The Express.
London, England, 1862-02-11 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, IND. 11.

THE recent serere engagement in Kentucky,
although neither a "great battle," es the Northern
newspapers say, nor yet pcoimbly the commence-

went of General 241‘Ctsza.Ve II ;inter campaign,
was a genuine and important Federal success.
Both sides fought bravely. The Confederate force,
under General Zotticorran,was composed, acoord-
iug to Southern authorities, of ten infantry regi-
ments, three batteries, and some cavalry—in all,

about 10,000 men. We do not as yet know the
precise number of the Federal troops, but
if we suppose them to have numbered 6,000
we probably over-estimate their strength,
so that Mr. STANTON, the new Secretary for
War at Washingtoo, was justified in giving

the soldiers of the United Stites credit for van=

quishing au enemy of greatly superior fosse.

The engagement began with an attack upon an
Indiana regiment posted in front of Somerset, •
village of Southern Kentucky, about six miles
north of the Cumberland River. The whole coun-
try is rugged and hilly, abounding in coal and
iron ore, hut bare of supplies. General Zomr-
correa appears to have held a strong position,
north and south of the Cumberland, previous to
the action, • position which it was important
he should maintain, as it commanded roads
leading to East Tennessee. The Union regiments
in and about Somerset appear to have been rapidly
brought up to support that one which was first
attacked, and a hard fight took place on the broken
ground. It was ended by • bayonet charge which
broke the rebel ranks and threw them into com-
plete disorganization. From this time the Federal
troops appear to have had no difficulty but that of
overtaking the flying enemy through a country in-
tersected with ravines and woods. The rebels were
pursued across the Cumberland to their entrench-
ments at Mill Spring, but do not appear to have
made any stand even there. General THOMAS re-
ports that he found in them 12 guns, 100 waggons,
and 1,200 horses, besides • large quantity of
small arms, and stores. The list of killed and
wounded attests the severity of the action, and the
rout and the spoils the completeness of the victory.
On the part of the rebel Generals the move-
ment appears to have been, from the first, an ill-
advised proceeding upon any supposition of cones-
quences. No advantage was to be gained by nie-
cess of sufficient importance to be weighed against
the risks encountered. It would seem, indeed, that
other than military considerations must have been

permitted to weigh in the councils of the Confede-
rate commanders. The sentence, often so fatal
in war, that " something must be done," bad
been pronounced by public opinion. The Southern
papers had long been complaining of the defen-
sive attitude of their Oovernment, and the decsy
of the spirit of the soldiers which must ensue. A
general despondency was taking possession of the
people. One after another the promises of
their leaders had been falaitied. The hope
of getting Washington for a capital had long before
disappeared. The recognition of the Confederacy
by the great Powers of Europe, which they had
been told must inevitably follow a dearth of
cotton, seamed as distant as ever. The effects of
the blockade upon the prices of articles of general
consumption had not beau sensibly mitigated by
the arrival of a few small vessels, for the most
part carrying arms and stores for Jerruasox
Davie and his accomplices. And all this whoa
the military power of the United States was
visibly increasing and drawing closer round the
rebellion. In vain did their President assure
them in his message that the Unionists had not
gained a foot of ground, and that the territory
of the seceded States was inviolate. The

newspapers of his own capital rebuked the
vanity of the falsehood. " While the
" political leaders of the South," says the

Richmond Examiner, " have been reposing in
" dreams of approaching peace, the enemy have
" gradually and at leisure gathered up their i ii-
" niense resources and concentrated their tremen-
" dons energies to envelope the Confederacy with
" their armies and Bests, and to penetrate the
" interior from some one of many alternative
" points. Although they can now do nothing,
" they have their general programme in perfect
" order for execution when the weather changes,
" and at this moment we find ourselves el the
" face of superior forces wherever we look,
" whether to the north, the east, or the west, or
" the south itself. General Sverige JOHNSTON has
" to strain every nerve to prevent the military as
" well as geographical heart of the country from
" slipping out of his grasp. Generals JOSEPH
" Jou:mos and Reevaluate an held by 311'exxx-
" Las on the Potomac as in a vice. A gigantic
" armament is ready to attempt the descent of
" the Ali+sissippi, and their fleet on the Atlantic
" sea-coast and the Gulf are too freshly be`ore the
" public attention to require remembrance." Ac-
cording to this organ of Southern opinion, only
one way of relief We/ open :—" There is now but
" one chance of escape from the net that has been
" coolly drawn around us ; it is to concentrrto
" our energy on one point and cut it through ; to
" convert our defensive into an offensive war, and
" transfer the scene of at least a part of these
" hostilities to the enemy's own country. Situated
" as we are, it is only possible at one point, and
" that is Kentucky." There can be no doubt that
it was to silence the rising spirit of dissatisfaction
that this last movement under General Zoma-
coeval was resolved on.
Events may prove that the recent Federal suc-
cess has facilitated a movement which many take
to be General Nl'Ctettax's design in the cam-
paign in the South West—the seizure of the Vir-
ginia and East Tennessee Railroad, and the cutting

off the Confederate army hem HaWe
incline to believe, however, *M gralellited et:.alue is
to be looked for in its moral effects. For the present,
the grand combined operations of war are rendered
impossible by the state of the nada. But the hour
fur which the long months of winter, the daily
warlike exercises, the enormous military expendi-
ture of the last six months have been only the
preparation—the hour which will decide whether
the wealthy and populous North has the manly
virtues which are the ultimate guarantee of the
integrity of States, whether it has the valour to
maintain in arms the will of the nation as it has
been

constitutionally expressed, is at hand. We
trust that the Government of the United States is
in.prease4l with the necessity of bringing the war
to an early termination by rapid and decisive ope-
rations ; and if, as we may reasonably hope, the
Federal troops engaged at Mill Spring may be
taken as representative specimens of the Union
Army such as it has become under the hands of
General 51'CLea.r.sx, the result cannot be doubted.