The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 15, 1863

war—has gone so far to-day as to write a letter, not
yet published, in which he declares that he would
hail with gratitude the mediation and kind offices
of any European Power that has not hitherto
taken a side or expressed an opinion on the strug-
gle, and that he is prepared to recommend to his
party to welcome such mediation, and abide by the
decision. Mr. Lincoln himself, if not greatly be-
lied, believes that the Union is at an end—that
nothing which either he or the Northern people can
do will be able to restore it, and only fights out the
fight to its bitter end, because pride or shame, to
the fear of a pnblic•opinion that he does not rightly
understand, prevents him from accepting a result
humiliating to himself, his party, and his people.
It is the old story over again. It is a Brummagem
George 111, in the shape of an elected President,
re-enacting the old obstinacy, without the Royal
jurisdiction that made George 111. respectable.
Mr. Lincoln has more power than George 111., and
less authority. He assumes a responsibility which
his legal predecessor did not incur, and will have to
bear it in the page of history, if he escapes it now.

General Butler has arrived in New York on his
way to Washington. Most of the journals that ap-
prove of the " vigorous prosecution of the war " in
the sense which General Butler attributes to these
words insist that the President shall immediately
nominate him to high office, or high command,
if it were only that by so doing he might
show his contempt for the proclamation of Mr.
Jefferson Davis, and gratify the malignant phil-
anthropists of New England. They do not per-
haps consider that by so distinguished a mark
of favour Mr. Lincoln would also show his con-
tempt for a power much more formidable than that
of the Southern President—namely, the World's
Opinion, not only in Europe, but throughout
America, where General Butler is held to have dis-
graced the national good name as sorely as Gene-
ral Haynau disgraced that of Austria. General
Butler only remained one night in New York, where
he had the bad taste to dine in public, in the crowded
saloon of the St. Nicholas Hotel, where be was
greAtly stared at by the ladies. It is to be supposed
that he excited as much curiosity in their gentle
bosoms as a live gorilla might have done, and that
he was considered almost as handsome. He had
the honour of a hearty accolade from the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher ; but it does not appear that
any lady shook hands with him or allowed herself
to come into.very close proximity with a person who
was unanimously and unmannerly enough to make
no distinction between feminine spite and the most
shameful crime that a woman can commit.

If the President, so deficient in vigour himself,
admires Gen. Butler's vigour, it is evident that Gen.
Banks is of a different opinion. In the enigmatical
speech which the latter addressed to Mr. Opdyke,
the mayor, and other hospitable entertainers, on
leaving the harbour of New York, he promised that
something should be done in his new sphere of ope-
rations to satisfy the country and to "ennoble hu-
manity." People wondered what General Banks
meant by the last phrase, for he is so modest a man
that nobody imagined he intended to boast that any
achievements of his, however great and glorious
they might be, would deserve so splendid an epithet.
The supposition now is that the speech was misre-
ported, and that he desired, without disclosing a
secret which was not wholly his own, to convey an
impression to the minds of his hearers that he was
going to restore the reign of " humanity" in some
district where humanity had been banished. Consi.
dered in the light which after events have thrown
upon it, it would seem as if the phrase pointed at
General Butler. And certainly General Banks has
lost not a single day in proving to the people of
Louisiana that he is a man of another stamp. He
has liberated the political prisoners in Ship Island,
Fort Pickens, Fort Jackson, and other bastiles with-
in his jurisdiction. He has stopped the sale of con-
fiscated estates, extended the term allowed for the
departure of those whose consciences will not allow
them to take the oath of allegiance to the Federal
Government, placed the officers of his staff in modest
lodgings to be duly paid for, instead of installing
them in the mansions of the wealthiest merchants
and planters, to levy tribute on the wine-cellar and
the larder without stint and without cost ; and ma-
nifested in a variety of other ways that he thinks
the people of New Orleans his fellow-citizens, and
not the conquered aborigines of a savage or uncivi-
lised country.

