Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-03-16


progress, and with foreign policy which
commands the respect of the world.
THE REBELLION.
Much speculation prevails as to. the prob
able duration of the war; and the next
movement of the rebels On both points,
of course, all is conjecture but they are
the all-absorbing questions of the day and
speculation in them is looked for by most
newspaper readers. One very general i'm
preston is, that the rebels are making des-
perate efforts to concentrate their forces,
withdrawing all detatchments of their army
from their fortifications-save those around
Richmond-and uniting them, in order to
meet and defeat SHERMAN first, and after
wards GRANT. Should they be able to ac-
complish all this, they could by it, prolong
the war six months, or perhaps year at
furtherest This is all the good they could
possibly derive from all the successes they
now crave and, on the other hand, should
the rebels fail in defeating our armies, and
should ours defeat theirs, what will be the
result? Why, in our Judgment, this, that
the fourth day Of July, we will be able to
celebrate restored peace, and a restored
Union. Then what are the probabilities on
both sides Can the rebels concentrate
men enough on any point in SHERMAN's way
to defeat him ? Judging from what we can
gather from the rebel papers, of the numer-
ical strength of the various detached sec
tions of the rebel army, which they propose
to unite against SHERMAN, such a result
seems to us out of the question If the
statements of the rebel papers only prox-
mate the truth, as to the strength of this
force, they can not muster more than half
the number of SHERMAN's present army, un
less they withdraw most of their sforces
from Richmond, and if they do this they
lose their capital. 1t is contended by some
that they will do even this rather than let
SHERMAN make his objective point, which is
supposed to be Richmond itself, because if
he does this, their cause is gone up any
how. Upon the supposition then that the
rebels will abandon their capital, in order
to prolong the contest, what will they gain,
if by it, they defeat our Southern army ?
Nothing For the loss Of Richmond in
prestige, and moral effect, will weaken them
more than two victories over SHERMAN will
gain for them. But we doubt very much
whether the whole present available rebel
force combined, can defeat SHERMAN's almost
invincible veterans. Should they be able
to mass an army in his front one-fourth or
even one-third larger than his, they cannot
do this thing, We can not believe that
under the many reveises Of the rebels, the
discOuragements, and the disheartening eff
forts, which have so overwhelmed them,
their soldiers can fight as they have done
under more favorable auspices whilst the
triumphs, and successes, which have every
where attended our armies, especially that
under SHERMAN, have proportionally stimu-
ulated, and strengthened them. So that
we cannot see how the rebels are going to
whip SHERMAN. 1t does appear to us more
over, that the rebels will not again venture
on a great battle First because they need
all the available resources they have left
to retreat with, and therefore, a victory will
be an almost unbearable loss to them Be-
sides, the chances are against them in
general engagement, and if they lose, as we
think they must, ,all hope Of even a success
ful retreat, is gone and secondly, what
will they gain by victory? As already
stated, it would only be prolongation of
the end, which is inevitable and it may re-
suit in delays sufficient to lead to the ar
rest of most of the ring-leaders of the re-
bellion an event they will, in all likelihood, |
struggle hard to avoid.
Summing up therefore, the pros and cons
of the case, we are led to the conviction |
that the next movement of the rebels will |
be out of Richmond to Lynchburg, from
thence down the Lynchburg and Knoxville
railroad to Knoxville, thence to the Missis- |
sippi river at the most accessible and prac- |
ticable point, the whole being skedad-
ding movement towards Mexico.
MExICo.-Advices from Mexico state that |
the Imperial Government is very bitter
and unfriendly towards the United States, /
having caused the arrest of, and sentenced .
to a years imprisonment, a man named
Valders for speaking favorably of this coun-
try, and predicting the speedy end of the
Rebellion. Meantime the hostility of the
church party toward Maximilian is said to
be on the increase.