The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENEN

by the watch had a new wheel and axle, got the car
shifted, the mail train on a side track, and the
Presidential convoy, with colours flying, once more
dashing along the banks of the Tennessee.
" A live President is still something of a curiosity
in Tennessee, notwithstanding she has been visited
by many, and her own sacred soil is to day the
resting-place of a Jackson and a Polk. It may
not be out of place here to attempt a description
of the personnel of so important a personage as
the President of the Southern Confederacy. Mr.
Davis is a man rather above the middle stature ;
of slight but well-proportioned figure; features de-
cidedly handsome for a middle-aged gentleman, and
wearing a perpetual expression of good humour; of
exceedingly pleasing address and graceful manners,
and not without a certain senatorial dignity which
sits well upon him. His head is slightly sprinkled
with gray and his whiskers are gray, yet he is a
younger man in appearance and in feelings than we
had conceived him to be ; his voice soft and per-
suasive, yet distinct and full-toned, and he is in the
habit of speaking occasionally an exceeding good
thing in a most quiet, accidental sort of way. His
dress was plain and unassuming, and his baggage
limited to a single leathern valise, with the initials
J. D.' marked upon the side. Attended by one
body servant alone his mode of travel was without
ostentation or parade, and I could not help contrast-
ing the President of the young Confederacy, tra-
velling securely as a citizen and incognito from one
extremity of his native Southern land to the other
without even so much as a bodyguard, with the
miserable despot of Abolition dom caracoling through
the streets of Washington with a file of armed dra-
goons each side of his coach of state, and in constant
apprehension of the assassin's dagger in his own
capital. The President seemed much interested in
the wild mountain scenery along the route, and his
occasional allusions to the various scenes and objects
of historical interest proved his familiarity with
the geography of Tennessee to be equal to his culti-
vated appreciation of the beauty of her mountains
and streams. He expressed himself as much
satisfied with the general appearance of the coun-
try. His reception of his fellow•citizens of Ten-
nessee at the different stations was exceedingly
cordial and hearty, and crowds of soldiers
and citizens gathered around the window of the
carriage where he sat whenever the train stopped,
and proved conclusively how impossible a thing it
is for a great man to travel incognito through as
inquisitive a country as ours.
" The train reached Bridgeport at midday. The
carriage bearing the President and party was de-
tached from the locomotive, and shifted from terra
firma to the deck of a barge prepared for that pur-
pose under the attentive supervision of Superinten-
dent Cole, and in less time than it takes to tell of it
was floating on the Tennessee, and towed across to the
opposite bank to the accompaniment of rolling drums
and reverberating cannon. The battery of the
Washington Artillery fired a salute of 13 guns in
honour of the distinguished visitor. President
Davis dismounted frem the car as soon as the oppo-
site bank of the river was reached, and walked up
to the head-quarters of General Jackson, command-
ant of the post at Bridgeport. The guard came to
a present arms 'as he approached, and he grace-
fully acknowledged the salute by lifting his hat,
and then passed on. The party remained a few
moments at Bridgeport, until the train was got in
readiness, and then proceeded on to Dechered sta-
tion, where the President and his compagnons de
voyage stopped a short time for dinner; after which
interesting event they were en route once more for
Murfreesborough.
"Night came on. The puff! puff! of the steam-
engine, the jarring roll of the wheels, the flying
mmets of sparks scattering far behind a train of
smoke and fire, which curled above the fertile
valleys and cornfields of Middle Tennessee, aLd
rolled off into the dim hollow and dismal glen, to
mingle with blendid wreaths from farming-houses
and camp fires. The occasional roll of drum from
wayside depots told that we were nearing the heart
of the great western campaign and approaching the
central rendezvous, the city of Murfreesborough. At
last, between the vista of a pair of meadow-crowned
hills the glimmering lights of the town uprose
twinkling through the mist, while innumerable re-
flections on the inky blue above copse and tree-top
pointed out the long circular line of tenting spread
around about the old burgh. Toot ! toot ! shrieked
the whistle, dingleling rung the bell. Then a long
plaintive shriek on down grade. Then a jerk, and
here we are in among the depot-houses, and soldiers,
and citizens, and the motley assemblage of dogs,
donkeys, carts and carriages, and hackmen and
lackeys, and porters, and the homogeneous assem-
blage of humanity which most does congregate about
a railway depot.
" The next day, Saturday, the grand review of the
troops by the President took place. Perhaps a more
imposing spectacle than that review has not been wit-
nessed in America since the war began. The Rebel's
correspondent was apprised of the important event
through a general order which circulated through
the camps the night before. And as I happened on
that night to be the guest of the gallant young field
officers of the 'Old 20th Tennessee,' I was ' posted'
as to coming events, and was among the first on
the field of review the next morning. The sun rose
gorgeously above the spires of the city, and sabres
and bayonets glittered in every direction as the
regiments of the first division for review filed into
the open area selected for the ceremony. The re-
view took place in an open plain, on the road lead-
ing to Shelbyville, about one mile from Murfrees
borough. An immense concourse of people
assembled to witness it, and the elite of the beauty
and fashion of old Rutherford and the surrounding
country was fairly represented in the graceful per-
sons of many of the fairest of the daughters of the
old volunteer State. The outskirts of the plain
were bordered with people of all ages and costume,
horses and vehicles of every description presenting
altogether a scene of bustle and excitement that re-
minded one of England's racecourse on a Derby-day,
while the lines of infantry, with waving banners
and gleaming bayonets, the superbly mounted
cavalry and gaily caparisoned chargers, together
with the generals and their respective corps of staff
officers and outriders, on mettled steeds, with rich
housings and trappings, revived old and pleasant
reminiscences of the Champ de Mars, and suggested

