The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-01 00:00:00

I'HE Cl VIL WAR IN AMERICA

(z rom the Zimes Correspondent.)

NEW YORK, Jane 17.

Gen. Graff ii ; has gained his first success, and at a
sacrifice of life much less considerable than has
attended an; r of his previous failures. He has aban-
doned the lice of the Chickahominy, and crossed to
the south sh le of the James, without losing a man or
a horse. G cc. Bald)? Smith, acting under his in-
structions, Ixtarched with 15,000 men upon the city
of Petersbut. g, found it defended mainly by militia,
and, after an obstinate struggle, in which the negro
troops are alleged to have borne a conspicuous part,
carried the t ,uter line of defence, and became virtu■
ally the mas ter of the position. Gen. Butler saw
the whole op eration through a telescope from his in-
trenchmentis at Bermuda Hundred, and described it
to Secretary Stanton, who, in turn, communicated
the facts to Gen. Dix and the American public.
There is ii a consequence much rejoicing at Wash-
ington and New York, and people are told for the
twentieth time since the passage of the Rapidan
that the long expected turn of fortune has occurred,
and that they may expect in quick succession to
hear of the capture of Richmond, the surrender or
flight of Gen. Lee, the suppression of the rebellion,
and the reunion of North and South in the bonds of
fraternal affection. These events are at once to be
followed by a declaration of war against Great Bri-
tain for the depredations of the Alabama and the
Floridti, as well as for the unpardonable offence
commit tad by the British aristocracy of refusing to
sympat hise with the North. And, as if this were
not woxk enough for the energies of the young re•
public, there is also to be a declaration of war
against France for the same crime of want of
sympathy, aggravated by the Emperor's contempt
for the Monroe doctrine, and the establishment of
a monarchy in Mexico. The public meanwhile
shuts its eyes, opens its mouth, extends its ears,
and hopes that this time, at least, it will not be so
utterly disappointed as it has been a hundred times
before, and that Grant may have a substantial vie•
tory to place on the credit side of the ledger of
glory"—where the debit records the awful figures
—" One hundred thousand killed, wounded, and
prisoners." The President seems to be of opinion
that Grant, after feeling pretty nearly ali round
Richmtnd for the weak place, has at length dis-
covered it, and announced last night at Philadephia,
whither he had gone to visit the Sanitary Fair, that
though he was not in the habit of making predic-
tions (like his faithful Secretary of State) he would
hazard one on that occasion, to the effect that
" Grant was that evening in a position whence he
could never be dislodged by the enemy until
Richmond was taken." The somewhat singular
wording of the prediction has led to the inquiries,
—whether Grant, instead of being the besieger, is
to become the besieged, and who or what is to dis.
lodge him after Richmond is taken, seeing as the
President does, that he cannot be dislodged before?
Gratifying as the capture of Petersburg is to the
pride of the North, and important as it may be in
a military point of view—inasmuch as it cuts off
the direct railway communication of Gen. Lee with
North and South Carolina,--it is but a small part of
the work that will have to be done if Richmond is to
be taken. General Baldy Smith is south of the Ap-
pottomax, and General Grant is south of the James;
but where Lee is at this moment, or where he may be
the next, is a matter that neither Smith nor Grant
can discover. Speculation is at fault. People ask
whether it may not be General Lee's plan to ex-
change Richmond for Washington ; and of what
use the possession of Richmond will be to the
North, if Lee's army remains intact. But, what-
ever may be the answer which events will give to
these inquiries, it is evident that the real crisis of this
ca mpaig n is approaching, and probable that not many
days or even hours may pass without a renewal of
battles, to be as fiercely contested on either side as
those of the Wilderness, S?ottsylvania Courthouse,
and the Chickahominy—battles which may decide
the fate of Richmond, but which are not likely to
bring the North any nearer to the subjugation of
the South.

