The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-18 00:00:00

THE SOUTHER-Li CONFEDE.EACY,

(From the limes Correspondent.)
IticamoND, June 7.

Once more have the shouts of the combatants and
the rear of their numerous artillery been heard in
the streets of Richmond, and by the calm and im-
perturbable President of the Confederacy himself.
Gnce more have the hills and valleys in front of
the Southern capital been stained with blood and
ploughed by cannon balls, and the night air made
hideous by the wail of the wounded and the groans
of the dying. For one month the armies of the North
and the South have been wrestling for the mastery
—been grappling each other in a death struggle.
During that brief period torrents of blood have
been spilt, and thousands of hearts have ceased to
beat for ever. And yet the Federal army, not-
withstanding it has been handled so roughly, has
marched with such rapidity, has made such nume-
rous and desperate assaults, and has lost so heavily,
is believed to be not one whit nearer to the
goal of its ambition than it was when it crossed the
Rapidan. True it is not so far from the Confedes
rate capital if you measure the distanee by miles or
leagues ; but if you measure it by the obstacles in
the way—the steady lines and glittering bayonets
of Lee's dauntless eeterans—the Federal com-
mander would seem to be as far back from the ac-
complishment of the object of his campaign as when
stood upon the red hills of Culpepper. Looking
back over the period which has elapsed since Grant
appointed army in motion,
put his large and well-
we are able to appreciate the merits of a campaign
which seems destined to end in disaster. The state-
ments of Northern newspapers, the admission of
officers who have been taken prisoners, and the ap
parent confidence of Grant himself, leave no doubt
that he fully expected when he crossed the Rapidan
and turned Lee's right flank that the latter would
retire upon Richmond, and that there would be a
race between them as to which should reach there
first. If such were his expectations he was con-
vinced of his error at the Wilderness and Spotsyle
vania Court House, where he found that the Con•
federates had not retreated upon the Capital, and
that he with his far outnumbering army was not
equal to the task of driving them out of his way.
The only alternative left him, therefore, was either
to abandon the undertaking or to imitate the crab,
end advance sideways. He adopted the latter plan,
and it must be confessed he has prosecuted it with
energy and success, since he has at the same time
both covered Washington and threatened Richmond.
In this way he has avoided the necessity of leaving
a considerable force in his rear to protect his capital
as APClellan did when he placed M'Dowell at Fre-
dericksburg in 1862 with a column of 40,000 men.
It had been wiser, however, if he had declined
battle at Spotsylvania and the Wilderness, since he
lost more men at those places than M'Dowell did
at Fredericksburg. Indeed if he had detached the
same force to cover the capital that M'Clellan did,
and had moved with the main body of his army
around to West Point by water, he might possibly
bave formed a junction subsequently with the de-
tached column—at all events he might have saved
the many thousand men who now sleep beneath
the soil of Virginia and crowd the fetid hospitals
of the North. It is only his advance that can be
characterised 68 having been prosecuted with vigour
and success. The plan of campaign itself is faulty
and unwise to the last degree as the result has shown,
Whatever his advisers may urge in extenuation, the
fact will remain that he might have reached his
present position without a battle or the loss of a
man.

