The Striation.
There were rumors on the street yesterday that the enemy had evacuated Bermuda Hundred and gone to reinforce Grant at the White House. What truth there was in these rumors we have, thus far, been unable to learn. But it seems certain that Grant had determined to make the White House the base of his operations against this city, and that he expected to take it. How far his views may be changed by the publication of his plans, remains to be seen. After the terrible ordeal he has been through, he can hardly expect to find a Vicksburg in Richmond. There is this striking difference between the two situations. Grant, according to Seward's letter to Adams, had 100,000 men at Vicksburg, and he operated against one fourth of his number. He had possession, likewise, of both the Yazoo and the Mississippi, thus completely hemming in the devoted city. Here, with Butler's army, his force does not greatly, if at all, exceed the combined forces of Lee and Beauregard. Besides, our communications are open in all directions, and can only be temporarily interrupted by parties of cavalry, which will always be followed up too closely to allow time for doing much damage. Upon the whole, our prospects seem very fair, so far as a siege is concerned, and should Grant prefer to contest the possession of the place in a pitched battle, we feel no apprehension whatever for the issue. In the meantime the proximity of the armies reders such a battle possible, and even probable, at any moment.