vivid pictures of the glorious time of the First

Napoleon. The lines were forming, and I was
looking about me fcr a safe place of observation for
a quiet citizen observer and reporter,' when an
incident occurred to me. You have heard of the
Oracles of Delphi. You have heard of the mystic
temple, the hazy-depthe thereabouts, and the sup-
posed god who held his habitation within these dim
shadows. Well, the whole thing was nothing to
the sight that broke upon me at this moment. A
noise of clattering hoofs was heard to the right—l
suddenly turned my eyes in time to behold a great
cloud of dust approaching, from which issued the
forms of riding men vaguely. For a moment more
the dust cleared away. I look again and I see a
charger, the most superbof charger kind, splendidly
equipped. A. soldier sits upon him, and every inch
a soldier. Dark locks of hair,

" ' In gloss and hue th© chesnut when the shell
Dividos its folds to show the fruit within,'
and yet faintly flecked with tiny sprays of silver
white. A face full and oval ; eyes large and lumi-
nous with life and thought; a small mouth, over-
shadowed by a moustache of amber colour ; a com-
plexion clear and roseate; and a form as finished,
compact, anti symmetrically rounded as an Apollo.
A full suit of Confederate gray set off the figure and

completed the imposing presence of the rider. It
was Breckinridge. I never saw him look so grandly,

except on one occasion. That occasion was upon
the memorable field of Shiloh, amid the smoke and

heat of a great conflict, surrounded by A perfect ring
of flame, through whose fiery folds ho passed as
harmless as the favoured children in the fiery fur-

ble
picture. He was mon General in that memora
nace. I must be pardoned for dwelling upon his
Mississippi campaign, and I have an honest part'.
ality for him above the rest. He was not the only
distinguished personage, however, that composed
the Presidential cortege of that review morning.
There was Bragg, the veteran of grapeshot memory
—Braxton Bragg, to whose ear the belching of a
howitzer is sweetest music, and to whose sight no-
thing is more refreshing than a charge of Southern

