The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1865-02-25

could not be resisted, because the rebel
mad 20 efficient army IN his front, and tn.
idea Of turning him back with militia ant
ielled trees was ridiculous. The people
were both unable and unwilling 70 pre-
form such operations, even 1t practlcaoie
The South was again severed, and u was
palpable that the moment sherman ar
rived At Savannah, he could cut al com
munications between the rebel Govern
ment ard the west side Of the Savannah.
This IL the work heis now doing most Of
fectually. No supplies VII hereafter reach
the rebel armies FROM any State west Of
South Carolina. But where will Sherman
stop? He viii not stop Of all. Sherman
is pursuing the seigs OF Richmond and the
destruction OF the ,eos] armies and Gov
nent. No man in the country knows that
so well rs General Lee But how does
General Lee propose TO arrest the progress
OF Sherman he must, ii We believe the
rebels, have some plan Of doing it? What
is it? The telegraph and the rebel papers,
and general imagination have been busy
ct work Suggesting plans. The most nat
ural one il . concentration Of rebel forces
on Sherman. The great Frederick and
astonisbed the world with brilliant success.
But is any such thing possible with Gen.
eral Lee? The great difficulty is that
such aihing ie utterly Improbable, for
obvious reasons; 6rst, that Lee cannot
leave Richmond except by circuitOus
line and without the knowledge OF Grant.
Grant can keep with him let him 60 where
he viii. In the next place, Sherman can
be REINFORCED under Scho6eld and at
Beaufort, to just az great an extent as Lee
can, and meet him with as large an army.
IF be wants to fall en- Sherman, let him.
A battle in the open field is what the Army
Of the Cumberland and Tennessee lnuch
desire. They dom: believe, whatever Mr..
Lee may believe, tia, they can be beat.
But the thing is ont OF the question, while
Another theory proposed by rebel yefu-
gees is that Lee win fall back on Lynch
burg, aud carry on the campaign in the
interior. Suppose he does, what viii be
gained by that? Wherein viii be be better
OF at Lynchburg tAan a: Richmond? II
he cannot be supplied af Richmond how is
he to be supplied at Lynchbnsg? Recollect
chester, il would be under less favorable
circumstances than ne aid before. Rich
mond and lie railroads would be taken IL
his rear; Sheridan would be IL his front,
and it would be his las: march; besides
which, marching there 1o- :wo months Is
next 10 impossible. he canno, 60 TITO
Tennessee, because we command all the
woclG destroy it il front until Grants az
ny came. liz fne, Il requires very strong
imagination 20 suppose any case N which
Lees army can he made better Off than il
is, nor any possibility OF its remaining
very long at Richmond. Gen. Lee 5 capac-
ity is wholly defensive. Ee hes no genius
ior inclination. and while he is The best Of
their Generals, it will do them not the least
good to give him the general command
Step after step his army Will be isolated
and captured, or destroyed. It must be
constantly pressed for food and even arms.
The plan Lee will really adopt is probably
that Of eventually giving up the whole Of
tide water and falling back on the noun
tains; but where are r&tions and arms to
be found for such an undertaking? Two
general orders Of Lee, recently issued, give
the true situation of affairs, and need no
comment. One was . call on the people to
give up their private arms for the use of
the cavalry, which il was necessary they
should raise TO meet ours. Another was AN
urgent call upon the people to send for
ward supplies for the army. When an az
my has neither arms nor provisions, ex-
cspt what it can get in this way from day
to day, it is in great extremity. If Lee
falls back on Lynchburg, the difficulty will
not be diminished. What can he do? How
long can his army be kept together Lee
il unwilling to evacuate Virginia, and Mr..
Davis said, in the beginning Of the var,
that Virginia could be defended twenty
years. Now il the lime to test their theo-
~. Let them stay there BY all means. y
be little larger, but not the less prison.
If Sherman canno. be arrested in South
Carolina, then Charleston, Wilmington,
and every port, place or harbor on tidewa-
ter are gone, and every arsenal and factory
which supplied ammunition are gone. too.