Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1865-03-29

smashed into by GllinoreS SnelS. All LII
s banks are similarly broken dead broke
The ofiss@ef the Charleston Mercury an
:, Oourier iVed similar notice to quit frou
our forces.
Waterloo or Austcriitz.- General Lee
s'''ae Plans. ,=
TheNew York Mercury, of February 2G
has an editoria! article which possesses par
ticular interest at this time. We COPY j
entire
Wilmington is ours. Charleston, is ours
Columbia is ours. Without struggle, with
out an answering blow. One after the othel
of these, but lately the chief strongholds o.
the rebels, have yielded to what the govern
ment organs would have Us believe was an
inexorable necessity. For nearly four years.
bold and ,impregnable, they have defied at
tack, laughed seige to scorn, and withstood
bombardment, want Of supplies, and suffered
the miseries ever endured by weak power
[contending with stronger.
! And now why is it, thatin this their last
extremity; they have so tamely yielded to
the foe they have defed and held at bay SO
long? seWhy this sudden departure from the
1 cities which, In the earlier days of the war,
they so stoutly swore should never be desc
Grated by the presence of the accursed Yam:
kee,,n unless he'c chose to walk through the
heaps flashes, smouldering ruins aud desc
late streets? Why. are the "vandals of the
North so easily victorious2 Why allowed
with flaunting banners and the clash. of regi
| mental bands, to march without opposition
! into these places? Is the cause. weakened :?
Is it premcnition that resistance would be
annihaation ?-That the conquering legions
OF the North cannot be held in check, and
the vast, aud. as yet but partially developed
combination of our Lieutenant. General are
irresistible?
We do not consider it treason, we do not
speak it as disloyal, when we say that Robt.
E. Lee, the commander Of the rebel forces,
is in all that constitutes a strategist, in all
that goes to make a general able to dare and
fight down even. fate itself-the first and fore
most in the country. While we admit the
talents, the genius and the greatness Of Lieut.
Gen. Grant, it is not only unfair, but unjust,
that we should refuse to acknowledge the
grandeur, the sublime bcr6ism of that grey
haired genius, the descendant Of a line of
patriots, which battling against the combined
opposition of almost an entire world, still
stands firm, unyielding, and.holds at bay the
most formidable armies in existencs, and
has, in defiance of defeat, still held him to his
ground, nor wavered even when hops itself
seemed lost forever. Let US yield the need
of praise to our enemies. They we're our broth,
ers, once hand in hand with Us. Whatever
their errors, their crimes, they are none the
less men.
Charleston Wilmington aud Columbia be-
ing ours, cui bonot Beyond the mere fact
of obtaining full control of the scaboard, and
thereby relieving our blocleding feet from o
tedious, service, and gaining p' session oil
cities deserted, there does not seem to be any
material advance toward the termination Of
thewar.
Those who.have studied tho careaS Of Lee,
and observed his plan of campaign, know
thathis sYstsin is that of concentration. To
mass bis troops, and attack the enemy's diyi-
sions in detail, one after the other, is his
strategy. Wary, c;rcumspect, yet possessing
and using at times the dash and reckless au !
dacity in attack of the first Napoleon, he ncy.
er loses chance, and 50 fag has lett no re-
cord of mistake.
Since the appointment to and assumption
! of the supreme command Of the rebel army,
the whole method Of operations las been
changed. Concentration is now the order.
He is Carrying out his favorite plan Of prose-
cutting the campaign. He well knows the
strength Of his antagonist, and that astagon,
lists tenacty of purpose and immense re-
sources. And knowing them, he is ut this
n,omen. gathering the scattered forces OF the
rebel domain into one. compact whole, with
the intention Of deciding the fortunes of his
cause ct or near Richmond. There upon the
already blood soaked soil of The Old Domin-
ion, will be fought the Waterloo OF the re-
beliion.
Snerman's victories and almost entirely
unopposcd raid from Chattanooga to Atlanta
4 thence to Savannah, Charleston, and Coiup
!. bia, with whatever CT devastation he may
have created, has not in the least disconcer.
1 teS Lee. It may rather be considered part
Fand parcel Of his plan. And when the-true
history of affairs at the front is nlado known
it will be found that Charleston, Columbis
aud Wilmington were evacuated cnly that the
rebel Commander in-Chief might Withdraw
all the availabl. force stationed at those car
risons, to be incorporated with the army
around Richmond.
Itis useless to ask Of, Grants combinations
and tremendous schemes, Of which we art
daily remindea by ARMY correspondents ant
the telegram. These grand combinations
and atwonderful strategy, of which VI
have heard SO much, have been capturing
! Richmond every day for the last six months
Yet the beleaguerea city is as far from or
grasp aa when our armies under McClelia,
were driven from the Peninsula .'On t.
Richmord!n but never into it. With the re
cord of. the last, attempt, beginning in th'
spring, and rs yet unended-from the Rapi
edan through the awful carnage Of the vii
/ derness, and to the present base, q hccatoml
of dear lives have beenlost, the blood of on
+ kindred has flown in torrents, happy home
havebeen made desolate, and grief brought t
thousands of hearts, in order that the glory
> one man might have the holocaust.
Togratify the dogged pertihacyof Gen'
raj who, whatever his genius, aud whateye
past success he may have blundered into, care
as little for the lives ofbis soldiers. as hc dee
, for those of the enemy, and who would thro'