The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-16 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

Davis and the Southern people maintain that
they can carry on the war against all the force
(From the Times' Correspondent.) which the North can oppose, they will throw them-
NEW YORK; Jan. 27. selves on the side of the South. The subject is
The beginning of the end draws near. There is a keenly debated among them, together wi h the cog-
break up of the ice. The debacle has commenced. nate questions of Five Trade and the T.riff. Chica-
There are sounds under the frozen waters that in- go, by the voice of a public meeting, declares that
form prudent men of the coming peril, and warn Mr. Lincoln (of Illinois) has neither "back bone nor
them to get out of the way. The unloosened stream , grit," and that if the war is to be prosecuted for the
is about to burst from its winter bondage; and if it extermination of the Southern people the cowards
overflow the banks, carry away the bridges, and of the army must undertake the job, for the brave
submerge the farms and tenements within a wide men will not do it. The Chicago Tribune declares
district on either side, no one ought to be surprised that "if in the changes and reorganisation that are
at the outbreak. Tae patience of the people is well possible it is necessary for the West to choose where
nigh exhausted. They have long been disgusted she will go, she may not become an appendage
with the war and the Administration. The disgust either of the middle States or of the South, but may
has communicated itself to the army. Confidence declare her independence of both ; and in the heart
exists nowhere. Even the Exterminators and the of the continent, the possessor of the finest soil and
Abolitionists have begun to despair of their cause, the best climate in the hemisphere, with more than
their President, and themselves, and see before 10,000,000 of people, and the prospect of a rapid in-
them not only the dismemberment of the Union crease, may organise an empire that will dominate
into North and South, but into a third Republic of over all other sections of the republic." Indiana is
the West, accompanied by the utter prostration of equally dissatisfied, and swarms with democrats,
credit, if not by a crowning act of national bank- who make no secret of their enmity to the Federal
ruptcy. Government and their sympathy with the South.

The recent failure of the army of the Potomac has I
brought matters to this crisis. After floundering
in the peculiarly tenacious mud of Virginia for a
few hours, General Burnside resolved to lead his
dispirited and insubordinate army to the attack,
unaccompanied by the artillery, which he found it
impossible to move, arguing that the storms which
had done him so much damage had done as much to
the enemy, and that if they could fight without
cannon so could he. At the council of war called
to consider the matter General Burnside found none
to agree with him. Hesitating under such circum-
stances—as well he might—to assume the respon-
sibility of continuing a movement so inauspiciously
begun, to certain to be inefficiently supported by his
reluctant subordinates, and so likely to lead to the
capture or annihilation of the whole force, he re-
signed himself to his fate, countermanded the move-
meat, left his horses, his waggons, and his guns in
the mud, marched his troops back to their old can-
tonments, and proceeded to Washington, determined
to resign his command. The President did not wish
to accept the resignation, but General Burnside was
peremptory and would listen to no advice or per-
suasion. The result was that on Saturday morning
he ceased to be commander of the Army of the
Potomac ; and that General Hooker, the " fighting
Joe" of the soldiers, was appointed to his place. For
some reasons not yet explained—perhaps from the
appointment of a junior over their heads, perhaps
from disapprobation of the unconstitutional acts of
the Government, perhaps from dissatisfaction with
the continued interference of the President with mi •
litary matters, which he does not understand, and
perhaps from despair of achieving any good with the
Army of the Potomac, Generals Sumner and Frank-
lin—old, experienced, and trusted soldiers—have
also resigned. The distrust and demoralisation are
widely spread. Mr. Raymond, of the New York
Times, reports that in a visit to the camp, amid the
exciting scenes of last week, he heard of one corps
of 15,000 men, which, on arriving to take part in
General Burnside's projected movement was found
to number but 5,000. In other words, the remaining
10,000 had severed their connection with the Army
of the Potomac by the simple act of desertion. At
the present time this once noble army is little better
than a mob. Whatever patriotism may have once in-

There is naturally much disquietude in Washington,
when such facts as these and many others not pro-
mulgated to the public are made known to the Ad-
ministration by its avowed friends or secret agents;
and hence arises some portion of the frantic desire
of the Federal Government that a bold stroke
should immediately be made on the Mississippi.
