is, Halleck is disincline to fight.
Every offer of battle we have made — and they have not been a few — he has pertinaciously refused.
Perhaps he is not ready.
If so, his very lack of readiness shows his weakness.
Perhaps he is waiting reinforcements.
Then he shows a proper appreciation of Southern prowess.
Perhaps, and this is doubtless the true cause of his delay, he is fortifying himself to prevent his total rout and annihilation.
A wise precaution Like Raglan and Prissier before Sebastopol, he is coming at us by a series of regular approaches.
When he gets sufficiently near, first he will let fly his long-range guns, shoot shells over the tree tops, and "bomb" us out. This done, his cohorts will issue from their dens and storm our works.
Then, if not before, will come the tug of war. Strange to say, nobody yet fears him, and what may be stranger still to him, he may possibly find the recoil so much stronger than the first report that he will "fly the track." Our Generals a
