The daily dispatch. [volume], March 10, 1865, Image 2

About The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884

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FRIDAY MORNING MARCH IS, IS6.',
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CONFEDERA TE CONGRESS.
SENATE.
Tin ksday, March 9, 1805.
House bill to pay for horses killed or
lost in the service of the Confederate
States passed on the previous day and
reconsidered, was reported back by the
Military Committee, considered and lost.
Mr. Watson, of Mississippi, ottered a
resolution that one thousand extra copies
of the report of the joint select commit
tee appointed to investigate the condition
and treatment of prisoners of war be
printed; three hundred comes to be
erven to the Commissioner ot Exchange,!
mac liuiuticti bo tteo Secretary of IVar
and the remainder to the Seriate, lor dis
tribution. Agreed to.
Hill for the relief of tbe Exchange
Bank was considered and passed.
House joint resolution for the relief of
Alexander F. Kennedy, Confederate De
pository at Staunton, Virginia, was con
sidered and parsed.
Mr. Wig&U offered the following
joint resolution, which was agreed to:
** Bcoottet !>>/ the Congress of the Confederate
States of America, That the thanks of Congress
s.ni tho whole country are due, and are hereby ten
dered, ft» Ideutenant-Gencral Wade Hampton for
his nimlv letter of the 27th February, 1565, ad
dressed to General W. T. Bhercaan; and that, in
the opinion of Congress, the Executive Department
should sustain General Hampton in carrying out
|be policy indicated in his letter."
House bill to amend the sequestration
laws was reported back from Hie Ju
diciary Committee with amendments,
which were concurred in, and the bill
passed.
The Senate resolved into secret session.
HOUSE. OF REPRESENTATIVES.
♦r.The House met at 11 o'clock and went
into secret session.
The doors being opened, the Chair laid
before the House the following bills, re
solutions, etc., viz:
House jnint resolution "in regard to
the Cotton Bureau in the Trans-Missis
sippi Department," with a Senate amend
ment, which was concurred in.
House bill " to make rules concerning
captures on land," with a Senate amend
ment to strike out the word' "ensue"
and insert " inure," and an amendment
to insert the words "such property,"
both of which were concurred in.
House bill for the relief of tax payers
in certaiji cases, with a Senate amend
tnent to strike out tho whole of the se
cond section, authorizing the Secretary
of War to suspend the taxes due by
certain persons, which was concurred in.
Senate bill to change the time for the
assembling of Congress for its next regu
lar session to the first Monday in No
vember instead of the first Monday in
December, 1865.
Mr. Russell moved to amend by stri
king out November and inserting Octo -
bcr, which was agreed to.
The bill, as amended, was then passed
by a vote of yeas, 36 ; nays, 32.
House bill authorizing the Secretary of
the Treasury to borrow specie, to be ap
plied to the redemption and reduction of
the currency, with a Senate amendment
changing the time of payment to " two
years," instead of "one year," after the
ratification of a treaty of peace. The
amendment was concurred in.
Senate joint resolution asking leave
for the Committee on the Treatment and
Exchange of Prisoners and the Conduct
of the War have leave *o sit during the
recess of Congress and to report at its
next session.
Mr. Marshall moved to amend by
striking out the words "and the con
duct of the war," which was concurred
in, and the resolution passed.
A communication from the Secretary
of the Treasury relative to the issue of
coupon bonds. Referred to the Com
mittee on Ways and Means.
Senate bill appropriating fifty thou
Band dollars to pay the Missouri State
Guard, which was passed by a vote of
yeas, 55 ; nays, 0.
Senate bill supplemental of the act
approved March 4, 1805, entitled "an
act authorizing the commanders of re
serves in each State to order general
courts-martial and to revise the proceed
ings of courts-martial and military
courts," which was passed.
Mr. Anderson, of Georgia, from the
conference committee on the bill "for
the relief of bonded agriculturists in
certain cases," made a report of the de
cision of the committee.
Mr. Perkins, from the Committee on
the Exchange of Prisoners, reported
favorably on a bill to provide for the
payment of arrears now due to the army
and navy, which was considered and
passed.
The special order being the bill uto
amend the act to regulate the destruction
of property under military necessity,
and to provide for the indemnity
thereof," was taken up.
