The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-01-04

| readers WllluaV6 ODSSINeu 6HdlS dlluousA
Savannah was lost, the army that de-
Tended Savannah, twenty thousand
strong, was saved. They are now at
Charleston, and viii probably remain
there until General Sherman's intentions
are developed HThe Confederates will
derive great comfort, too, from the fail
ure of the great expedition against Viii
mingtOn. a. 5.grl
Causes Of the Failure of the Expedi-
ton Against Wilmington.
From an that have beenable to learn
I up to = this time, that failure seems to
have been due to the following causes;
First, TO that popularity in the constTuc-
ton OF ironclad vessels which renders
them unseaworthy and unmanageable in
storm The iroiclad vessels, il is re-
ported, were readered nearly useless i'll
action by the severe gale alluded tn IN
my last letter Second, to certain recent
Echauges in the channels of the river, and
in the channels Of theIwo inlets, which
would have rendered it unsafe to have
prosecuted the enterprise further, Third,
to the presence of the distractions in the
river, covered, as they were, by the guns
of the forts and batteries And fourth,
TO the bungling manner III which the
lnflit airy part of the expedition was man
aged by General Butler. To place HIM
in command, in any event, was to Insure
failure and defeat
The result OF the expedition against
Wilmington viii greatly encourage the
Confederates in their attempts to defend
Charleston There is good deal of sim
ilarity Between the defenses OF the two
places except that the edefenseso of Charles
ton, Oh the land side, are a great deal
stronger and more extensive than those
OF Wilmington.
The Great lfrnndu rnu new sail up
IL .soh 10 TO Richmond.
Now that the immense armada, destln-
ed-for.the capture OF Wilmington, is back
again TO the James river, there is no eX-
cmse whatever for not sending the fleet
up to Richmond at once The country
was informed that the Dutch Gap canal
was finished some weeks ago. If tins
great armada does not sail mp to Rich
mond at once, let US hear 10 more about
the Dutch Gap canal, or about our ablll-
ty to reach Richmond by water. There
is nothing else for the fleet to do just
now; it is right on the spot, and, if it Is
uossible to reach Richmond by water at
all, now is the time to make the attempt
Let the readers of the World turn to the
paper of Yesterday and read the long list
of the vessels composing the great arma-
da, which, failing to capture Whining
ton, are now back again OH the James
river. If then cannot reach Richmond
now. what is an iron-clad navy worth
The Rebellion not near QueiIed yet.
IT is not to he inferred, from what have
said above, that the war is near its ter
minatiOn, or that the rebellion Is nearly
auelled, or that the conquest OF the South
is approaching its end. AS we are Ill
possession of Savannah and nearly the
whole of Georgia now so we have been
i'm possession of Texas, of Northern Loul-
siana, of Arkansas, and of the whole
valley of the Mississippi; and so have we
been in possession of the coast OF North
Carolina But what Is our possession OF
those States now worthi Do we hold
Texasl No. Do we hold northern Loui
sianal Look at the shores of the Red
river for an answer. Do we hold Arkan-
sasl Ask the rebel General Price, at the
head of his new corps de Grmee OF 10000
men, every man n MissOurian Do We
hold the Mississippi river and can we
navigate that stream IN safety! Every
person conversant with the facts, knows
that steamboats, run Oh the Mississippi
river at the peril of the life of every per
son OH board. Do we hold our former
possessions in North CarOlina} Alas, We
had to abandon them all last summer, i'll
order to supply the dreadful ravages
made in General Grants army III the
overland campaign against Richmond
Grave Error in the Condnct OF che War.
1t is one thing to overrun territory as
our armies have done in times past, and
as General Sherman will now do III Geor-
gia 1t is quito another thing to conquer
the country thus. overFun, to subdue its
inhabitants, and to make them willing
subjects of our government This our
armies have always failed to do and this
even General Sherman will fail to do,
greatest of our active generals as Lo is.
Had the war been conducted differently,
the result might have been different
Had the war been waged upon the rebel
armies alone. if the private rights of the
people had been everywhere respected,
If we had abstained from the policy of
emancipation and cOnfiscatiOn, We would
have made friends, instead of enemies, of
the southern people.
Design of the AdminisiraIiOn to Pre-
vent Rc-UniOB.
But it was the design of the Admins
tratiOn from the outset of the war to
ALLEVIATE the Southern people, and to pre-
| vent them from ever agaiu returning 10
the Union Hence the adoption of the
policy of emancipation and coniiscaton;
hence, at later period, the adoption Of
the policy of subjugatioD; hence, now the
adoptionof the policy of determination.
The Southern people understand this per
fectly. They know that, if they were
ever expected back into the Union again,
the policy of emancipation and cOntisca-
! ton never would have been adopted; that
Sheridan would not have been ordered to
make the whole Shenandoah valley bar
! rem waste sven TO tho extent OF bfeaking
/ up aud burning the farming utensils,
! and burning the roofs over the heads of
helpless women aud children; that the
atrocities of TuTchin and Mcneil would
not have been overlooked; that Atlanta
! would not have been dep"puiated and
| burned; that Petersburg and Charleston
Waald not he shelled; aud that ShcTman's
march through Georgia would not have
! heep marked by broad belt of destTuc-