The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-14 00:00:00

words among us. Every attack I) n Charleston has
hitherto met with ill success, an d if report speaks
truly the present attempt 'lofts n of seem likely to
fare much better than its predlet;essor9. The tenure
Of Vicksburg has been a ha rifer t'.atter, and all
eyes, American and EuTopean bar e been turned to
it with eager expectation. It 'viva' s felt that the key
of the Mississippi would not be sr arendered without
a struggle, and we had seen et iough of Southern
daring and determination to kr] ow that they would
not yield the struggle lightly. So it has proved, re-
duced to their last mule, decimi ,ted by the murderous
fire of the enemy, and 1 eart-sick with the
weariness of hope deferred, tl Le valiant little band
has yet contrived to deter d a fortress whose
strength has been greatly crver-estimated, and to
repulse a foe who had every means of success at his
command. A very interesting narrative of the for-
tunes of war, extendin3 from the opening struggle
to the capitulation of the town, has been given by
an officer who took part in the defence. He states
that the discrepancy between the forces was very
considerable. " Our land fron t works consisted of
one single line of earthworis, running along a
continuous ridge from a point about a mile and a
half above Vicksburg to about the same distance
below—the curve inland increasing the extent of
line from four to five miles in all. At short inter-
vals we had little redoubts or forts, in which light
artillery had been
placed, brit after the first and
second days' experience it became evident to every
one that they were rather an ,element of weakness
than otherwise. The enemy, who bad access to all
the appliances and improvements that science has
invented to carry on modern warfare, can boast
first-class guns, the best of ammunition, and mag-
nificent artillerymen." The defenders might well
mournfully compare the enemy's lavish expendi-
ture of ammunition with their own enforced caution,
for, at the time the siege was commenced, so scanty
was the store in Vicksburg that they had but ten
percussion caps per man ; a fortnight later they
were supplied by their own prowess and by couriers
frcin General JOHNSTONE, but the opportunity was
lost. The besiegers had availed themselves of the
ridges surrounding Vicksburg to entrench
themselves strongly ; and, by the
time I

that percussion caps were no longer
a matter of anxious consideration they had provided
themselves with shelter and protection. "At the
only time when we could have annoyed and delayed
their operations," says the writer, " we dared not
fire for want of ammunition." Even worse than
the scanty stock of the means of warfare, however,
was the slender supply of food. About the 35th
day provisions,grew very scarce, and anxiously did
the garrison watch for the relief that was never to
come. Mule meal was the common fare and even
dogs became in request. Bean meal was made into
coffee, long before hope was abandoned, and thus
under a scorching sun and surrounded by unburied
corpses the besieged still struggled on. For the
first two weeks General GRANT had made several
efforts to carry the place by storm, but having be-
come convinced of the hopelessness of such attempts,
after that time, he set about making regular ap-
proaches. By the 40th day his forces were at many
points within 15 feet of the enemy's works ; yet, al-
though the besiegers blew up several forts, and their
defenders with them, it was not their fate to storm
the city. General PEMBERTON, learning that the
long-hoped-for relief from General JOHNSTONE was
not forthcoming, and knowing that his famished
and wearied troops could not cut their way through
the opposing force, determined to capitulate.
Honourable terms were agreed upon, the army was
to be paroled and allowed to retire into the Confe-
deracy, and the officers were to march out with
horses, arms, and personal property. It must have
been with feelings of bitter regret that the brave
garrison surrendered the key of the Mississippi into
the hands of the enemy, after the heavy struggle,
the unflinching endurance, and the long-cherished
hopes of succour. The historian of the siege con-
soles himself by the reflection that, notwithstanding
the capture of Vicksburg, the navigation of the
river will still be so unsafe that neither passengers
nor freight will be able to travel by that route until
the navigation of the Mississippi is permitted by
the Confederates. He finds another source of satis-
faction in the courage and determination which
held the city for so long, and contrasts it with the
reckless manner in which the assault was conducted.
The old barbarity which has so often stained the
annals of Northern triumphs did not fail to show
itself here, and the utter absence of all chivalry and
humanity in their mode of conducting warfare is
painfully remarkable at the present day. The city
ties in a hollow, and as it contained neither troops
nor stores within its bounds, the place might, says
the writer we have referred to, have been just as
soon reduced if a shot had never fallen in its streets.
But Admiral PORTER thought fit to establish a
mortar battery opposite the town, and day and
night kept up a constant discharge of :3-inch shell
into the streets of the city. Many women and
children were killed, every street more or less
damaged, part of the city burnt, and worst of all the
hospitals suffered greatly. " Whether from chance or
intention I know not, but certain it is that the
yellow flag, ordinarily held so sacred in modern
war, has in this one been but the mark for the hot-
test and most deadly fire." Hundreds of sick and
wounded—Federals and Confederates alike—fell
victims to this barbarous mode of warfare, although
advantage was taken of occasional flags of truce to
represent the matter to the besieging authorities.
Such proceedings do the Northern cause more in-
jury than ten victorious sieges can do it good.
They produce a feeling of bitter indignation in
Southern minds, that disinclines them for peace or
compromise ; they call forth the reprobation of
every humane and civilised being. The North
American States have certainly the proud satisfac-
tion of having introduced several new features into
modern warfare, some of which, indeed, would seem
to have been learnt from the Indians who formerly
peopled their territories. Whatever may be the
result politically, it is certain that morally the ad-
vantage is with the besieged rather than the
besiegers ; and the writer of the narrative we have
been quoting speaks truly, when he says that the
defence will redound more to the credit of the
famished, ill-provided handful of 12,000 to 15,000
men, than the attack and reduction will do to the
130,000 assaniters, possessed of abundant supplies,
" with the most perfect artillery and ordnance that
a lavish expenditure and the most famous markets
of Europe could supply, and who for 48 days were
barred ingress by one thin line, and who only
entered at last with the consent of the garrison they
feared to assault."

ir no very decided change is proposed by the
Commissioners on " Transportation and Penal Ser-
vitude," at least they
have
offeredwill
doubtless se era
prove sugges-
tions o
which, if carried
out,f
essential service, It would been advisable
at once to introduce startlingstjo":"6 t
changesseda.nAd to
gradualmake
extensive alterations, a
infusion of new rules and regulations is the best,
especially in a case like that of a convict prison ;
otherwise the sudden move may cause the greatest
confusion, and even rouss the most lawless into a
state of sedition that may be difficult to quell. It is
obvious, then, that it is wise and prudent to weigh
the matter well, before beginning to remodel ;he