The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-23 00:00:00

THE CONFEDERATE STATES,

(From the Special Correspondent of the limes,)
RICHMOND, July 14.
Encouraged as the inhabitants of Richmond are
at this moment by the consciousness that grant
with the shattered residuum of his once mighty
host is impotently held in check at Petersburg by
an army which is more than a match for his own,
and by a general who is markedly his superior, it
must be admitted that great and increasing anxiety
is here felt as telegram follows telegram announcing
that General Johnston has again and again fallen
back until the Chattahoochie River has been passed,
and his bold antagonist, General Sherman, is seen
to be within three leagues of Atlanta. The mingled
accents of defiance and dismay which ascend from
New York and Philadelphia and herald the:ad.
vance of General Early and his Confederates into
Maryland and Pennsylvania are counterpoised by
the gloom which is here inspired at the mere men-
tion of General Sherman and Atlanta. We need a
Ssipio Africanus to remind us, as in the famous
speech which Livy puts into his mouth, that if
Sherman has seemingly had the best hitherto of the 1
Western campaign, Lee has foiled greater numbers
and (as the world thinks, though I cannot agree
with it) a more formidable chieftain than Sheridan
in the Eastern, and hce secundw res illas adversas
sustinuerunt. In order to explain the position of
affairs in the West it is desirable that I should say
something as to what is, in my belief, the character
of General Johnston. It is impossible to converse
with General Johnston without perceiving that he
is a more deeply read and scientific theorist on the
art of war than General Lee. He is a grave,
dignified, and self-contained man—one who
has meditated much upon manoeuvres, and
would probably study with delight those adroit
moves and countermoves which have made
Turenne and Montecuculi famous as chessplayers of
war, Ind which were so highly commended by Na-
poleon. But this scientific study of the military
art, and a consciousness of the reputation which he
has thus gained as a strategist, supervening upon a
cautious and sensitive temperament, seem to disquas
lify Gen. Johnston, fearless though he be personally,
for the command of a Confederate army in such a
war as this. Ths most successful generals of this
war, Lee and Stonewall Jackson, have certainly been
the rashest. If any one doubts this statement in re-
gard to Lee, my assertion might be supported by a
dozen confirmations. Let me instance the audacity
with which, in 1862, Lee left the defeated M'Clellan
with 60,000 men at Malvern Hill (15 miles from
Richmond), and turning northwards with a smaller
but victorious army shattered Pope, and then, cross-
ing into Maryland, fought with 35,000 men the
Battle of Sharpsburg against three times his num-
bers. Nor has the temerity of Lee's tactics at the
battle of Chancellorsville, where, for 16 hours, he
faced with 18,000 men Hooker's 80,000, ever been
surpassed. But of aggressive warfare, such as Lee
delights in, Johnston seems incapable, His notion
is to draw his enemy on and on, to keep retreating
before hiss, and to await the moment when by some
maladroitness his opponent will be delivered over
into his hands. But such moments appear not to
have hitherto occurred. In the retreat in 1862 of the
Confederate army before M'Clellan two battles were
fought—the first, the Battle of 'Williamsburg,
which General Johnston has always generously con-
fessed that he had nothing to do with, and of
which the credit is due to General Longstreet ; the
second, the battle of Seven Pines, where General
Johnston made up his mind to strike a blow, which
blow, from some misconception, proved a failure.
It cannot be denied that after Seven Pines General
Johnston fell greatly in the estimation of wise and
impartial men. But the confidence of the Southern
journals in him remained still unshaken. When
General Bragg fell from grace at the end of 1863 a
great cry for Johnston as Bragg's successor echoed
through the country, it was seconded, as I am in-
formed, by General Lee, and, against their conscien-
tious judgment, the Richmond authorities yielded
to it.

Across 130 miles of the most difficult country in
the Confederate States, much of it resembling parts
of the Lowlands and the Ochill hills of Scotland,
Johnston has permitted Sherman and 80,000 men to
advance unmolested. To oppose Sherman he has, I
believe, never had less than 55,000 effective bayo.
nets. Letters from many officers under Johnston,
who have served repeatedly under Lee, speak of
Johnston's present army as the finest they have ever
been attached to. Compare what an army of about
the same strength under Lee has been able to effect
against the vastly superior numbers of Generals
Grant and Butler, assisted as the latter have been
by gunboats and navigable rivers, and it is difficult
not to animadvert severely upon Johnston's caution
and timidity. It will be remembered by some of
your readers that Colonel Fremantle's pleasing book
exhibits Johnston to us as expressing a prefer.
ence for Marlborough over Wellington as a gene.
ral ; but where has Johnston given evidence
of a tithe of that vigour which was the supplement
of Marlborough's singular prudence, and which
made his onslaught irresistible iu five of the greatest
aggressive battles of history ? As there are among
scholars minds which are enfeebled by erudition,
so are there among soldiers spirits which are robbed
of enterprise and courage by poring over military
textbooks. Such a study is an aliment meant for
vigorous stomachs, and while to Marlborough fami-
liarity with Vegetius (his favourite author) brought
nothing but advantage, it is certain that Lee, Grant,
Jackson, and Sherman have lost nothing from their
probable ignorance of the very names of Vegetius or
Jomini.

Although the peril of Atlanta is obviously great,
there is every reason for• thinking that if the Fede-
rals succeed in gaining poss,i.ssion of it, it will prove
in their grasp like the apples on the Dead Sea shore,
"Fair to the eye, but ashes to the taste," To begin
with, I understand that preparation has been made
to evaciartte the Government workshops end