The Southern Government knows well what is in-
tended; and in his recent tour in the south-west
Mr. Jefferson Davis took especial pains to impress
upon the people the paramount importance of de-
fending to the last extremity both Vicksburg and
Port Hudson. Under the pressure of this idea the
Federal Government is prepared, especially after
the failure of B urnside's movement, to allow the war
to languish for a while in Virginia. Gen. Halleek
and others speak of the possession of Richmond as
if it were not worth further effort ; and even go so
far as to express the opinion that the army of the
Potomac should be sent to Vicksburg to co-operate
in the reduction of that fortress. The rise of the
waters in all the navigable rivers that flow into the
Mississippi and the Ohio renders available the great
naval resources of the North, and points to a spring
campaign, in which the Federal Government will
put forth its whole strength to regain the wanting
confidence of the Western and North-Western
States by the conquest and control of the Missis-
sippi. Vicksburg, therefore, and not Richmond,
promises to be the Armageddon of the war. The
only obstacle to the abandonment of the campaign
in Virginia is the danger that would threaten Wash-
ington if any large portion of the army of the Poto-
mac were withdrawn—a danger that seems to be
ever present to Mr. Lincoln's mind, and on which
it is difficult, if not impossible, to reassure him. He
cannot forget either Stonewall Jackson or General
Stuart, or the possibilities of evil that may wait
upon their separate or combined daring. He can-
not, for dignity's sake, abandon Washington and
take refuge in New York, and has no inclination to
be carried as a captive to Richmond, to experience
the fate of John Brown, of Ossawattomie, so re-
nowned in the songs of the Massachusetts Volun-
teers, and in the execration of the South. As the
only alternative he insists upon the safety of Wash-
ington, and keeps two armies to secure it.
Mr. Simon Cameron, ex-Secretary of War, seems

spired it has oozed or been beaten out of it. The to have stuck as deeply in the mud as the army of
discouragement began by the removal of General the Potomac. He is involved in a score—or perhaps
M'Clellan, was followed by the proclamation of thrice a score of lawsuits commenced against him
emancipation, and lastly by the non-receipt of its by persons whom he wrongfully ordered to be im-
long overdue pay and allowances. Under these com- prisoned in Forts Lafayette and Warren ; and,
bined agencies officers and soldiers alike have lost having ,left his embassy at St. Petersburg, to mix
faith in the influences which affect to control them, himself up in the local politics of Pennsylvania,
and, if something be not immediately done to restore with the view of being elected to the Senate of the
it to obedience and reanimate it with faith as well United States, he has been ignominiously defeated
as courage, the army will not survive the winter. It and rejected. Bat this is not the worst part of his
is not only melting away, but what remains of it manifold distresses and humiliations. AR unscru-
cannot again be brought up to the fighting point— pulous member of the legislature of Pennsylvania,
not if M'Clellan himself were to take command of named Boyer, having heard, or had reason to sus-
it. Mr. Raymond states to-day, and puts his signa- spect some days prior to the election, that Mr.
tune to the allegation, that " the officers are demo- Cameron was Hot only willing but anxious to bribe
ralised in every sense of the word, and that they are any one who would vote for him, and knowing more-
a source of discouragement, discontent, and die- over, that one vote was all that was required to turn
heartenment to the soldiers," and does not hesitate the scale in the ex-Minister's favour, treacherously
to add that " the failure of General Burnside's move- and maliciously placed himself in the way of receiv-
ment was not so much owing to the storm and the ing an offer that he might betray the offerer. In order
mud as primarily and mainly to the insubordina- that he might not afterwards be accused of having
tion of the generals, who, in the presence of infe- had a real hankering after the money, he previ-
rior officers, of newspaper reporters, and of all who ously communicated his plot to several of his col-
chose to listen, denounced the movement before it leagues in:the Legislature. This done, he commenced
took place and while it was in progress." Yesterday operations. The trap was set and baited, and Mr.
the special correspondent of the World, writing be- Cameron began to nibble. A person in the ex-
fore General Burnside's resignation was known, Minister's confidence sought an interview with the
declared that the troops had lost their confidence, corruptible legislator, and, after a little dexterious
and that the soldier no longer thought it an honour dalliance, made him an offer of 5,000 dols. for his
to belong to the Army of the Pomtomac. Such facts vote. The sum was rejected as not sufficient to repay
as these have long been whispered in private, but the risk or gild the disgrace, and the negotiator
the newspapers hesitated to give them publicity withdrew. On the following day Mr. Cameron
lest they should be accused of treason, and lest Mr. himself appeared on the scene, and doubled the
Stanton, in a sudden fit of renewed activity, should bribe. Mr. Boyer, however, was not to be purchased
have revived for the especial behoof of their editors at so cheap a rate ; and in subsequent interviews
and correspondents the ancient, but not altogether the premium on his virtue advanced in successive
unexploded, terrors of Forts Lafayette and Warren. and easy leaps to fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five
Now they are blazoned abroad in every sheet that thousand dollars. At the latter point it rested, Mr.
is published, and read by camp fires in the mud and Cameron being unable or unwilling to bid any higher.
rain, increasing the dissatisfaction which they nar- The bargaiu finally closed at 25,000 dollars, and a
rate, and flattering insubordination and mutiny deposit of one-fifth was offered in proof of the
with the polite euphonisms of patriotism and public validity of the transaction, the remainder to be paid
spirit. on the day of Mr. Cameron's election. Mr. Boyer,
Scarcely anyone anticipates that General Hooker however, refused to touch the money, and in due
will be able to make anything of the instrument on time recorded his vote against Mr. Cameron, who
which it is his ill-fortune to be called upon to play, thereby lost his election. Mr. Boyer has published
Wall-street certainly is not of opinion that he will in the Philadelphia journals a long statement, of
draw much melody out of it. He may strike up a which the above are the principal points, and has
bold and martial strain, but the pipe is out of tune offered to substantiate them upon oath. A com-
and will never discourse the music of victory, how- mittee of the Lower House of the Pennsylvanian
ever lustily he may blow. The news of Burnside's Legislature bee been appointed to investigate
mishap sent gold up to 501; his resignation sent it the matter, with power to call upon both parties
to 52; and te-day the general aspect of affairs and to give evidence before it; and until their
the all but hopeless condition of the army 'which was decision be rendered the President is urged not to
once the pride of the republic have raised it to the permit Mr. Cameron to return to St. Petersburg.