General Banks has also taken an early occasion
to explain to the people of Louisiana his views on
the great question of emancipation. He does not
appear, in all respects, to be in accord with the
President on the subject. He says the war is not
waged by the Government for the overthrow of
slavery ; though he asserts that the abolition of
slavery is the inevitable result of the contest. He
advises the slaves of loyal proprietors in Louisiana
—who, if they love freedom very dearly, must wish
with all their hearts that their masters were rebels
—to remain quietly upon the plantations: to rest
assured that whatever benefit the Government in-
tends them will be secured ; but that they cannot
be allowed to take the law into their own hands.
As the slaves of rebels may take the law into their
own hands, this might seem a hardship upon the
slaves of loyal men, were they not consoled by the
promise that before the year 1900, when more than
three-fourths of them will be in the grave, their pe-
culiar case will be taken into kindly consideration.
This kindness, however, is one that will hardly re-
commend itself to the negro imagination—especially
if the slaves of rebels in the immediate vicinity of
the loyal plantations should rise against their mas-
ters, and implore the slaves of loyal men to aid them
in the enterprise. General Banks has not perhaps
considered how he would act on such an occasion ;
but would he not be bound to give all the military
and naval aid at his command to the liberation of
one set of uegroes, and to the re-enslavement of an-
other ? And would such a spectacle be edifying, or
worthy of a Christian general or people ?
General Banks should beware of the proclama-
tion mania. If he and other Federal functionaries
would write and speak less it would be the better
for their fame. General Butler's letters were models
of argumentation. Their taste may have been ques-
tionable, but their logic was irrefutable. General
Banks is not likely, however, if his first proclama-
tion be a sample of what is to follow from his pen,
to establish as great a reputation as his unpopular
predecessor. It would appear as if too intimate
contact with the pleasant Mayor of New York had
made him also an optimist of the school of the
great Candide. Mr. Opdyke was eloquent in praise I
of war, as the great purifier and ennobler of nations.
General Banks is enthusiastic enough to believe
that the tremendous struggle in which the coun-
try is dashing itself to pieces is the very best thing
that could have happened to it. " Contest," he
says, "in public and in social life, strengthens and
consolidates brotherly affection. England, France,
Austria, Italy—every land fertile enough to make a
history, has had its desolating civil wars. It is a
baseless nationality that has not tested its strength
against domestie enemies. The success of local in-
terests narrows the destiny of a people and is fol-
lowed by secession, poverty, and degradation. A
divided country and perpetual war make possession
a delusion and life a calamity. The triumph of na-
tional interests widens the scope of human history,
and is attended with peace, prosperity, and power.
It is out of such contests that great nations are
born." General Banks may, perhaps, prove a truer
prophet in this magniloquent paragraph than he
imagined. He does not say that out of such contests
a great nation is to be born—but great nations. Mr.
Jefferson Davis is perhaps of the same opinion, and
so, no doubt, is all Europe.
The violent journals which are of opinion that
there is nothing so likely to restore tho Union as a
sharp war with EAlabama to stir up
ng.ilia-bnldo,oadr.e
Tmaking
rt
shies
ti chestn
e aolfl
itnhge
that vessel " a British pirate," because " she was
m mechanics,
oney
übo-
scribed by British cotton brokers;" and of
hint that
i
builtßriti
British
hn
materials, B rit s
bought
epuogr port,
t wbyithßßritriisthish
for the present, " the time will come for sending in
although the North will have to bear the infliction
to the British Government a little bill for every
dollar's worth of property the Alabama has de-
citzn people,ese but
are
said i t
de-
stroyed." Of course it is no use to argue with such
is a
tos wellbe at
this they
momentshould kinno
great
etahta
need
et
edhe
of fast vessels such as the Alabama—that two, if