• .Bhe bill was lost by a vote of yeas.
26: nays, 83.
The next special order was then taken
J»P, viz: The bill to increase the military
force of the Confederate States, with an
WTtu c nt by the Senate t0 strike out
o the fourth section the following pro
viso: ° *
mmfaTmlA T hat , mrt ■»*« ' har » *mtt«M ny
».,,_Mf*«rs. Andorson, Mnrksdale, BataoM,
ruvlor. Blsadford, Bredtev, 11. W. Bum. Carroll,
i-iJik bopton,Conrad, Dardaa, D» Jarnctte.Dick
__*•£ IhSre, E'licdt. Swing, Kunsten. Oatttar,
Stood, (li• v. "-"'v. Johnston, Keebl*, T.yon. Ml
t , Mi- iu'h MeMu.lm, Memos, AlilUr, Monro.
Storey, Wrkins, Bead, ■rmfeoa, Stand, Maples,
Tviiktt4.t. Yillere.
\ v -Messrs. Atkin«, t'-llwin. Branch,Oham
i.-,v t_dr«r.Cruikshank, Puller, Oholson, ©timer,
M-rLidae. II itcher, UeThert, ItoUidsy. J. If. Lea**,
it l. «»i I. •-:»"• M-«'»llum, Run-ay, Bogota,
•iJton I M Siniili, Smith <d North Carolina,
Turner, Wickham, Wilkes, Withcr-goon, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. a-fOBi *" rom tnc Committee on
Wars and Means, reported a bill for thQ
relief of the Exchange Bank at Norfolk,
which was considered and passed.
Mr. Chrisman, of Kentucky, offered
i bill Mto authorize prisoners of war to
fund treasury notes," which was amend
ed and passed. | Tbe bill provides that
one hundred dollar notes in the bands of
prisoners of war on the Ist day of .Inly,
1864, may be funded within ninety days
after exchange in four per cent, bonds, j
Mr. Marshall reported from the Com
Eoitteeon Military Affairs a bill "to pre
vent the improper communication of
intelligence to the enemy " in lieu of the
bill referred to that committee The
bill was considered and passed.
On motion of Mr. Rogers, of Florida,
Ufa Uooco took a reoess till half-past
seven o'clock this evening.
VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
[EXTRA SESSION.]
SENATE.
Thursday, March 9, 1805.
At 11 o'clock the Senate was called to
order by Mr. Johnson, of Bedford.
Mr. Dickinson, of Prince Edward, of
fered a resolution, which was agreed to,
providing for the adjournment of the
Senate, when it adjourns to day, to Sa
turday next, in conformity to the procla
mation of the President sotting apart
the loth instant as a day cf fasting and
prayer.
A communication was received from
the Governor, complaining of the enor
mous charges made by the Danville rail
road for the transportation o\' State salt
from Danville to Richmond, and also
citing other instances of indifference to
the State's in!crest shown by that Com
pany. Referred to the Committee en
Roads and Internal Improvements.
The following bills were read the third
time and passed:
House bill providing for arming the
civil police of Richmond.
Senate bill providing for the relief of
Wm. 11. Mansfield, sheriff of Spotsylva
nia county, from the payment of eleven
thousand dollars, State taxes collected,
which were stolen from him by Sheri
dan's raiders in June, 1864.
House bill providing for the relieY of
Wm. E. Herndon.
[The bib was reported upon the peti
tion oi the wife of the beneficiary, who
was a member elect to the General As
sembly of Virginia, but subsequently
lost his mind in consequence of a wound
received in tha service of the Confede
racy, and has oeen, therefore, deterred
from appealing in his seat. It calls for
allowing the whole per diem compensa
tion of the session to be paid out of the
treasury for the benefit oi Mr. Herndon's
family.]
On motion of Mr. Dickinson, of Prince
Edward, the joint resolution introduced
by him yesterday, providing for extend
ing the session of the General Assembly
twenty days from and after Tuesday
next was taken from the table, read the
third time and passed—yeas, 30 ; nays,
none.
On motion of Mr. Hunter, the Senate
resolved into secret session.
HOUSE OF DELEGATES.
