The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-01 00:00:00

THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, Oct. 28.
To one who has passed a month in a Western
Confederate camp, especially in such weather as
has scourged the present October, Augusta is a
Capua indeed. A clean bed with actual sheets,
plenty of water to wash in, decent food, a table to
write on, candles, and many more similar luxuries,

can be adequately prized only by him who has long
floundered in the mud of Gen. Bragg's camp, and
realised the manifold privations which are so nobly
endured by each Confederate army. His enjoy-

ment will be enhanced by the recollection of the

raiiroad which connects Atlanta with Chattanooga,
and of the mud road which divides Chickamauga
Station from Missionary Ridge. In an extensive

experience of American mire, I have never seen
anything to equal the road by which supplies for
Gen. Bragg's army are now " waggoned." Fortu-
nately its length is only seven miles; but, in spite

of the asseverations of Crimean officers when

similar scenes are pointed out to them, it may be

questioned whether the famous seven miles from
Balaklava were ever half so bad. As you wade

through it on horseback with the mud up to your
girths, waggon after waggon salutes you, "stalled"
(as it is here named), or mired, in some hole rather
more bottomless than usual, the mules, according
to the fashion of their race, refusing after one un-
successful tug to try again, while by the roadside

dozens of their defunct brethren and of bony horses,
the carcases of which lend anything but fragrance
to the breeze, serve as a warning to their survivors
againit undue exertion. Along this same road
wade wearily forward the long files of recruits or of
returning convalescents on their way to the front,
up to their knees in slime, with little prospect of
having dry feet for a week to come, as the heavens
seem permanently to have dissolved in liquid, and
camp-fires under such circumstances are all but im-
possible. Need I say that fever and ague, dysentery
and pneumonia, are rife among the Confederates and
among the hapless Federals who face them ? And
yet the indications still are that neither Gen. Bragg
nor his opponent contemplate an immediate move
on a large scale. It is true that the condition of the
roads is such as greatly to impede locomotion ; but
this diffioulty might be mitigated by dividing the
waggons and sending them along several different
roads. It is the concentration of waggons upon the
Chicamauga road which has reduced it to its pre-
sent fearful condition.

But if the waggon road is appalling, let not the t
traveller imagine that his troubles are at an end I
when he gets to the railroad. At present the main
and most important function of this railroad is to
carry provisions and ordnance to Bragg's army.
Travellers are clearly a nuisance not to be encour-
aged under the circumstances. Accordingly, at the
little wooden shanty which is dignified with the
name of "Chicamauga Station," let no one expect
to find a passenger car, distributed into those low-
backed seats which suit the American taste, but are
execrated by all Europeans. A long line of box cars,
much resembling one of Pickford's freight trains in
England, but individually much larger and dirtier, are
under shelter in waiting,and in one of them you may consider your-
self lucky if
can layfryoorau rtbhleacnokledt theposunni g
As to the question whether
you will start in one
hour, in six, or in 12, it
argues great inexperience .
in Confederate railrop-' floor,
rain.
and escape
.4 travelling if you exhibit any
inquisitiveness on the subject. You will be told
there is r
"schedule" or time table according to
which: Locomotion is directed, but the trains are said
t 0
oe "running wild"—which means that so soon
as a train arrives at Chicamauga, and it suits the con-
venience of its conductor to start again for Atlanta,
he " puts out," trusting to the steam-whistle
of the engine and to the enormous lamp which
glares forward at the foot of each engine's chimney
to avert the collision which the single line of rails
and the careless economy of the trains render only
too probable. Frequent as are the accidents upon
these railroads, the only wonder is that they are
not ten times more frequent. To begin with, there
is the single line of rails; then there are the trestle
bridges over the innumerable rivers and creeks,
which are carried away by every " freshet" or flood
in the stream, and which creak and tremble as the
train passes in such a fashion as would in England
elicit 100 letters per diem to the Times, from
agonised passengers. Then, thirdly, there is the
defective state of the rails, which are constantly
and in many plaos worn down to a thread not
thicker than a lady's little finger. Other possi-
bilities of accident there are by dozens, arising
from such casualties as cows and hogs upon the
track; but I have said enough to justify the pre-
vailing sentiment that it is safer to go into action