not more, are building in the Clyde, and one at
Toulon, for that mysterious Government; and that
it is confidently alleged in New York that the
commercial agents of the Emperor have been at
work in this cosmopolitan city, and ordered one, if
not two steamers, of light draught, great swiftness,
and formidable armament, to be built and launched
without delay, and that the money, or the money's
worth, is ready to pay for them. There is, it is
true, a report, which may or may not be baseless,
that the Emperor of China knows nothing of the
matter, and that his name is a convenient cloak to
disguise that of a much nearer potentate; but the
shipbuilder, whether in the Clyde or at Toulon, or
in the East or North rivers that wash the parallel
shores of the prosperous island of Manhattan, does
not care to look too closely into the matter. Suffi-
cient for him to get a good order and to execute it
for prompt payment. Why should he disbelieve
the respectable agents of the Emperor of China ?
Why should he take it upon himself to be incre-
dulous ? Is not the payment safe ? Does the money
smell ? Is the transaction not a fair commercial
business ? And may he not, being a shipbuilder,
build the hulls of ships for all the world ? Should
it turn out to be true, as confidently asserted, that
such a vessel is building in this port, ostensibly
for the Emperor of China, shalt the Federal Go-
vernment do more than watch its progress and
act upon real, not supposed, evidence, will' regard
to its character and destination ? If sack vessel,
after being built here, shall be duly launched, and
make her way to mid-ocean, and there meet ano-
ther vessel—say from Greenock or Toulon—with
arms, ammunition, supplies, and a hardy and deter-
mined crew—and should she immediately afterwards
hoist the Confederate flag—will she, though under
Confederate colours and acting for a Confederate
purpose, be justly liable to be denounced as " a
Federal pirate ?" Perhaps, when that question is
answered in the affirmative, it will be time enough
for the Anglophobists of this country to treat the
Alabama as a British vessel. In the meantime the
Federal Government, if it have any leisure for the
purpose, may inquire whether New York specula-
tors are not represented with those of Liverpool in
the ownership of the Alabama; and whether it be
possible for the sharpest and cutest Government in
the world—whether that be the happily permanent
Government of Queen Victoria, or the happily short-
lived Government of Abraham Lincoln—to be a
match for a sharp man of business who is content
to take a large risk for the sake of a large profit.
Mr. Seymour's inaugural address, as Governor of
New York, was an emphatic avowal of bis deter-
mination to upholc, not only the Federal Constitu-
tion,,but the constitution and laws of the States.
He carefully avoided all mention of national affairs,
reserving them, it is supposed, for his message to
the Legislature, which will be sent in on the 6th
inst. He has signalized his assumption of office
ummoninfgor tbhreeacPholiocfedCuotmy Commissioners of this
city to Albany to show cause why they should not
notorious Kennedy and maintaining him bbye dismisseds
huimphionldhiinsgpotshie.
tion after his behaviour in the case of Mrs. Brine-
made and others equally.fiagrant. Mr. Seymour
is the sole judge in this matter, from his decision
there is no appeal; and there is no doubt in the
public mind that an 'entirely new set of Commis-
sioners will immediately be appointed.