alarming figure of 55. People ask what is to be done,
.This is clearly a case of Greek against Greek. No
and no one can answer. Were there a general who one will have much sympathy with Mr. Cameron
had pluck and audacity enough to put himself at the if the case be proved against him, as it promises to
head of the still considerable number of the army be—but quite as certainly no one will have any
which is fretting, fuming, and mouldering away on with Mr. Boyer. Detestation of the acts of the
the bank of the Rappahannock, and march, not to criminal does not necessarily cause the spectator of
Richmond, but to Washington, to re-enact the part the punishment to have any fellow-feeling for Jack
of Cromwell or Napoleon, there is little doubt that Ketch who officiates, the more especially if Jack
the people would wish him God speed, and rally to be a volunteer, and ties the noose and lets fall the
his standard as the forlorn hope of the Republic drop out of sheer love of the ungentlemanly office.
But there is no such man. Or, if there be, he has Political corruption is bad, but it is scarcely worse
lost his chance. The noblest ship of modern times than political treachery, It will surprise no one if
—the American Republic—is drifting against the some other person than Mr. Cameron be deputed
rocks for want of a captain and a pilot—almost to represent the Federal Government at the Court
certain', if she do not founder, to split herself into of the Czar, and if Mr. Boyer be rejected the next
scandalise
surprise
pieces against obstructions which the most ordinary time
it will assuredlyeheoffer
offers himself
both mse lf fora seat in theand Legislature;
seamanship would have enabled her to avoid. but
Nor is it only the disheartening failure of the the public, should the case be proved, if Mr. Lin-
Army of the Potomac and the universal distrust coin persist after such an exposure in nominating
with which the policy of the administration and the Mr. Cameron to any office of trust or emolument ;
personal action of Mr. Lincoln are regarded that least of all to an embassy. -
inspire alarm. The West is becoming clamorous, if The recent turmoil andexcitement in Albany
oat rebellious. To such an extent has the discontent consequent upon the election of Speaker of the
been,, carried that the jocular President, the hilarious Reuse of Assembly have created considerable
secretary of State, the somnolent Secretary of the scandal. Mr. Callicott, the successful candidate,
Navy, and the whole personnel of the Administra- was originally a Democrat ; and it is alleged that
lion and the Senate are for the first time seriously he corruptly sold himself to the opposite
party.
alarmed. The rough and ready population of the Hence the hubbub of the past fortnight in the legis-
Western and North Western regions declare that lative capital. As parties are very easily ba-
they are fighting and have fought for the Union, lanced, and the Speaker will probably have the
bee Luse they were of opinion that the free naviga- casting vote in the election of a Senator for
ties of tho Mississippi could beat be secured and New York to the Federal Congress, which
by the restoration of the
perpetuated
Republic one is to take place next week, the struggle was
arid indivisible.
Theydeny that they have ever of more than usual importance, involving not only
intend to fight for the abolition of slave
fought or re'. the triumph of the Republicans in the compare-
They have no sympathy with the negro, either free tively small matter of the S k li. but in the
. pea ers ip,
or enslaved. They deny him access to their lands far greater question of the Senatorship. Were the
They think that his proper
and all political rights. Senator elected by universal suffrage, as the repre-
place and sugar fields of the sentati
is in the cotton, rice, vea are, there is no doubt that the Democrats
status is slavery. The would
South, and that his proper carry their man by a large majority—hut
edict of emancipation, inopera
thee as it has
Government. 1 elected by a been,ent Legislature in which both parties are
has made them bitterly hostile to the _
e.
li
1 .. so nearly equal thati one vote may decide the issue,
which issued it, and has set them calculating; whfight s notBUrptiain-
g that the Democratic made an ob-
they the freedom of the Mississippi is likely to be I, stinate on the Speakership, though it is to be
regretted that they ex • ' most speedily assured under the auspices of the press their disgust at the con-
Southern or the Northern Federation. If they once duct of the renegade member of their party in terms
decide that the Northern Government is not in a which areneitherParliamentary,e" gentlemanlike.
position to open up that great artery of internal Another little circumstance, which has excited
commerce, and allow them to discharge the contents some commotion during the week, deserves men-
of their overflowing granaries intothe hengry cities tion, even amid the greater affairs of the war, as
sled plantations of the cotton-producing States in showing the strength of the principle of C
atates'
less than the 20 years during which Mr. Jefferson rights, which the Federal party affects to ignore,