Little has been heard daring the past week of the
march of Gen. Sherman, in Georgia, towards At-
lanta, but, as Gen. Forrest has got into his rear at
the head of a large force end defeated Gen. Sturges
with great loss, some anxiety begins to be felt for
the first time in high Republican circles lest bad
news should arrive from that quarter of a nature to
more than counterbalance the good news of the cap-
ture of Petersburg.

Though the news from the seat of war in Virginia
and G,,orgia is absorbing enough to reduce all other
public events to the minimum of interest, the and•
den re-appearance of Mr. Vallandigham in the poli
tical arena has created a sensation. Condemaed by
arbitrary military decree to exile from his home and
country for the offence of plain speaking, though he
did not speak half so plainly as many men of his
way of thinking have spoken since his arrest, he
has quitted ins Canadian seclusion, crossed into the
Federal territory, addressed large assemblages of
his fellow citizens, and dared the Government to
call him to account. As Gen. Burnside is no longer
in command in Ohio, and his successor has no per-
sonal feud with Mr. Vallandigham, it is probable
that the authorities of Washington may, in view of
the enthusiasm which his return has excited in
Ohio, resolve that he has suffered sufficiently for
his contempt of Gen. Burnside, and decide to
take no further notice of him, unless he should
be indiscreet enough to afford a fresh pre-
text. There is such an all-pervading cowardice in
America—except in the battle-field, where both
sides are as brave as it is possible for them to be—
that Mr Vallandigham's civic courage "shines like
a good deed in a naughty world," and inspires
something like the hope that in the approsehing
Presidential contest—which Mr Lincoln appears to
oonsider as already decided in his favour—the De-
mocratic leaders will not only express their senti-
ments as becomes free men, but take such personal
risks to give effect to their convictions as their
British ancestors took in the days of Charles 1., and
as George 'Washington and the founders of Ameri-
can independence took, against the whole weight
and power of the British Crown. America as yet
has produced no civic hero. The" Hampden" of its
liberty has yet to appear, if he have not yet to be
born, and those who denounce the unconstitutional
nets of the Government and the vulgar, though re-

lontless, tyranny of such military bashaws as Butler,

Schenck, .lailroy, Burnside,Wallace, and Wild draw
a bated breath at the first serious threat of Fort ,
Lafayette or Fort Warren. Mr Val:andigham, by
his return to his home, and reappearance in the
political arena, no longer tongue-tied, but bold and
defiant, has set an example to the cravens and made
himself the tree leader of the Democracy, 'vice Go-
vernor Seymour, who has thrown away his chance.
The Immigration into this port, principally from
Ireland and Germany, increases daily. The arrival
of as many Its 5,000 emigrants per week is immense,
and this was about the average during the Celtic
exodus of the famine years in 1849 and 1850, when
the Panie'etrieken multitudes fled from the land of
their birth as if the soil
were accursed and no safety
were to be found for the solos
cf their feet until
they had placed the Atlantic between them and
their old associations. But this
high average has
pot only been reached during the pre
sent summer,
but has been doubled and even trebled. From the
Ist of January to the 31st of May,
a period of L 32
the total immigration was 68,078 or
nearly
450 per day, of whom 41,283 were Irish, about 9 000
.Eoglish, Scotch, and Welsh, and the remainder
Germans. Daring the week which ended on Satur-
day last no less than 16,000, of whom fully 12,000
were Irish, landed at the Battery. Moro than half
of the number were women and children. Large
numbers of both sexes passed through New York,
without stopping even for a day, bound for the Far
West, where labour is most in demand, while a very
considerable proportion of the young and strong of
the male sex fingered the bounty money of the
Federal Government within six hours of their arrival.
One vessel, the Benjamin Adams, of Liverpool,
brought 680 passengers, of whom 109 marched from
the lauding-place to the recruiting office in a body,
and received the firstins.alment of the £lOO sterling,
or thereabouts, which the Federal Government and
the municipality offer to any sturdy proficient in
the use of the shine' .gh who will exchange that
ina'iumeet for the musket. One of the passengers