The House met at 10 A. M. Speaker
Shelley in the chair.
A number of bills were tf.ken up on
their passage, and lost from the lack of
the required constitutional majority. —
Among the last was the bill, emanating
from the Military Committee, providing
for the enrollment and organization of
the Home Guard for local defence.
The House adopted a resolution ad
journing over until Saturday next —to-
morrow being fast day.
The bill to provide a record of Vir
ginia forces who have, or may take part
in this war for independence, with the
name of the regiment or organization to
which they have been, or are, attached,
the same to be deposited in the State
Department, was taken up artel passed—
ayes, 87; noes, 0. [The bill makes an
appropriation of seventy-five thousand
dollars to carry out the object of the
bill, and provides for a Recorder of Vir
ginia Forces, to whom a salary of seven
thousand shall be paid out of the appro
priation. ]
On motion to suspend the rules for the
reconsideration of the vote by which the
bill conferring conventional powers upon
the General Assembly was lost, Mr.
Hunter, of Berkeley, obtained the iloor
in opposition to the proposition to re
consider the vote. The discussion al
ready had upon the subject had had, he
thought, a dangerous and pernicious ef
fect. He hoped the vote would not be
reconsidered ; that the bill would be left
to sleep the sleep of death.
Mr. Buford, of Pittsylvania, hoped the
House would arraign itself upon the
question fair and square, without preju
dice. He thought no harm could come
of a convention. The time might come
when legislators would find themselves
behind the people in this matter. He
was willing to trust the people, and the
people should be willing to tn'st their le
gislators.
Mr. Shelley (Speaker), with Mr. Keily
in the chair, spoke in opposition to the
motion toreconsider the vote by which the
bill to clothe the General Assembly with
constitutional powers was lost. Of
the two evils proposed, ho would choose
the least—ft convention. He
did not understand that there was to be
any difference in the powers to be con*
ferred upon either body. True, the Le
gislative could not touch the Bill of
nights, nor unite the powers of the Le
gislature, Kxccutive and Judicial. If
anything was contemplated by a conven
tion, it was a looking to the severance
of Virginia's connection with the Con
federacy, and the opening of now and
separate negotiations with ths treaty
making power of tho North. Once open
this Hood-gate, and you will let loose
a current that will sweep with desola
tion tho last hope of freedom from this
continent Had we not rather bear these
ills we have than lly to others that we
know not of. How long will it be after
this convention is called before the cry
will go forth, and "reconstruction or no
reconstruction " become the watchword
of these dangerous times V No harm to
trust the people as gentlemen say; but
It is terrible harm for Virginia to lead ofF
in the expression of a distrust (or the
General Government. The people will
say it, the army will say it—Virginia is
preparing to cast loose from the body of
her Confederate union. Our enemy will
say Virginia is preparing to leave a sink
ing ship and take to her jolly-boat.
The speaker never would, with his
voice, advocate the call of a convention,
legislative or straight out. If other
States fly madly from their sphere like
erratic rockets,to blaze awhile, then die
out in eternal night forever, let them
fly; but let Virginia be one of those
calm, fixed stars, veiled sometimes in
cloud and tempest, but indestructable as
the Armament from which it shines. Vir
ginia must never perish thus.
Mr. Staples, of Patrick, (interrupting
the speaker.) appealed to the House. lie
had never said that a convention was to
prepare Virginia for a dissolution of her
co-partnership In the Confederate union.
Mr. Shelley, continuing, said it was
now too late to do this thing. The Ship
t*f State is upon the rapids, and if the
helmsman cannot guide the ship she
must be dashed in pieces. It was no
time now to change iront; no time to
seek a hiding place from the tempest, of
war. If we arc to sink, let us sink where
we stand, and go down with our ship
with one triumphant shout of* defiance,
with tho flag of Virginia— Sic Semper
TyrannU —floating over us.
Mr. Harwell, of Bedford, was going to
stick to the ship till she struck or run
ashore; then he would build a raft of
the fragments and see what could be
done, lie favored a convention, vested
in the Legislature.
Mr. Robertson, of Richmond, said that
only when our armies were overthrown,
the" Confederacy torn limb from limb,
and State from State, would he give his
vote or consent to go into convention.
