He
will not even spare Pickett and CliDgUan to
attend to Wistar, advancing up the PENN
eula The Qualifications around Richmond
being completed and connected BY telegraph,
be will cntrust the defence OF the capital to
General Bragg, at the head Of the local forces
and reserves, while Pickett and others con.
front Burnside at Porr Royal or elsewhere /;
tor. discovering the natural strength Of tho
country around Port Royal, Burnside may
move up the north bank OF the Rappahan-
mock and unite with Grants left wing, ex-
tended towards Stafford Court House. Re:
inforced BY Burnside aud all the troops which
can possibly be spared from the defencea at
Washington, will Grant, falling In his effort
to maneuyre Lee out OF Virginia, aud even
storm the fortified line Of the Rapidan, as be
Gid the much stronger positions of Lookout
Mountain and Missionary Rldge-wi1l he,
think yon, attempt this bold task while
longztreet hangs on his right flank and rear!
Be may, for his luck has given him conf
dcnee and time presses: Some "biy thing"
must be done before the 7th Of June, the
time fixed for the meeting Of the Republican
Convention At Chicago. Moreover, Grant
knows the value of boldnfss aud counts
! upon the unfamiliarity Of Lees army with
| the purely defensive attitude which it has
J,
| sions-at Fredericksburg and On the third
! day Of the second battle Of Manassas. At
sharpsburg it was not an entire army, but a
remnant Of less than forty thousand, worn
"A, d Wasted with fatigue and hunger.
| Unless Longetrcet should take positiou SO
near to Lee as to be ab1o to fall upon Grants
rear the moment he Offered OF pretend dao
offer battle In which eyent he would be in
danger Of being turned upon By Grant and
| whipped before Lee could cross the Rapid IN
| in the face oftwo or three hundred pieces o1
| cannon, well supported by infsntrJ-Grant
| could afford to run the risk Of any damage
be might do after Lee Was defeated II
would be easy to dispose Of Loncstreet after
tl.et- But suppose L-e is not defeated, aud
| Grants columns, shattered and torn by futile
a:Eaults, are compelled to recross the Rapi
dun and make their way as best they can tc
the intrenchments Of Arlington, while Lee'i
troops, flushed With ,ictory' press like blood =
like thunderbolt on their nank. Suppose
hut! Ah! Il n.a&<s The AeaTs aehe' t1;kt hope
We hare been 60 often and SO bitterly disnp
pointed In just such hopes. And yet tn.
time ought to co1ne-it must come-whe1
cur tolls and grf1erings shall be rnqnlted b.
l. one truly grand and decisive Victory. VIII,
should not that victory come this year
Wien could 1t come more propftiously?
| In these epeculstions-t the folly or merit
Of which belong to myself, and not to any
military or unuiilit.ry man, Tor ] have con
vtrsed with nona-I have left out of the &C
ccunt the armies In Northern Georgia. Ths
is another part OF the che6sboard, or rathtl
another board of itself; but as the Yankee;
have brought their best player hero 1t is evI
dent that the great game is to be here. Th.
temporary occupation Of East Tennessee, al
ter Longstreet's departure, Is q matter of LIT
t tie importance compared with the defeat 0
Grant. As for any flank movement out o
Tennessee upon Johnston, that is not mucl
to be dreaded think. The man Who sue
ceeds In flankiug Joe Johnston will have tt
get up early In the morntng-very early ia
/ aeed-much earlier than Thomas, or McPher
son, or Sherman, or any other Yankee mar
has ever done. or ever will do. Nor do toz
get that there Is little ssldicr, with a. larg'
military head as any in the land, who cas
| emerge from the 6wamps Of Florida, wher'
he Vas when last heard from, In plenty 0
tine to administer compound cathartic pill
to any flank movement in Northern GcorSia
| ain superBtitious enoagh to believe that /
is tated that the heroes OF the first Manassal
| shall come together sgaIn.
FROM SOUTHERN ARKANSAS.
The Retreat Of Gen. Steele tt
Little Rock.
| Interesting Resume of the Expedition
Especial Correspondence Missouri Democrat
AREAKaA6 RIYER. Nav 8-1G6{