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Sherman's Movement.
The telegraph yesterday brought the intelligence that Sherman, at the head of five army corps, after having abandoned the pursuit of Hood, and completely burning Atlanta, had started on the march for Charleston, S. C., or Savannah, Ga. The report is made on very insufficient authority — the report, in the Indianapolis Journal, of some officer's talk, and "needs confirmation." The conception is a daring one, and if it ever were entertained by a federal general, Sherman is the only man to originate and execute it. The distance between Atlanta and Charleston, by railroad, is 308 miles; to Savannah, about the same. Of course his army must depend for subsistence upon the country through which it marches, as the railroads at Atlanta were destroyed, and no forces will be left to garrison points along the route. It is doubtful whether the rebels can concentrate sufficient force from points where men can be spared, to resist his progress, but at best his march will be beset with difficulties and dangers. If it can be successfully made, however, Sherman is the man to do it. With the exception of General Lee, he is probably the best officer now in service.
The burning of Atlanta, if true, shows that Sherman has accepted Lincoln's "plan" of extermination, and that will probably be the course resolved upon hereafter. If opportunity ever offers, the rebels will be likely to retaliate, and then we shall have "real war" enough to please even the abolitionists.