, 1864-08-21
The Campaign Against
Richmond.
OPERATIONS Oh TIE NORTH
BRANCH OF THE JAMES.
Plans, Combinations and
Prospects,

pnblie recollection that three dsys previous
to the late assault on the lines OF Petersburg,
the I'd corps, accompanied by the cavalry,
made demonstrations On the roads By the
ire away detachment OF Lees army from Pc
ter.hurg. while the 1sl action was nsde
elsewhere The present movement, whether
designed to aim directly at the CAPTURE Of
Richmond BY coup Ge nsasH, or only to Sc
suea a s and r.
rebel capital BY slower process Is at least
serious one Indeed, from the distribution
OF force, 1t won1d appear that the troops LETT
In the works before Petersburg are reduced
toa purely subsidiary 5u1t-aud what they do
wDl depend almost entirely on the develop
ments made By the powerful body operating
on the north side Of the Jam<s-
VI the Preliminary operations Of this force,
you have already received 2dylces; they hare
been marked BY entire success; and though
positions secured aie Of high value in view
CT future operations. Sunday morning saw
the I'd corps (Hancock) and The 10th corps
(Btney) planted on the north side Of the
james a. Deep Bottom; the lott corps hold
Ing the left Of the line and resting on the
the right Of Four Mile Run. 4 successful
clarge In the morning by portions Of both
corps resulted in driving the enemy from
their first line ofrife pits, and In the evening
. successful assault ard hanking movement,
by Gen. Birnc,>s command, d1slodgea the
rbel. frnm tEeir second line. These posi-
uohe were not gained without severe loss:
but they were worth what they cost - the
points secured admitted an extension AMI
development ct our line. Accordingly, on
Monday. the 10th corps, which had preTi.
ous1y held the. lett Of the l1re, Wis moved
I'd corpe. These maneuvers would seem to
indicate apurpCse on the part Of Gen Grant
to wheel the line OF battle round 5y tue
right on the James River, plauttns It oppo-
site Fort Darling, where the heights of Ba1rs
Blud give commanding position. With
onr force on .he rear Of the, forts dominating
the bluffs OF the James, their reduction Will
be simple problem of engineering. Nor IS
this all Possession Of the locality named
would plant the army IN an interior position
relative to Richmond and Petersburg, thus
permitting rapid concentration for AZ ofea-
t.vc movement against either point at
| pleasure
On the whole, the situation Of the army on
the James Is very much brighter than 1t has
been before, and the effect Of the movement
has been to cut IN apparently inextricao1e
knot
But In looking beyond the Immediate
| bounds Of events h4ppentrg and likely to
| baEpen IL the rreseut scene OF military op-
s1.t,oDfs ~ nd ssss2 ng to esststs tnetr
Virginia, We mist take into account rus po-
sis1.n, relations and prospects OF all the 9th.
er forces operating IN this theater OF war.
The time has passed away when VIC saw the
|. aggregate of all the cont ntending forces mass.
ed In two solid "points Of mighty oppo-
sltes-' Looking At the distribution Of Gen,
Grants forces ID TllgluIa VIC 1nd them bi,
sected Into two nearly equal parts, or rather
We ind two bodies sufficiently Formidable to
be called fntepcodcns armics The one |.
the army low operating south Of Richmond
the other the arm5 Operating in the Slenan,
toah wiley
This disislon Of torcc Is not the result OF
any wlllful policy of taking up two different
lines Of operation a@ains: one and the same
| objective point, which would be contraty t.
an approved maxim OF the military art, the
violation Of which has too often cost us
dearly, but has ratn+r been forced upon the
director OF the armies b5 the turn Of events
and the ac1ion of tie enemy. The presence
near the borders OF the loyal States Of rebel
ed and worte-dfrected troops present Ia Masy.
land to OPPOSE It, and enterprisnE enough
TO set at will the population OF that State
and Pennsylvania, ,uto q blaze, imposed the
obligationof dz'viog this standing menace
to sufficient remove to be no longer cause
OF ptttonal shame and humiliation. After
this force had retired south OF the Potomac,
the duty still remained nf pushing it ont ot
the Shenandoah Valley, where 1t WAS aeon
mulsttng large t1ppiiea from the gro g1ng
=
Vas begun when Gen. Sheri ridan was put iC
command Of the halFdozen independent and
distracted bodits OF troops that pad hereto
fen, bet Carving on the parody Of var. Tt
meet the vigorously pushed advance of the
Union commander, Lee found 1t prudent tt
1n=talmcDts, amounting in the gross to tsen
II thoussrd men. Corresponding addition:
were accordingly made to Sheridaa's sorce
And thus 1t happens that, IS already indicas
ed, the forces In Virginia appear to be alnos
equally divided between the ar1nJ Of tt!
| Janes AID the Army Of the S5elando III
so large force as compoees the column
In the Shenandoah Valley will NOT justify al
that should be hoped from 1t If it did NJ
| mcr- than drive the rebel force back towatt
Richmond i retreat in this direction
whether voluntary or compulsory, Is quit
cTowDlng ADVANTAGE which Early has in hl
position interior to thu TWO halves Of III
UpIou arm;.
Such p licy on the part OF the rebel
could otl5 be regarded as 8 very ereat dta
advantage to us; for while 1t Is op7u to til
enemy o5 stwo Or three days march 10 e. e
feet junction with Lee, our column in tn
Shenanoosh Valley could only reach Gran
by an e1trsmele roundabout course II wtt
be Gen Sherfdan>s care to prevent the exc
cution Of this design on the part Of tue enc
INF, and this he is now dong bj ytyorous}
ltHo"lnP MIN up, WAtte+ II Tue necessltles
| the Situation should tempt Lee to *ithd's'
the force from the valley. an energetic deu
oussratlon toward L. nchbury would compe
, the rrbels to retain force powerful enou-
to defend that poIlt and the important liz
I Of railroad communication there tspp:d- !
it in this way that the column uudeE Ger
Sheridan = i'll act as powerful dive1sion {
. | The main operation under Gen Grant
That operation Is the siege Of Richmond
which the assured po=se+efon of the posi-
tons on the porth b.nks Of the James, 9:
cured By the ls.e movement, wi'l enable hi!
to epen WITHIN half 3 dIzen miles OF The rel
ei capital. WA. s"1S7os.