The Northern papers, and many of our own, have very much confounded the movements of our troops in
Northwestern Virginia.
We have two columns operating in that section of the
State at considerable distances apart, over a most mountainous and impassable country.--One column, under
Generals Lee and
Loring are operating against
Rosencranz, in the county of
Randolph and on the
Cheat Mountain, in the direction of
Grafton.
The other column, under
Generals Floyd and Wisz, is operating against
Cox, in the direction of the
Kanawha Valley, in the county of
Fayette, on the
New river, which becomes the
Kanawha below the mouth of the
Gauley river.
At the mouth of
Gauley the enemy are posted in fores.
The
Hawk's Nest is on the right bank of
New river, above the confluence of the
Gauley.
When, therefore, the enemy's dispatches from
Cincinnati mix up
General Wise in the movements of
Generals Lee and
Loring that very fact proves that their authors are ignorant of the real locality of
General Wise. The column with which he is operating is in the central
West of the
State, whereas that of
General Lee is in the
Northwest proper.
You cross Sewell's Mountain and pass the
Hawh's Nest, where
Generals Floyd and
Wise are, on the road from
Lewisburg to the
Kanawha Salines and to
Guyandotte; you cross
Cheat Mountain, where
Generals Lee and
Loring are, on the
Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike road.
Braddock's army crossed
Cheat Mountain and
Cheat river, on its march to
Pittsburg, then Fort Duquesue.
But you cross Sawell's Mountain in going from the
Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs to
Cincinnati and to
Kentucky, on the route pursued by
Lewis and his army in 1774, on their way to fight the Indians at
Point Pleasant, where
Logan was killed.
In short, your course from
Staunton to the mouth of
Gauley, near which
Generals Floyd and
Wise are operating, is due
West; whereas the course from
Staunton to
Beverly and
Cheat Mountain, where
Gens. Lee and
Loring are operating, is almost due North.
From the mouth of
Gauley to
Beverly, from the
Hawk's Nest to
Rich Mountain, is a very long distance, more than a hundred miles, the way obstructed by the most stupendous mountains in the
State, and marked by no direct road.
If
Professor Lowe could take the
Yankee news-writers up in his balloon, and show them the distance and the character of country intervening between the counties of
Randolph and of
Fayette, those writers never would again confound the movements of our armies on the Sewell and the
Cheat Mountains.
The importance of the movements of
Gen. Lee consists, besides driving the enemy out of our State, in getting possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and thus cutting off the most direct communication between
Cincinnati and
St. Louis, with
Washington city.
The importance of the movements of
Generals Floyd and
Wise, besides the same object of driving the enemy beyond our borders, consists in reclaiming the
Kanawha Salines, and
the rich and wealthy Kanawha Valley, and at the same time affording a support to the
Southern sentiment in
Eastern Kentucky; an object now become doubly important from the crisis which affairs are reaching in that State.
We have said enough to show that we have two columns operating in two widely separated folds, for two widely distinct objects.
The one column looks to bringing back
Northwestern Virginia to its allegiance, and commanding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
The other looks to holding
middle Western Virginia to its true and natural fealty, securing the control of the Salines and supporting the
Confederates in
Eastern Kentucky.
We confidently expect the success of both expeditions; but not without a good deal of hard fighting.