Even up to the last extremity the honor
and integrity of Virginia demanded that
she should stand firm. If the Legisla
ture be of the opinion that a convention
is demanded, they should withdraw
themselves from the*pOSSible imputation
of being candidates for its membership.
Mr. Staples obtained the iloor, when
Mr, Bouldin called for the order of the
day—the consideration of the tax bill—
and the question under debate was post
poned, and a resolution from the Senate
extending the session twenty-two days
from Tuesday next taken up.
ADDITIONAL FROM TIIENORTH.
YANKEE LAWS FOB Till; GOVERNMENT
OF THE OLD NORTH STATE.
General Scholield has issued a series
of orders, by which the people of North
Carolina who have fallen under his rule
are to be governed. AVo copy some
paragraphs from the series :
For the government of the Depart
ment, General Scholield has issued Ge
neral Order No. 8 :
I. Provost marshals in this Depart
ment will administer tho oath of alle
giance to such persons as come within
the provisions of the Amnesty Procla
mation ol the President of tho United
States, provided they are satisfied that
such persons desire, in good faith, to aid
in restoring the National authority, and
that they take the oath of allegiance
cheerfully and voluntarily.
11. Reports will be made weekly to
the provost-marshal general, giving the
name, age and place of residence
of every person who shall have sub
scribed to the oath of allegiance ; also,
of all other adult white persons residing
within the jurisdiction of each provost
marshal, together with such information
as can be obtained touching the charac
ter of each individual.
111. Persons of known disloyalty, and
those who shall, by their language or
conduct, manifest hostility to the Go
vernment of the United States, shall be
sent beyond the lines of the army by an
order from the provost-marshal general,
or be brought before a military commis
sion for trial and punishment, according
to the nature of the offence.
IV. Officers authorized by law to ap
point general courts-martial are empow
ered to appoint military commissions,
and to confirm and execute the sentences
of such commissions, with the same
limitations as in the case of general
courts-martial.
V. Commercial intercourse within the
limits of this department will be govern
ed strictly by the laws of the United
States and the regulations of the Trea
sury Department, and will be limited to
that which may be necessary to supply
the want:; of the loyal people residing
within the lines of military occupation
and persons within the employ of tho
Government. None but persons of un
doubted loyalty and "good character will
be permitted to trade within the limits
of the department.
VI. Intercourse between towns occu
pied by the army and the surrounding
country, within the lines of military oc
cupation, will be permitted under regu
lations to be established by the provost
matthall general, for the purpose of ena
blirnPho inhabitants to supply them
selves with the necessaries of life.
VII. The loyal people of the country,
residing within the lines of the army,
will be permitted to bring freely to mar
ket the products of their farms, and to
receive in payment the currency of the
Unitod States. They will also be per
mittod to purchase family supplies from
persons authorized to trade, upon per
mits granted by the local provost-mar
shals.
VIII. Railroads and telegraph lines
aro under special military protection.-•-
Any person who shall break, injure, or
in any manner interfere with their mili-.
tary use, or shall fire into any railroad
train, or any vessel navigating the wa
ters of this department, shall be pun
ished with death or otherwise, at the
discretion of a military commission.
IX. The destruction of property, pub
lic or private, is a waste of the national
wealth, and alike injurious to the people
and the Government. It is, therefore,
to bo avoided, except where military
operations render it necessary. The
highest commander present must alone
be tho judge of such necessity.
X. The troops will be supplied with
such of the products of the country,
especially vegetables, as are necessary
for their health and comlort. This must
be done by the proper staff otfiecrs, acting
under the orders of the division and bri
gade commanders.
XI. Straggling and irregular foraging
by individuals are prohibited, and will
be severely punished.
A PORTION 0¥ SHERMAN'S ARMY AT
WILMINGTON.