On the Ist instant General Lee, suspecting Grant
would attempt to repeat what is known among
the Confederates as his " crab movement," began
to manoeuvre for position. Kershaw's and Hoke's
divisions of Anderson's Corps (the latter tempora-
rily attached to the corps) were sent to the right to
the old battle-fields of Gaines Hill and Cold Har-
hour, with orders to occupy the eminences in that
quarter. They attacked the enemy in the front,
and drove them to their intrenchments. Breckin-
ridge and Mahone of Hill's Corps were equally
successful in gaining certain advantageous positions.
In the afternoon the enemy attacked Heti], and were
repulsed by Cooke's and Kirkland's brigades, also
of Hill's Corps. In the meantime a force of infan-
try was pushed from the Whitehouse up to Tuns-
tall's station on the York River Railway, on the
Confederate right. It has since been ascertained
that this force constituted a part of Butler's army,
the greater part of which has already joined Grant.
On the morning of the 2d it was discovered that
Grant had edged away to the right, as Lee had
suspected he would do. He had not gone far,
however, for Lee hugged his lines too closely
for him to move except under cover of darkness.
The Confederates were put in motion on a parallel
line, while Early, commanding Ewell's corps (Ewell
being sick) swung round late in the afternoon and
took the enemy in flank, drove him from two lines
of intrenchments, took 700 prisoners, and inflicted a
heavy loss in killed and wounded, his own loss being
trifling. Gordon, who has been made a major.
general for his gallantry at the Wilderness and
Spotsylvania, was conspicuous for good behaviour
on this occasion. Night put a stop to the conflict.
Meanwhile Breckenridge, supported by Willcox,
proceeded under orders to attack the enemy on
Turkey Hill on the extreme right, and drove him
from it after a sharp contest, thus securing a strong
and important position which the Federals had al•
ready occupied. This hill commands the approaches
from the north and east to the military bridges
which M'Ciellan threw over the Chickahominy. It
was evident that Grant was aiming for :these
bridges; consequently Gen. Lee continued to move
his army to the right on the evening of the 2d, until
he had thrown it right across Grant's path, where
the latter supposed he had comparatively a small
force.

Great must have been Grant's surprise therefore,
at half-past 4 o'clock on the morning of the 3d,
when he moved against the Confederates, to find
them in greater force where he expected to find
them weakest, and standing firmly up to their work
behind some rude breastworks which they had
thrown up the preceding night. His assault ex-
tended along the entire line, except on the extreme
right, and was everywhere repulsed with heavy
less. It was not repeated on the left until near the
close of the battle, when it was again repulsed. The
chief attack was made upon Kershaw's, Field's, and
Hoke's divisions of Anderson's corps in the centre,
and upon Breckenridge's and Mahone's divisions
of Hill's corps next on their right, the heaviest
and most determined assaults being directed against
Kershaw and Hoke and the left of Breckenridge.
in many respects the battle was a repetition of
that of the 12th of May at Spotsylvania Courts
house. While he kept up a threatening attitude
along the whole line, Grant massed a very heavy
force and hurled it again and again with tremendous
violence against a single point. For a few minutes
he broke over the breastworks at a salient on Brack-
inridge's left, and captured three guns—but, in leas
time than it takes me to narrate the circumstances,
General Finnegan rushed into the breach with his
Floridians, and swept the enemy out, retook the
guns which they had just finished loading, and
turned them upon their flying
columns. Seven dif-
ferent assaults were
made against Kershaw's front,
each one of which, as were all those made against
Field, Hoke, and Breckiuridge, was repulsed with
a slaughter that has no parallel in the war except
at Spotsyleania. It is true that each succeeding
assault was feebler than the one that
eprczatdad it ;
but the Federals came near enough a
the Confederate marksmen to cut them aamw: for
the
wide blue swathes stretching far across the i
The slaughter was sufficient, one would think, to
satisfy even Grant's thirst for blood. The battle
raged with great violence until half-past 10 o'clock
a,_i„t five hours—when the Federals retired
beaten at all points, and took shelter behind their
intrenchuients near at hand.
Bat few prisoners were lost or taken by either
side. The loss sustained by Grant in killed and
wounded is estimated at 15,000 men. The loss sus-
tained by the Confederates does not reach 1,000.
At first I was disposed to discredit the latter re-
port, but a visit to the hospitals, to the medical
chiefs of divisions and corns, and the medical direc-
tor of the army, has removed all doubt. The testi-
mony of officers in the trenches is confirmatory of
the reports derived from medical men. Brigediere

General Law, who received a painful though not
dangerous wound over the eye, states that up to
the time he was wounded-9 a.m.—but three men
in his entire brigade had been hurt, including him.
self.

