The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1865-01-12
From The Cincinnati Gazette Dec. 50.

From the Cincinnlti Gazette Dec. 80.
WhaIsAre the Hopes and Expectations
of the RebelSl
Ills not probable that thinking men
in the South have any hopes OfsuccesS.
But since the rebel Congress repeated
ly pass resolutions that they will submit
TO nothing short Of independence, and
since their newspapers and leaders have
published certain ideas and hopes, it is
worth while to consider them. We
should examine their condition quite us
calmly and closely as we do our Own.-
1t is often well to be taught by an ene-
NY. What, then. do they hope or ex'
pecl? The English Tory press, like the
London Times, stated early in the war
the greatest difficulty we should meet
with in q military point Of view, and it
was real difficulty Ofa great magni.
.ude, and one which more Than any
other cause has delayed the termination
of the war. This was-she great ertent
Of tie country. This was vastly ncress.
ed by the completion Of that network Of
railroads which the South had been con.
strucling in the twenty years preceding
the war These railroads gave them in-
terror lines of commppication, just as
available as would be- Lsfe, Shore
in case an invading forSONheld kho Val
ley OF the Ohio. Buihhe difficulty ead
impediment to our arms, !, g from
this cause decrease, ii Asing
proportion. as we occupy v bsl ter.
ri,ory. That difficulty is diminished to
a fourth Of its original magnitude, and
the recent success Of Sherman has taken
it nearly all away. Taking the South
ern system olrail'Oads, as it originally
existed, and there were no less than FIVE
great lines, which united the Gulf States
with the Atlantic and Border States.-
One line extended through the Valley
Of Virginia to East Tennessee, Nashville
and Memphis another from Nashville
and Memphis through Tennessee, Mis-
sisSippi andLOuisiaua;a third from Knox
vile, through Chattanooga to Atlunta,
connectinga at Atlanta with all parts Of
the South; and fourth, (lhe main line J
from Richmond; through North and
South Carolina to Augusta, aud thence
to Montgomery and New Orleans; arcaa
tbsffflb, from Charleston and Savanna gag
]! !;f lhc iiyer,R I. thence onto MississispF
The sc losdnd 'wo hold, StIeast spafai
as they arSadoi longer avsilable. The
fourth, Sherman has partially destroy.
ed, and by getting one moro point,
(Branchville or any olher) will hold en-
tirely; and the fifth we hold at Savsn.
nah. These great interior lines which
have heretofore been of incalculable
service to the rebels, no longer avail
them. We hold Nashville, Memphis,
Knoxville, Chattanooga, Savannah, and
are now in position 10 command any
road or pointin the South. SO Of terri
tory: We hold Tennessee, practically
Georgia, half OF Virginia, Of Louisiana,
ofArkansas, with parts of all the rebel
States, Thus this real and great advan.
tage, which the rebels held till recently,
and which actually made one man equal
to two, has been taken away, and every
blow now struck tells, with ten times
the force, which it would have produ-
ced three years ago. or all the forces
the rebels could command, this was the
greatest, and it is now gone, By COM
mSnding Knoxville and Chattanooga,
we command the Cumberland Noun.
tains and their valleys, which cuts off
the possibility of sustaining q guerrilla
war after the main armies are destroyed.
This hope of sustaining guerrilla war
hes been one main hope of the rebels
during the whole contest. But it is no
longer possible. They have been una
bic to sustain guerrilla war in Poland;
much less can it be sustained here with
our railroads and rivers, and the noun.
tOins in our hands. When the main or.
mics Of the ConIedoracy are gone there
is an end Of the case,
We come now 10 another hope set
c,,,L bv lbn d toL,,orl NIJL.. T.. "a, J.