A telegram from Fortress Monroe re
ports the arrival of two steamers there
from Fort Fisher, and adds:
They sailed from Smithvillc on the
Ist instant at 11 o'clock A. ML, and
shortly before they left, the steamer
General Meigs arrived from Wilmington,
North Carolina, bringing tho report,
which was generally credited by the
army and navy officers stationed at
Smithville, that a portion of General
Sherman's army had arrived at, and was
marching through, Wilmington, North
Carolina, from which it is conjectured that
a junction with General Schofield lias
been effected.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN
GENERAL SHERMAN AND GE
NERAL HAMPTON.
lli.u'iisM:i.nA;iY Division or the lfrssiftnrr., I
la no: Fij ld, February 24, lSiiJ. S
Ueutenant-General Wade Hampton,
Commanding Cavalry Forces, C. S. A.:
General: It is officially reported to me
that our foraging parties are murdered
after capture, and labelled, " Death to
all Foragers." One instance of a lieu
tenant and seven men, near Chesterville,
and another of twenty, "near a ravine,
eighty rods from the main road," about
three miles from Feasterville. I have
ordered a similar number of prisoners
in our hands to be disposed of in like
manner.
I hold about one thousand prisoners
captured in various ways, and can stand
it as long as you ; but I hardly think
these murders are committed with your
knowledge, and would suggest that you
give notice to the people at large that
every life taken by them simply results
in the death of one of your confederates.
Of course you cannot question my
right to forage "on the country. It is a
war right as old as history. The manner
of exercising it varies with circumstances,
and if the civil authorities will supply
my requisitions I will forbid all fora
ging. But I find no civil authorities who
can respond to calls for forage or provi
sions, and therefore must collect directly
of the people. I have no doubt this is
the occasion of much misbehavior on
the part of our men, but I cannot permit
an enemy to judge or punish with whole
sale murder.
Personally, I regret the bitter feelings
engendered by this war; but they were
to be expected, and I simply allege that
those who struck the first blow, and
made war inevitable, ought not, in fair
ness, to reproach us for the natural con
sequences. I merely assert om war right
to forage, and my resolve to protect my
foragers to the extent of life for life.
I am, with respect,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] _ W. T. Shekm an,
Major-General United States Army.
Official: John M. Otey, Assistant Adju
tant-General :
llEAixirAiiTKita is Tirr. Fifi.h, |
February 27, 1803. )
Major* General W. T, Sherman,
United States Army:
General: Your communication of the
24th instant reached me to-day. In it
you state that it has been officially re
ported that your foraging parties were
" murdered " after capture; and you go
on to say that you had "ordered a simi
lar number of prisoners in your hands
to be disposed of in like manner." That
is to say, you havo ordered a number of
Confederate soldiers to be *• murdered."
You characterize your order in pro
per terms ; for the public voice, even in
your own country, where it seldom
dares to express itself in vindication of
truth, honor or justice, will surely agree
with you in pronouncing you guilty of
murder if your order is carried out.
Before dismissing this portion of your
letter, I beg to assure you for ©very sol
dicr of mine "murdered" by you I
shall have executed at once two of yours,
giving, in all cases, preference to any
officers who may be in my hands.
In reference to the statement you make
regarding the death of your foragers, I j
haw only to say that t know nothing of
it; that no orders given by me authorize
the killing of prisoners after capture, and
that I do not believe that my men killed
any of yours except under circumstances
in which it was perfectly legitimate
and proper the} should kill them.
It is a part of the system of the thieves
whom you designate as your foragers to
fire the dwellings of those cit/.ens whom
they have robbed.
To check this inhuman system, which
is justly execrated by every civilized
nation, I have directed my men to shoot
down all of your men who are caught
burning houses. This order shall re
main in force as long as you disgrace
the profession of arms by allowing your
men to destroy private dwellings.
You say that 1 cannot, of course,
question your right to forage on the
country. "It is a right as old as his
tory." Ido not, sir, question this right.
But there is a right older even than this,
and one more inalienable—the right that
every man has to defend his home and
to protect those who are dependent upon
him. And from my heart I wish that
every old man and boy in my country
who can fire a gun would shoot down,
as he would a wild beast, the men who
are desolating their land, burning their
houses, and insulting their women.
You are particular in defining and
claiming "war rights."* May 1 ask if
you enumerate among them the right to
tire upon a defenceless city without no
tice ; to burn that city to the ground
after it had been surrendered by the
authorities, who claimed, though in vain,
that protection which ; s always accorded
in civilized warfare to non-combatants ;
to fire the dwelling-houses of citizens
after robbing them, and to perpetrate
even darker crimes than these —crimes
too black to be mentioned.