No people were ever more thoron3h'y in earnest
than the people of these States. The schools
have all been closed except for boys and girls
of tender years ; women who have been delicately
reared willingly forego the luxuries and comforts
to which they have been accustomed all their lives,
and give up their linen and silks for the coarse fabrics
produced by the looms of the country; they perform
the postal service in many parts of the country, and
may be found at the wayside "homes," the hospitals,
the sewing establishments, end, indeed, wherever
there is work to be done or suffering to be assuaged.
Wealthy planters and thrifty merchants and bankers
gladly take their places in the trenches, and bear
all the fatigue of the campaigns equally with the
poorest ; ministers vacate their pulpits to preach in
the woods and fields, and grayhaired fathers send
their sons to the camp and take their places at the
handles of the plough. And now, when the army
/4 engaged in a mortal struggle with a multitudinous
foe, pious people everywhere, of every sex and con-
dition, in public meeting and private devotions, offer
prayers day and night without ceasing for the suc•
cess of the cause and the safety of their loved ones.
Can such a people be conquered ? Ought such a
people to be subjugated ? Even boys of 14 and 15
years of age run away from their parents to join the
army.

And what are the horrors from which these
people are striving to escape? The inhabitants re-
siding on either bank of the lower waters of James
River had already suffered all the evils which
usually follow in the bloody track of civil war, but
it has been reserved for General Butler to impose
new burdens and practise additional barbarities.
In some instances the men have been shot down
by drunken black soldiers or scourged to death, and
then nailed to trees and gate-posts, and their
neighbours, for asking permission to inter their re-
mains, have been forced from their homes and
transported to distant prisons. Where the men have
been made to suffer thus, the reader may imagine,
though I shall not attempt to depict the unmention-
able horrors to which women have been subjected,
and under which they have actually perished!
Meanwhile, the world looks on with folded hands,
and grave European statesmen even desire the suc-
cess of the party one of whose trusted officers is this
wretch Butler !

Grant renewed his attack on the nights of the 3d
and 4th, and again oa the night of the sth, but
without result ; each assault was repulsed with
heavy loss to himself, and but little to the Confede-
rates. During the night of the sth he retired his
right wing about two miles, and placed it behind a
swamp, which protects both the flank and front of this
wing of his army. Not content with this security, he
has thrown up strong intrenchments around his
flanks and along his entire front. It should have been
stated before that the battle of the 3d was fought
upon the same ground as the battles of Gaines' Mill
and Cold Harbour in 1862. It was at Gold Harbour
that Jackson first struck M'Clellan's flank and rear
in his first grand flank movement, a fact well-known
to the confederates, and from which they drew
fresh inspiration. The position of the armies was
reversed in some respects, the Federals occupy-
ing nearly the same ground the Confederates
held in 1862. In the engagements of that year
at Gaines' Mill and Cold Harbour, M'Clelian,
though strongly intrenched, was driven from his
position with heavy loss. Thus far Grant has found
it impossible to dislodge the Confederates from the
same ground. The latter availed themselves upon
some parts of the field of the works from which they
formerly drove .111`Clellan.
Among the killed on the Confederate side are
Brigadier-General Doles, of Georgia ; Colonel L. M.
Keitt, of South Carolina, formerly a distinguished
member of the United States House of Representa-
tives, and Colonel Edwin Willis, of Georgia, a late
graduate of West Point, and one of the most pro.
mising officers in the Confederate army. Among
the wounded are Brigadier-General Law, of Ala-
bama, Kirkland of Georgia, and Lane of North
Carolina, the two first slightly. Major-General
Breeksuriage had his horse killed under him in the
night attack of the 4th.
On the evening of the 5% General Grant sent a
communication to General Lee, proposing that
when the armies were not actually engaged either
party may, upon notification to the other, succour
its wounded and bury its dead. General Lee re.
plied that he preferred the custom common on such
occasions—to wit, that the party desiring to remove
its wounded and inter its deed should send in a flag
of truce, and ask permission to do so, adding that
the burial party should be accompanied by white
flags. To this Grant rejoined, affecting to under.
stand General Lee as accepting his proposition, and
informing him that he would send forward a force
between the hours of 12 and 3 o'clock p.m. of the
6th, to care for the wounded and killed, and that
they would be instructed to carry flags of the kind
designated by General Lee. The latter immediately
informed him that he had misunderstood him, and
that if he, Grant, would send out a party for the
purpose indicated without first obtaining permission
under flag of truce to do so, he would cause the
party to be warned cff by his pickets. 1 am not
informLd whether any further communication has
been received from Grant. His dead and many of
his wounded still remain in front of the Confederate
intrenchments, the one poisoning the air by their
stench, and the other vexing it by their cries for
help. The Confederate cannot discharge the duties
of humanity on account of the fire of the Federal
sharpshooters, and Grant is unwilling to solicit per-
enission to do it, since it would imply his defeat.
' Thousands of his dead were left unburied at the
Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court-house for the
same reason.

