The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1864-11-30
TIE SITUATION.

South to SHERMAN. This is the meaning
Of the advance of HOOP into Tennessee,
that he dcspairs of oVcrtakiug SHERMAN.
That General can work his WILL unopposed
by auy army, aud the defence OF Georgia
is now entrusted to the winter rains, to the
bridge burners, to the selfsacrlhclngsplut
of the Southern people. They are called
upon to defeat Sherman py the destruc-
tion of their own property, and by anticl-
Mating the devastation they fear from him.
1t is the strategy of Moscow that is to
ruin his campaign. Senator Hill appeals
10 the people of Georgia to fly to arms.
Seddon approves his words. Beauregard
demands that the roads be destroyed, and
predicts the starvation Of our army. Lea
ding rebels of Georgia publishes call, ex-
claiming, "Remove your negroes, horses,
cattle and provisions away from Sher-
mans army, and burn what you cannot
carry" Not the negroes, we trust though
slaves have suffered such martyrdom -
But not one word is said of an army to
meet our own. Beauregard promises to
ioin the Georgiaps, but not to bring an
army with him The appeal resembles
almost exactly that made to Pennsylva-
mans. when Lee crossed the Potomac in
1868. What could we do then against
a great vetran army? Wesought to rouse
the spirit of the people, bat with all onr
success, and with aid from other States,
nothing saved the State from devastation
but the prompt arrival Of the entire Army
of the Potomac, aud the victory Of Gettys
burg. The parallel Of the Georgian and
Pennsylvania situation is close enough
to show the folly Of supposlng that efec
tive resistance can be made to Sherman
Iy the few men who have been left in
civil life by the perpetual rebel eonscrip.
tion. Sherman cauuot meet his Gettls.
burg till he loses a battle to Hood, and
Hool at waynesboro, Tennessee, is now
two hundred aud seyenty-hve miles from
Macon. BY no possibility can annother
army be organized out Of the scattered
rebel garrisoa5 in time to give Sherman
any real trouble.
Difficulties, Of course, he will encounter.
They are registered iu his programme, and
anticipated in his preparations. The rains
will fall, and the roads be clogged with
mud. But it does not always rain, and
November in Georgia is as mild as early
September in the North. Fruit trees were
blossoming at Atlauta on the llth of this
month. Provisions will be removed roads
will be obstructed, bridges destroyed
But there is but one obstacle that Sher-
man cannot surmount-an army as large
us his o,on, commanded by q general as
ALle. He has gone upon this bold and
mighty expedition not recklessly, but
with thorough knowlege Of his own re,
sources and those Of the enemy. For two
months he prepared for movement,
which was contemplated six months ago,
and was known to General Grant. the
Secretary of War, and the President, when
our army first marched from Chattanooga,
in the early summer 1t is not likely
that the lmprovised and uumiiitary oppo-
.sition of the citizens Of Georgia will cause
weeks delay in the colossal and thor
roughly organized campaign of first
class army. Georgia is abandoned to her
fate, to the mercy of her invaders, aud
the courage Of her people.
This terrible situation Hood is doing
al IN his power to retrieve. His advance
upon the Tennessee border was an expect
ed result of Sherman's strategy. To wait
in ileness 10 Mississippi would be folly
for Hood Nothing could be gained by
inactivity =; much more might be lost
Hood is compelled by his own precarions
situation to try conclusions with Thomas,
and a rebel vivtory in Tennessee would be
the most efficient service he could render
TO Georgia A decisive victory over our
troops would compel Sherman to return,
and, unril his return, would leave Nash
vile aud all Tennessee at the mercy of the
rebel army. Desperation in such a case
is wisdom, and if Hood has an army ca
pable Of fighting a battle with any hopes
of success, all sound strategy would JUS
tify the risk of defeat. But it was PIE
cisely TO make such misfortune imposi-
bic that Thomas has been reinforced The
rebel general is reported TO occupy Way
nesboro, Tennessee, threatening Nashville
seventy miles distant, and confronted by
a portion of our army at Pulaski, forty
milcs away. Paducah, which Hood is in
correctly said TO threaten, is one hundred
and twenty miles away, andhe would not
dare to march upon it without first de,
stroying the ofynsive power Of Thomas.
The more prudent course Of our General
might be to postpone battle as long as
possible, aud content himself with thwart-
.ing the enemy. But it is possible that he
may do more than the country expects Of
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