You have permitted, if you have not
ordered, tho commission of these of
fences against humanity and the rules of
war. You tired into the city of Columbia
without a word of warning. After its
surrender by the Mayor, who demanded
protection to private property, you laid
the whole city in ashes, leaving amid its
ruins thousands of old men and helpless
women and children, who are likely to
perish of starvation and exposure. Y r our
line of march can be traced by the lurid
light of burning hous.es, and in more
than one household there is an agony far
more bitter than that of death.
The Indian scalped his victim regard
less of sex or age, but with all his bar
barity he always respected the persons
of his female captives. Your soldiers,
more savage than the Indian, insult
those whose natural protectors are ab
sent.
Ii conclusion, I have only to request
that whenever you have any of my men
"disposed of" or "murdered"—for the
terms appear to be synonymous with
you—you will let me hear of it, in order
that I may know what action to take in
the matter. In the meantime, 1 shall
hold fifty-six of your men as hostages
for those whom you have ordered to be
executed. lam yours, etc.,
[Signed] Wade Hampton,
Lieutenant-GeneraL
Official: John M. Otey, Assistant Ad
jutant General.
WA TEBIO 0 ORAI r S TERIITZ—
GENERAL LEE'S PLANS.
The New York Mercury of February
26th has an editorial article which pos
sesses particular interest at this time.
We copy it entire :
Wilmington is ours. Charleston is
ours. Columbia is ours. Without n
struggle ; without an answering blow.
One after the other of these—but lately
the chief strongholds of the rebels —have
yielded to what the Government organs
would have us believe was an inexorable
necessity. For nearly four years, bold
and impregnable, thoy have defied attack,
laughed siege to scorn, and withstood
bombardment, want of supplies, and
suffered all the miseries ever endured
by a weaker power contending with a
stronger.
And now why is it, that in ithis, their
last extremity, they have so tamely
yielded to the foe they have defied and
held at bay so long? Why this sudden
departure from the cities which, in the
earlier days of the war, they so stout!)
swore should never be desecrated by the
presence of the " accursed Yankee" un
less he chose to walk through the heaps
of ashes, smouldering ruins and desolate
streets ? Why are the " vandals of the
North" so easily victorious? Why
allowed, with flaunting banners and the
of regimer al bands, to march
without opposition to those places? Is
the cause weakened ? Is it a premoni
tion that resistance would be annihila
tion ? That the conquering legions of
the North cannot be held in check, and
the vast, and as yet but partially
developed, combinations of our Lieuten
ant-General arc irresistible f
Let us regard the subject calmly,
soberly, justly.
AYe do not consider it treason, we do
not speak it as disloyal, when we say
that Robert E. Uee, the commander of
the rebel forces, is 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 foremost
in the country. AVhile we admit the
talents, the genius and the greatness of
Lieutenant-General Grant, it is not only
unfair, but unjust, that we should re
fuso to acknowledge the grandeur, the
sublime heroism, of that grey haired
genius, the descendant of a line of pa
triots, who, battling against the OSflfr
bined opposition of almost an entire
world, still firm and unyielding, has
held at bay the most formidable armies
in oxistence, and has, in defiance of de
feat, still held him to his ground, nor
wavered even when hope itself lcm_j
lost forever. Let us yield the mcr A >,?
praise even to our enemies. They were
once our brothers—once hand in band
with us. Whatever their errors, the r
crimes, they are none the less men.
Charleston, Wilmington and Columbia
being ours, eni Beno? IJeyond theater*
fact of obtaining full control of the sea
board, and thereby relieving our blocks
ding fleet from a tedious, tutsomc ■-.:■-.
vice, and gaining possession of cities de
serted, there does not seem to be any
terial advance toward tho termination of
the war.
Those who havo studied the career of
Lee, and observed his plan of campaign
know that his system is that of concert*
tration. To mass his troops and atta
the enemy's divisions in detail, one after
the other, is his strategy. Wary, cr
cumsped, yet possessing and using r.
times the dash and reckless audacity ; n
attack of the first Napoleon, ho never
loses a chance, and so far has left no
record of a mistake.
