The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-10 00:00:00

THE ' i'LVIL WAR IN AMERICA,

(F in the correspondent of the Times)
NEW YORK, Nov. 27.

It seem .)d fated that the national solemnities ob-
served bY the people of the United States should
this year: -be signalized by events propitious to their
cause, alai 1. the Americans are, naturally enough,
fain to s ee in the coincidence the best proof that
"Heave ais with them." The 4th of July brought
them e news of the victory at Gettysburg and the
surreni ler of Vicksburg. 'Thanksgiving Day, for
which the 26th of this month was appointed,
cheere d them with the tidings of " the splendid
victory of Grant's Grand Army," the capture of
5,000 to 10,000 prisoners and 40 pieces of artillery,
and the retreat and probable dispersion or sur-
render of Bragg's force."

As at Gettysburg, them was a moment, on the
sec and day of the battle, in which the Southerners,
by a timely movement, could have utterly crushed
their enemies; so an opportunity had equally offered
itself to Bragg, soon after Chickamauga, to echieve
the destruction of Roaencranz's army, had he taken
ad-vantage of the extremities to which the Federals
Were reduced, previous to the opening of their com-
ma nications at Bridgeport. After opening the
Teriaessee River for their benefit, the Northerners
have been undisturbed, preparing for that onset
which, in the course of a few days, was to drive
Bragg from a position which his own irresolution
and aluggishness had rendered untenable.
Alra,dy for several weeks the Southern papers
had thrown out broad hints that Lookout Moun-
tain must leai abandoned, and all the accounts
that reached us through deserters described the
state of Bragg's army as anything but encouraging.
We had , however, become very loth to believe, of h
mere
e
runawr iy stories, and the " demoralisation '
Confeelerate army had been too trite a themeonthe
part of the Northern press to deserve much atten-
tion. There seems little doubt, nevertheless, that
it wat i through deserters that General Grant ascer-
tained, on Sunday evening, that Bragg was in full
retmat. Roused by that report, the Federal COM-
mr‘raler in Chief ordered a reconnaissance in force on
tt Le Alonday,which was followed by a general engage.
anent on the Tuesday, and ended in the total defeat
of the Confederates on the Wednesday, The par-
ticulars you will have doubtless received before this
letter can be printed, through the telegraph. I would
only wish to observe that the battle occurred be-
tween an army which had been for weeks making
ready for a regular enslaught, and another army
caught in the midst of the hurry and confusion
inseparable from a retreat. The aim of Bragg was
to steal away, and the first discovery made by his
enemy was that he had sent his heavy artillery to
the rear. On the first day there was mere skirmish-
ing, the rifle pits were carried by storm, a few
sharpshooters were captured. The second day wit-
nessed a more deliberate attack on Lookout Moun-
tain, the occupation of a part of which led to the
abandoh:nent of the whole. Missionary ridge, which
`Pas stoutly defended on that same day, was given
up oa the following, and the retiring Southerner,
hopeless of farther resistance, only thought of mak-
ing good his retreat, by the destruction of bridges
and the burning of stores, provisions, &c.
That the fighting, except at one point on Mis-
sionary Ridge, was not of any great consequence,
We may bo tempted to infer from the small number
of ce.eual ties on either side, so far as we can make
Out from the reports which have hitherto reached
us. Gen. Grant gives no particulars of the killed and
viiaun 3erl, rank and file, but simply the names of
three ci.ficers killed and eight wounded, while the
prisoners taken from the enemy are variously com-
puted at 5,000, 6,000, and even 10,000, besides 40
to 60 pieces of artillery, 5,000 stand of small arms,
10 I,attie flags, &c. dad Bragg stood up for the
defence of so formidable a position as he held, oven
with a weakened army, and against widely superior
forces, he might have sold the victory to the enemy
at a far dearer price.
However comparatively easy and bloodless the

