The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-13 00:00:00

THE CONFEDERATE STATES.

(From the 'Special Correspondent of the Times.)
RICHMOND, Oct. 27.

Your readers will probably have been so surfeited
with the fanfizronades of the Northern journals
and with the self-laudations of Gen. Sheridan on
his success in the Valley on the 19th inst., that they
will not thank me for recurring to that theme. But
it seems tome desirable that they should learn that
these extravagant jubilees, assisted by the nonsense,
to which Mr Stanton has not scrupled to put his
hand, about the presence in the Valley of General
Longstreet and 12,000 additional troops, are only
electioneering dodges in Mr Lincoln's interest.
Upon the very day upon which Eli-ly converted a
great success into a greater disaster, General Long-
street, greeted by the enth'isiastic welcome of his
old soldiers, was resuming command of the First
Army Corps, under General Lee, in the following
words :

Head quarters, Ist Army Corps, Oct. 19, 1864.
The undersigned, with deep and grateful emotions, re-
sumes command of his Army Corps. Although separated
from it since the first action of the past eventful campaign,
the history of your share in that campaign is not unknown
to him. He has marked with pride and pleasure the success
which has attended your heroic efforts under the accom-
plished commander who has so worthily led you. Soldiers,
let us not go backward I Let the lst Corps be always true
to itself ! We have in the past a brilliant and unsurpassed
record. Let our future eclipse it in our eagerness for glory,
our love of country, and our determination to beat the
enemy.

J. LONOSTREET, Lieutenant-General.
The Confederate army in the Valley upon the 19th
inst. was the same force which was sent there in
June, which menaced Washington early in July,
and was commanded from the commencement by
the same leader, General Early. The only aug-
mentation which it had received was the division of
General•Kershaw, which loft the neighbourhood of
Richmond early in August. The Northern public
has again and again been assured that " the rebel
army in the Valley has ceased to exist." Yet upon
the 19th inst. this same shadowy army assumed the
initiative, utterly routed two Federal corps, which
in their flight annihilated a third corps of their as-
sociates, and at 1 in the afternoon of that day the
Confederates had captured 18 pieces of cannon, and
inflicted upon their enemy a loss of 5,000 men in
killed, wounded, and prisoners. Unfortunately, at
this stage the want of discipline in General Early's
force proved its ruin. They took to plundering
their enemy's camps, and, making no preparation
against the possibility of another attack from an
army which they conceived to be utterly routed,
they laid themselves open, as easy victims, to the
reprisals which Gm. Sheridan, who had come late
upon the field, vigorously initiated. The artillery,
caissons, and ambulances, all huddled together in
inextricable confusion, fell an easy prey to some 25
Federal horsemen who were adventurous enough
to dash in among them and to shoot down the
horses attached to the guns. Mr Lincoln is un.
questionably greatly indebted to General Sheridan,
who did more, by arresting what would otherwise
have been to the Federals one of the most disgrace.
ful defeats of the war, to insure his re-election,
than all the orators who have taken the stump in
his favour from Maine to California. But, although
the Federal General regained hid lost 18 pieces, and
took from General. Early 23 Confederate pieces in
addition, it is indisputable that the Federal loss iu
mon far outweighs that of the Confederates. The
Valley is further than ever from being in the
Federal grasp; and although General Sheridan
has taken pride in applying the torch to private
property with a recklessness of cruelty which is
unsurpassed even in the annals of this ruthless
war, it is not in his power sensibly to diminish the
abundant wealth of this favoured region after
one of the most lavish harvests which the Valley
has ever seen. It is more than ever necessary
for Mr Lincoln to keep a large army, and more
especially a considerable force of cavalry, in
the Valley to protect Washington, and I seo little
prospect of Grant being able to withdraw from
Sheridan that fine body of cavalry which was so
active in the neighbourhood of Richmond during
the months of May, June, and July, and without
which Grant's operations against Richmond and
Petersburg promise to yield but little fruit.
I have just returned from a long ride along the
Confederate lines upon the north side of the River
James, which commences at Chaffin's Bluff, and run
north words for many miles till they strike the
Charles City.road,immediately to the north of which
lies the White Oak swamp, a spongy morass, which
occupies all the space between the Charles City-road
and the Chiokahominy River. With a full experi-
ence of the hazards which await those who assume