time it was announced that not a single waggon
load of it could be found. Some of our batteries
were quiet on that account. This misfortune was
caused by the capture of M'Cook's trains. About
2 o'clock the battle had shifted again from right to
left. The enemy discovering the impossibility of
succeeding in their main design had suddenly
massed their forces on the left, crossing the river,
or moving under cover of bluffs on the right, and
for about two hours the fight raged with unremit-
ting fury to the advantage of the enemy for a con-
siderable length of time, when they were checked
by our murderous fire of both musketry and artil-
lery. The scene at this point was magnificently
terrible. The whole battle was in full view, the
enemy deploying right and left, bringing up their
batteries in fine style, our own vomiting smoke and
iron missiles upon them with awful fury, and our
gallant fellows moving to the front with unflinch-
ing courage, and lying flat upon their face to escape
the rebel fire until the moment for action. Shell
and shot fell around like hail. General Rosecrans
was himself incessantly exposed. It is wonder-
ful that he escaped. His chief of staff, the noble
Lieut.-Col. Garesche, had his head taken off by a
round shot, and the blood bespattered the G. neral
and some of the staff. Lieut. Lylan Kirk, just be-
hind him, was lifted clear out of his saddle by a
bullet, which shattered his left arm. Three orderlies
and the gallant Sergeant Richmund, of the 4th
United States' Cavalry, were killed, not 10ft. from
him, and five or six horses in the staff escort were
struck. Between 5 and 6 o'clock the enemy, ap-
parently exhausted by his rapid and incessant as-
saults, took up a position not assailable without
abundant artillery, and the fire on both sides
slackened, and finally silenced at dark, the battle
having raged 11 hours, the loss of life on our side
being considerable, and the terrific nature of the
field compare, ively limited. Our casualty list
that day, excluding captures, did not exoeed,
perhaps, 1,500, of whom not more than one-
fourth were killed. This is attributable to the
care taken to make our men lie down. The
enemy's loss must have been more severe. But
among our losses we mourn such noble souls as Gen.
Sill, Gen. August Willich, Col. Garesche, Cot. Miner
Milliken, Ist Ohio Cavalry ; Col. Hawkins, 13th
Ohio ; Col. M'Kee, 3d Kentucky ; Col. Forman, 15th
Kentucky ; Col. Hill and Second Lieut.-Col. Shep-
herd, 18th Regulars; Major Carpenter, 10th Regu-
lars; Capt. Edgerton, Ist Ohio Battery, and his two
lieutenants, and many more. No other generals were
killed. Atitong our wounded are Gen. Kirk, Gen.
Van Cleve (so reported) ; Col. Moody, 74th Ohio,
who established a splendid reputation; Col. Lar-
raby, 99th Ohio, and King, 15th Regulars; Majors
Foot, Rieker, and Slemmer, 11th Regulars; Capts.
Bell, Wise, M'Donnell, Power, and York, and Lieut.
M'Allister, 15th regulars; Major Townsen, 18th
regulars ; Capt. Long, 4th regulars; Cavalry Lieuts.
M'Clellan, Miller, and Foster, 27th Ohio. When
the battle closed the enemy occupied the ground
which was ours in the morning, and the advantage
was theirs. Their object in attacking us was to cut
us off from Nashville. They played their old game.
If M'Cook's force had held more firmly against
Hardee's corps and Cheatham's division, when he
fought Rosecrans, the plan of battle would have
succeeded, At dark they had a heavy force on our
right, leading to the belief that they intended to
pursue. Their cavalry meantime was excessively
troublesome, cutting deeply into our trains behind
us, and we had not cavalry enough to protect our-
selves. The 4th Regulars made one splendid dash
at them, capturing 67 and releasing 300 prisoners
they had taken from us, recapturing 500 prisoners
of the enemy. General Rosecrans determined to
begin the attack this morning, and opened fu-
riously with our left at dawn. The enemy, how-
ever, would not retire from our right, and the battle
worked that way. At 11 o'clock matters were not
flattering on either side. At 12 our batteries re-
ceived new supplies of ammunition, were massed,
and a terrible fire was opened. The enemy began
to give way. General Thomas pressing on their
centre, and Crittenden advancing on their left. The
battle was more severe at that hour than it had
been, and the result was yet doubtful, Both sides
were uneasy, but determined. General Rose-
crane feels its importance fully. If he is de-
feated he will be defeated badly, because
he will fight as long as he has a bri-
gade. If ne is victorious the enemy will be de-
stroyed. At this hour we are apprehensive. Some
of our troops behaved badly, but most of them
were heroes. I believe all but Walker's brigade,
consisting of the 17th and 31st Ohio and two other
regiments, were not in Wednesday's battles, being
on guard, but they were engaged to-day. The
enemy seemed fully as numerous as we. They did
not use as much artillery. Generals Joe Johnston
and Bragg were in command. Prisoners say they
lost largely. General M'Cook was brave to a fault,
and self-possessed. He narrowly escaped death
many times. His horse was killed under him, and
he was severely hurt by his horse falling under him.
11 15 A.M.

No later tidings of to-day's battle. The Rebels
are destroying our waggon trein on Murftees-
borough-pike. To night additional casualties have
been received, as follows :

Killed.—Colonel Stem, 101st Ohio ; Lieutenant-
Colonel M'Kee, 15th Wisconsin ; Colonel Almonde,
21st Illinois ; Colonel Roberts, 42d Illinois; Colonel
Walker, 31st Ohio, Cavalry Brigade; Colonel Har-
rington, 27th Illinois, Captain John Johnson, 15th
Wisconsin -

• Wounded.—General Rousseau, slightly ;: General
Wood, severely: Lieutenant-Colonel, 101st. Ohio,
badly; cartin, comman ding brigade ;
Captain Oscar F. Mark, acting inspector-General of
Thomas's staff, severely ; and Captain Douglas,
18th Regulars.
To THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

Washington, Jan. 2.
The Secretary of War to-day received the folio vv-
i66 ativices

• • " Cleveland, Friday, Jan. 2.
" The following has just been received by tele-
gram from Cincinnatti, dated Murfreesborough,
January 1:

A terrible battle was fought yesterday. The
latest from the field is up to noon. The Rebel
centre had been broken, and things looked favour-
able. The losses are reported to be enormous.
Stanley, Rousseau, and Palmer are wounded, and
the Rebels Cheatham and Rains are killed."
Near Murfreesborough, Dec. 31, 1862.
Our whole line suffered terribly this morning.
Four regiments of regulars lost half their men and
all their commanding officers. General Anderson's
troops suffered severely. Majors Resengarten and
Ward are killed. Generals Stanley, Rousseau, and
Palmer are wounded.