success of the Federals may be, it is not the less full
and signal, and of such an importance as to cast all
their forever achievements into the shade. Bragg
is said to have fallen back as far as Dalton. General
Thomas announced on 'Wednesday evening that he
ttvonld pursue the enemy in the morning. Hooker
was reported to have reached Ringgold, about 15
miles from Chattanooga, and the upshot of it all
was that the great position on Lookout Mountain
and Missionary Ridge was irreparably lost to the
Confederates, and that they had no great chance of
a safe resting place between Dalton and their basis
of operation at Atlanta. Can General Grant follow
tto his victory ? His army, we are told, has long
been on half rations; it is wanting in all supplies,
especially in means of transport. It is not im-
possible that this consideration, and the activity of
the Southerners in the destruction of roads and
bridges, may induce him to stop in mid career, and
put off the further advance into Georgia, and the
final subjugation of the South till next spring; but
in the meanwhile who can calculate the extent of
this his late success, and its results on the relative
position of the contending parties ? All the great
valley of Tennessee is, at last, in Federal hands.
The communication between Virginia and the
South-west, along that road, is lost to the Confede-
rates, past hope. Burnside's army at Knoxville is
released, and Longstreet, who was only yesterday
:I,e besieger, of whom Bragg wrote that " he held
eLtile roads leading into Knoxville, except the one
bt
'veen Holston and the French Broad Rivers,"
will have reason to thank his good fortune if he is
allowed
to oin Bragg before some of Grant's
Generaleatt
a
The k him in his rear or cut off his retreat.
been
gle'riotll threec or four days, meanwhile, have
Y fresh and bright, and the Army of
the Potomac,i
which people expectedhas would not
again move
duringe.avinter, because "King Mud
and tolerable roads before
it, and the order to "move forward" has been
quartsra
issued. The news of airito:
ytea,great doings had reached
Meade's head-
the
Soldiers..berfday morning, and had
spread among
desire
tore they set out, thril-
ling them with eager
Geo
neral
the valour
of teir Western comrades.
10,04
craal Lee is saidf to
have 36,000 infantry and
vastly inferior to that Which meadea cavalry—amuosrtceer
against him. His line extends along the south
bunk of the Rapidan, from White's
Ford to Mile
Run. President Davis was with Lee very latelm
y and
is perhaps still with him. A great „view
of the
Southern troops was held on Wednesday, when ue the
President addressed stirring words to that march.
enduring soldiery. Oa the other hand, the Federal
army is said to i 4 present a magnificent spectacle;„
It marched yesterday, at 8 o'clock in the morning, in
three columns. A battle was expected to come eat
at Germania Ford, but hitherto no action is reported.
No pea of mine can attempt to describe the exul-
tation of these Northern people on the arrival of the
gcand news from Chattanooga. The excitement
"
was great even hi this harum-searuat city
was yesterday wholly beat on the full enjoyment
of its holiday, and crowded theatres, saloons, and
tellers to such an extent that tens of thousands of
epectators and merrymakers beset the doors of all
those pieces of entertainment, vainly waiting for a
chance of admission. But in the more sober towns
of New England, in Philadelphia, in Washington,
the joy of the people rose to frenzy, and the bulle-
tins from the borders of Georgia were read in
almost all the churches by way of text to the ser-
-1110 °las. The news is great in itself, but the friends
of American Union exaggerate, if possible, its
et%nee, aad are ready to cry "Finnic Secesirel I"
A e despatch from General Grant is just in, in
which he
annoueces the " complete rout of the
seems," the
ground encumbered with waggons,
caissons, and oe .
camonai pieces of artillery ; 60 of
these latter, at
&rates. least,Generid bare been lost by the Confe
continue to Red ciaran.n t adds that the pursuit will
the morning, a place for
which he was about to at
art himself in a few hours
ed Ciay a small post-village *
B
in Whitefield
county, Georgia, a few miles •
In advance of
veryßiog-
near the Georna.
g l6 e and Tennessee boundary
line. It is about nr,le.s to the north of Dalton
a broach of the Eist iennese
and Georgia on
and its occupation cuts Off all probability
Rail-
way, probability of
- Bragg, were he
Longstreet an' to attempt to
fail back upon him. It is
difficult to estirntte to its
full extent the calamity which has befallen the
Southern arms. Bragg and the Confederacy are
not