Since his appointment to, and is*
sumption of, the supreme command of
the rebel army, the whole method of
operations has been changed. Concen
tration is now the order, lie is carrying
out his favorite plan of prosecuting the
campaign. lie well knows the strength
of his antagonist, and that antagonist -
tenacity of purpose and immense re
sources. And knowing them, he is at
this moment gathering the seatt r< I
forces of the rebel domain into one com.
pact whole, with the intention of de
ciding the fortunes of his cause at or
near Richmond. There, upon the al
ready blood soaked soil of the Old Do
minion, will be fought Ul2 Waterloo of
the rebellion.
Sherman's victories and almost en
tirely unopposed raid from Chattano igi
to Atlanta, thence to Savannah, Charl
ton and Columbia, with whatever-! de
vastation he may have created, has :. t
in the least disconcerted Lee. It may
rather be considered pert and parcel >f
his plan. And when the true history of
affairs at the front is made known, it frill
be found that Charleston, Columbia and
Wilmington were evacuated only that
the rebel commander in-chief might
withdraw all the available force stationi ';
ai these garrisons to be incorporated
with the army around Richmond.
It is useless to talk of Grant's combi
nations and tremendous schemes, uf
which we are duly and daily remind* 1
by army correspondents and the tele
graph. These grand combinations and
that wonderful strategy ot" which we
havo heard so much have been cap
luring Richmond every day for the la I
sin-months. Yet the beleaguered capi
tal is as far from our grasp as when o.:
armies under McClellan were driven froi.
the peninsula. l *On to Richmond!
but never into it. With the record :
the last attempt, beginning in the spring,)
and as yet unended —from the iinj .
Ann, through the awful carnage of the
Wilderness, and to the present ba c, i
hecatomb uf dear lives have been lost, the
blood of our kindred has flown in tor
rents, happy homes have been mad<
desolate, and grief brought to thousands
of hearts, in order that the glory of one
man might have its holocaust.
To gratify the dogged pertinacity of I
General who, whatever his genius, and
whatever past success he may have
blundered into, cares as little !*<<r the
lives of his soldiers as he d< a for tho:
of the enemy, and who would throw
away half an army to accomp >h a; n
noseless object, the Adtninii is ionhav<
given him almost absolute jo cc \
Week after week, mootti sftci montli
Richmond was being'evacuated—it ws.i
about to He captured.
Petersburg, after being bombarded, I
outer defences mined and stormed,
is held by Lee. Tic- great Butler el
phant, the hutch Gap canal, was to 8
complish wonders, but it did not
caved in magnificently, and buried But!
beyond hope of resurrection. Dcin
strations of an imposing character wi
made, and are being made daily, '•'•
the same remit--a loss of life sndno
good accomplished.
But matters are approaching a crisis.
Before many weeks the last grand
and decisive battle will have begun.
The preliminaries are beta ; rapidly a;
ranged.
Such a contest as this will l>o the
world has never witnessed, for upon it
depends the fate of the country. In
that battle, should we suffer a defeat, it
will Ire overwhelming, and all the ad
vantages we may have gained in the pas
six months will be as worthless a "
bubble reputations,they have made.
Lee is defeated, he still has the
in which to once more rally his scatt • :
legions, and concentrate for defence, U
not for attack.
From all tho outer garrisons and Up
depots the rebel army at the capital •
being augmented. Silently butsurelj t" ■■'
storm is gathering. Let us not be
sanguine of success. It may he that
the rebel General will makers Wsterlo*'
for us, while upon him, through Pi
smoke of that day's battle, will shir,
sun of a second day's Austerhtz. WJ
will not throw away a singlochance. W
is not the man of Lost Opportunities -
Had bee had commaud of our armies M
the outset of the war. we verily hehefi
the rebellion would have been CTUShea
in less thaw eight month* B«t we bao
only such second-rate Undertakers W
Burnside and Hooker, Butler and Pope*
Let us trust that our Lieutenant <«c«
neral may bo thoroughly prepared «
the contiict; that when tho COnflW
comes, our immense plurality "t men
may not be driven to their deaths tti **•'•
attempts to accomplish an Lmpoawow
purpose, and that for once our leaders
may be equal to their Herculean task.