understand that Grant has mace the
usual request for permission to bury his dead, and
that Lee has granted it.

THE MURDER OF MR BRlGGS.—Explained by
an imaginary confession in the Spectator ;—" Yes,
it is all true as you say, and my name is Herman ----
Swiss, of a German Canton, and I will tell you all about it.
I was at Bow, on the station, and I saw this old gentleman,
and I wanted money much, very much. No, I aai not a
thief, but I wanted money very much, and the old gentle-
man took out his watch, and I saw his bag, and I thought
how pleasant it would be to take both, and as I was taking
my seat I saw him get into a carriage alone, and I got out
and went to his carriage, and sat opposite him. He sat in
his corner and dozed. I thought I would take his watch, and
to prevent his crying out I would stun hint, so I dropped my
glove, and he stooped kindly enough co pick it up, and 'nit
him on the back of his skull with a little life-P:eservor I
carry, and snatched the mach. But the blQw was not hard
enough, and he revives and looked at me, and said he should
know me again, and. I thought of a prison, and hit him agaia,
and again, till the blood spurted all over me, and he lay
dead. Then I got horribly frightened, and thought only
how to get rid of his body, and I seized him and stretched
out my hand over the door, and opened the handle, making
it all bloody, and lifted him up, and struck my knee for-
ward and threw him on to the next set of rails, thinking all
in a moment the next train would run over him, I was in
a dreadful fright, and did not search him or take off his
diamond ring 2—how was I to take his ring with the hand
so clutched with the pain— but when he was gone I triad to
open his leather bar, and made it bloody, but it was
empty. Then I looked out, and the body was not
on the rails but between them, and I looked in and saw the
blood on the cushion and the matting, and I got still more
frightened, and when the train reached Hackney I jumped
out, and the porter was looking for sixpences, and the ticket
man worried by people passing him, and I ran down the ema
bankment in the dark, and buttoned my coat over the bloody
shirt, and pat on my gloves over my bloody hands, and got
safe away. Next day I wanted to get rid of the watch and
chain, for 1 wanted money very much, but I thought every
would be visited, and being a foreigner I
receivers, so I went to Mr Death's and
changed the chain, and took another and an old ring with a
did
notpawnbroker's
know shopany
head on it. I didn't want that, but I was afraid to resist too
much, so' took it and stood in the shadow, and walked away
rapidly. No, nobody assisted me, for lam not English, and
I didn't want to murder the man. No, I don't regret it
very much, I wanted money so much, and he threatened
me. Why did I pitch out the body ? Because I was in a
fright, and it was almost dark. Why did I try for the watch
before we reached the station? Because I thought if I
stunned him I could, say he was in a fit, and slip away
quietly in the confusion, and you see afterwards I hadn't
many wits, the blood frightened me so: How did I know
that region so well? I didn't know it, but I wanted to
avoid the door, and so I jumped down there, and got away.
Yes, I took his hat in my fright, and should have taken his
money, only I had no time, and I thought his leather bag
was sure to have money,"