2 o'clock, p.m.
General Thomas has just broken the rebel centre,
and driven the enemy a mile. We are advancing
our whole line. General Rlsecrans is personally
superintending the movements. One shot killed two
of his staff officers. The 15th Wisconsin Regiment
has lost several. captains. General Negley's Artil-
lery is still mowing the rebels in the centre. Gen.
Crittenden's left wing has taken the entrenchments
at Murfreesborough. The Rebel Generals Cheatham
and Rains are killed.

Nashville, Friday, Jan. 3.

The Unionist° encountered the Rebels on the 30th
ult. near Stewart's Creek. After heavy skirmish-
inc, the rebels were driven back. We captured 100
prisoners and killed and wounded a large numoer
of rebels. Our loss was 70 killed and wounded.
At daybreak on the 31st the fight was renewed
with great fury. M'Coak's corps was opposed to
Hardee. After desperate fighting, with heavy loss
on both sides, M'Cook retreated two miles back. At
night he was four miles this side of the ground oc-
cupied in the morning. The fight continued until
10 o'clock p.m., at which time we had maintained
our position. The Union losses were heavy. The
following is a partial list of our casualties
Killed—Brigadier-General Sill; Lieut.-Colonel
Garesche, chief of General Rosecrans's staff; Bri-
gadier-Genera, Willick, of Indiand ; Col. Kill, 2d
Ohio; Col. Shaffer. Acting Brigadier-General; Col.
Farmer, 15th Kentucky; Col, Jones, 24th Ohio;
Lieut.-Colonel Cotton, 6th Kentucky ; Lieut. Jones,
39th Indiana; Major Carpenter, 19th Regulars;
Major Rosengarten, of Philadelphia ; Capt. Gar-

rett, 19th Illinois; Colonel Carpenter, 18th Wis-
consin ; and Lieut.-Colonel MiKee, 15th Wisconsin.
Wounded.—Brigadier-General E. M. Kirk, of
Illinois; Brigadier-General Wood, of Indiana ;
Brigadier-General Van Cleve, of Minnesota ; Col.
Cassole, of Ohio; Major-General Rousseau, of Ken-
tucky ; Lieutenant-Colonel Berry, sth Kentucky ;
Major Slemmer, 16th Regulars; Major King, 15th
Regulars; and many others.
The 21st, 25th, and 35th Illinois had lost two-
thirds, and the 15th and 38th Ohio one-third their
number. The 101st Ohio lost 125 men, the 38th
Indiana about the same number. The total killed
and wounded is estimated at 2,500. The rebel loss
exceeds ours. Gen. J. E. Rains was killed. Gen.
Cheatham was wounded and taken prisoner. We
have captured 500 prisoners. The fight was re-
newed at 3 a.m. on the Ist of January, and the
cannonading was heard at Nashville. At 10 a.m.
Wood's and Van Cleve's divisions were in Murfrees-
borough driving the enemy, who were in full re-
treat. Three hundred prisoners reached Nashville
at 6 p.m. on the Ist of January, inc►uding the fol-
lowing commissioned officers :—Major J. J. Frank-
lin, 30th Arkansas; Captain W. E. Johnson, 2d
Arkansas; Captain J. P. Eagle, 2d Arkansas;
Captain S. C. Stone, Ist Tennessee Cavalry. Many
buildings have been taken for hospital purposes.
Great numbers of wounded have been brought in
now. The river has fallen eighteen inches on the
shoals. The startling reports which reached here
about midnight, and caused considerable commo-
tion throughout the city, of the approach of For-
rest, from the direction of Salt River, with a large
body of cavalry, are entirely false.