There can no longer be any doubt that
Milliken's Bend is in possession of our forces.
it was taken by
Gen. Taylor, forming a part of
Gen. Kirby Smith's force.
The force of
Gen. Taylor numbered 8,000 men. These facts have been communicated to the
President officially by a dispatch (telegraphic) from
General Johnston.
It is impossible to over-estimate the value of this capture.
Milliken's Bend completely commands the channel of the river when the water is low, as it is at present, and the party in possession of it can, in such a stage of water, absolutely stop the passage of all and every kind of craft bound either up or down the river.
As all the provisions for
Grant's army come from above, it will at once be seen that this conquest must prove fatal to the enterprise against
Vicksburg.
Soldiers must eat if they be expected to fight, and if they can get nothing to eat they must fall back.
As far as we can see,
Grant cannot sustain his army without the free use of the
Mississippi.
In the meantime
Smith, having possession of
Milliken's Bend has a free passage to
Johnston whenever the latter may call for his assistance, and can pass over
Price, who is at the head of 17,000 men.
We have heard many and great fears expressed for the fate of
Vicksburg; some have even gone so far as to say that it must fall without the interposition of a miracle.
We never believed it, simply because we were well acquainted with the strength of the position, and did not imagine that it ever could be carried, provided only it were defended by a resolute governor.
Such a man has been found in
General Pemberton, who we believe has at last, satisfied the most skeptical of his loyalty and bravery.
From the river
Vicksburg has had nothing to fear.
She is built on a high hill, and the guns of the fleet have to be aimed at such an angle that the shells pass over her, or explode in the air. There is no object of more thorough contempt to the Vicksburgers than the mendacious braggart
Porter, who has been firing at her for a month and has not yet killed a man. On the land side again the country is peculiarly susceptible of defence.
It is broken into a wild succession of formidable hills, sometimes terminating in deep valleys, sometimes sinking sheer down into abrupt precipices, ending in bayous deep enough to swallow a considerable town.
Resolutely defended, indeed it may be regarded as impregnable, and in that circumstance, and the courage of our troops, we have constantly put our faith.
Things, at last, appear to be on the point of taking a favorable change.
Milliken's Bend being in our possession, an end is put to all recruiting from above.
The waters are rapidly falling, and in a week or two will be at the lowest.
Johnston has a powerful army, and his capacity for increasing it is greatly enlarged by the conquest of
Kirby Smith.
The tails are slowly, but, it appears to us, surely being drawn around
Grant.
Already sickness to an alarming extent is said to prevail in his army, who are forced to drink the water of the Big Black, redolent with pestilence and death.
We do not wish to excite hopes that may never be realized; but for our own part — without asking anybody to share in the confidence which we feel — we are firmly persuaded that the time is not far distant when that Yankee army will either be taken entire, or be compelled to make a disastrous retreat from the position it now occupies.
Apparently,
Gen. Johnston has been slow; but he has had to organize an army in the face of the enemy, to supply it with the munitions of war, and to encounter other unheard of difficulties.
He has surmounted them all, and now that the water is down we may expect to hear from him in a way that shall silence his detractors forever.
The advantage which will accrue to our cause from the repulse of
Grant and the salvation of
Vicksburg, are prodigious.
We shall have made the enemy fail in the operations of a whole campaign.
We shall have preserved a point which they consider of more importance than any other.
We shall have secured the trans Mississippi States.
We shall be in a condition to roll back the war upon the
Yankee States, in co-operation with
Lee's army on the
Potomac.
These are a few, and but a few, of the least important results.
Perhaps the whole Northwest, finding themselves as far off from securing the navigation of the
Mississippi as ever, may become tired of the war, and either force a peace or secede from the
Yankees.
