Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1865-03-06


30 Tspei the attacks of the latter. Gerersl
JohrEton, II Is said, then crossed to the left
bark Of tie Tzdkiu rIysr, where he Joined
the main body Of hia forces posted there
In this position he Ess said 20 be waiting
for Sherman 70 Cross ths river. His forces,
noE eoeetnIsted, sre said TO be consider
sbly larger than SheTmeuis; and if Sber-
N -, Instead Of crossing tie TsdEin should
march on Salisbury, it was supposed that
GsnEral Johnston. with his whole force,
would EeerOss 20 the ~est side of the river,
and stack Sherman near Salisbury.
ATTENPTED coscssTRlTIos OF Troops Us-
DEE sHEgXAs.
II the troops recently ct Tiluieglou and
SeEbsEu, under Generals Terry, Poster and
Schofsld, had effected junction With
Sherman, :ss united federal forces then
souid have greatly outnanbsred General
Jobusto1's army, that these accounts state.
rot only that Ihiz Junction had not taken
place, bat that il would rot take place
Instead Of moving westward from Whining
tor, By way Of Fayetteville, to join Sher-
man gt Concord, these troops il is said, are
moving HoFihwsrd 70 GoldsboEo, with the
intsoIioa OF marching on Raleigh from
which II IL inferred o. the coniederstes
that il Is the intsotion of General Sherman
70 meet them ihese. IL this case, Of course,
General Sherman will endeaTor to force
The p.ssage Of The Ysdkin river; and at
that point, or near there, IL all probability,
the battle will take place which will decide
General Sherman's fate.
ACTUAL sTRExGTH or eESERAL yoHszToS.
Such being ihe situation, it is of the very
6Tst Importance % ASCERTAIN the real mum
Der Of troops which General Johnston can
concentrate. think gave you the num-
bees pretty nearly correct 10 ny last letter.
But / have ascsrtsiued come facts since
then which throw new light upon the sub
j sct. The nature of ths facilities of commu.
nication bsrWeen Macon or Atlanta and
Charlotte, up to the period when General
Sherman reached the latter place, will
make difference OF between 10000 and
5000 troops TO General Johnston. A, the
time that General Lee assuued the chief
command Of the confederate armies there
were So, 0o0 confederate troops in the ives,
aud southwest, namely: 10000 under
General Taylor, Hood's successor %, 600
IN Arkansas and Missouri, under General
Price; some correspondents Of administra-
ton papers, writing from st. Louis aud
Memphis, say that General Price had
$4,000; 10000 in Texas and Louisiana,
under General Magruder aud 10000 in
scattered de,achmenis in Florida, Missis-
siPpi aud Alabama, including the garrison
at Mobile.
GENERAL LEES MEASURES TO EFEEor con.
CEsTR1TIoS.
Thirty thousand OF these troops were at
once ordered to report to General Beaure.
gard, il South Carolina. Their orders
were 10 proceed frat to Atlanta and Ma
con, where they would be met by staff of.
hcers OF General Lee, with specific instruc.
ttons. The number of troops who werO
an route in pursuance of these orders are
stated to be-I0 600 from General Tay
lori 10. 600 from General Price; s, 900 from
Texas, and 5000 from Mobile, which las
ter place is to be evacuated. Gu. this
number down one third. and we have 90.
900 troops Fastening by railroad, to Join
Gen. Johnston, for they would all reach
Atlanta by railroad. From Atlanta, the
route would be to. Washington, 10 Wilkes
county, Georgia, bity miles northwest Of
Augusta From this point TO Chesteryille
Chester county. South Carolina, a distance
OF one hundred and twenty miles, new
railroad is said to have been constructed
and to be now 10 operation, passing
| through Abbeyille, Newberry and Al ston
That part Of the road from AbbtviIle L
| Ailetou was completed and in operation
ss early as 1868; SO that there were onl,
the two links from Washington to Able
vile, and from Allston to Chesterville,
distance Of sixty miles in all, to be built il
1864.
JoHRsToS's FoRcE AT LEAST 60, 600 STRONG
II these two links have been built q
stated, then these 20, 900 troops, coming al
the way by railroad, have joined Genera
Johnston by this time. If not, they will
nave these sixty miles to march on foot
which will retard their arrival four d,v
later. Besides them, it will be remember
ed, General Johnston is in command of tn
troops recently at Charleston and Branch
vile, 10000 those recently at Whining
ton, GOldsborO, and Hicksford, IL 600
those recently under Hardee at Savannah
l6 O0Oi General Wade Hampton's cavalry
10000 ! and the troops recently at Maco
and Augusta. 5000; in all, Sc 600. Gu
this down also and call it only 40, 900, an
still, with the 10000 above, General John
ston will have 900 troops. 1t ia wit
this force, which many well-informed per
sons believe 10 nearer so 600 than 60 90
strong, that General Johnston will fgb
tHo Nhtbe WIN SHERMAN which will decid
the latter. But he will not have to firh
it with these troops aloue.
DEtusroS REGARD TO LEXIS INABILITY T.
MovB.
The greatest delusiOn which the Norll
is labOriDg under is, that the presence q
General Meade's army before Petersbur
prevents General Lee from sending ava,
from Richmond any troops to reiuforc
Johnston. The truth is, not only coul,
General Lee do this without imperiiipp tb
sA;ety of Richmond or Petersburg in IN,
least, but he could do it without IN,
knowledge of General Meade. Every nigh
Tor the last week, deserters have come int
our lines In front of Petersburg, some o
whom would say that troops were arriving
at Richmond from Beauregard's army
while others would as stoutIy assert tina
Lee was sending off troops every night Il
reln'oree Besuregard or his successor
Both classes Of deserters probably lted TO,
both knew nothing about what they wer,
talking. But the closest observation fail,
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