bayonets against the enemies of his country. He
was the picture of a soldier, and sat his horse like a
tourney knight. Then here is another veteran. Do
you see that old man yonder—sunburnt, brawny,
stout limbed ? Vigour displays itself in every
muscle—activity in every movement. An old man
truly, but a brave, bold, young old man. Big fea-
tures, frank open face, rubicund health. An eye
like Mars to threaten and command, but to love
also. A loving old man and a soldier, albeit a
bishop. Yes, a bishop, a bona fide bishop, and a
lieutenant-general to boot. His Right Rev, and
Lieutenant-Generalship Leonidas Polk. Here's a
health to him. And here is General Hardee, whose
excellent textbook of tactics was the bane of our
youthful military education, bat whose volume:,
nevertheless, have acted the drillmaster for both
armies in this war—Gen. Hardee, whom the ladies
all adore. I know two fair ones myself who are dying
about him. He always was a gallant and graceful
gentleman in the parlour as well as in the field ;
but he has been disappointed in love, says my little
bird, for all that. Caddy -- was an early flame
of the general's when a mere captain in the United
States army. She was beautiful, sprightly, and ac-
complished. The captain wooed and apparently
won her. About this time he was ordered to West
Point. His only rival, a sprig of a Congressman's
son, came in as a cadet—young, goodlooking, and
desperately dull at his books. He would have been
turned off last year but for the generous chivalry of
Hardee, who could not think of allowing his own
position to be suspected, compromised, or ques-
tioned, and who stood between his rival and harm's
way until he put him through. The fair beauty,
Proud, false as fair ! All Women are ungrateful,
as most women are flirts at heart. Two days after
the young buck received his brevet lieute-
nancy the girl married him. The little sim-
pleton! She might have had a general and a hero
for a husband. Hardee is a philosopher as well as a
hero, recovered like a man, and has been in love a
dozen times since. And then comes the hero of Bel-
mont and Perryville—' Frank Cheatham' as we used
to know him, and as we all still love to call him.
Last but not least in the bright galaxy, he stood
pre-eminent as a warrior and a general. He was
elegantly attired in a suit of blue, and, mounted on
a splendid and spirited charger, was a distinguish-
ing feature in the cortege of the President in the re-
view. There was a host of other generals—briga-
diers and colonels commanding brigades—whose
gallant services in the present war have already en-
deared them to the hearts of their countrymen, and
whose bright names will live for ever in the memory
of the people of the South. The division of General
Breckinridge was first reviewed—the President,
followed by the corps and division generals, the bri-
gadier-generals of the command and their staff-
officers, riding down the lines at full gallop. The
general of each division rode on the right of the Pre-
sident, and their respective divisions were drawn up
for review. The men, in open ranks, stood with
arms rbeasenndtsedp,latyheingoffi, cere saluting, and the regi-
mental
succession as the passed.cortegeoachba nd t
T
were then wheeled into column and ' passed in ''khien gregiments it
ul in
re-
view' before the President. As he sat there on his
horse, and those gallant spirits, the heroes of many
a well contested field, the survivors of many a dread-
ful march and battle, passed before him to the mar-
tial measures of the bands, I fancied his eye to
kindle and his features to lighten up with the natu-
ral enthusiasm of a soldier when he looks upon such
a scene. No doubt it awakened within him memories
of his own experience of the tented field. He cer-
tainly looked the soldier on this occasion and every
inch the President of a nation of warriors. Cheat-
ham's division and Withers's division, with the ar-
tillery commands belonging to each, also passed in
review, and thus the ceremony concluded. The
men never looked in better condition, and seemed
never before to have marched with a lighter step
step or more Soldierly carriage. With few excep-
tion, they were comfortably, though not altogether
uniformly clad. Their arms and accoutrements,
generally, were in unexceptionable condition, and
their manoeuvres executed with the skill almost of
regulars, His Excellency the President expressed
his gratification at their fine appearance and discip-
line, and congratulated the commanders present on
the efficiency of their respective commands. The
President returned the next day to Chattanooga,
whence he will probably proceed to Mississippi to
review our armies in that portion of the Confe-
deracy."
The Richmond papers state that on the 18th ult.
a new large steamer, freighted to the Confederate
States' Government, safely arrived at a Southern

port, bringing a heavy stock of shoes and blankets,
an immense quantity of cloth, and other supplies.
Gen. Bonham had been unanimously elected Geyer-

nor of South Carolina in place of Gen. M. Gregg,

who was killed in the recent battle of Fredericks-

burg.

Advises from Havannah are of the 17th. A
Spanish steamer having landed a cargo of 1,400

negroes near Cienf,egos, General. Duke sent Mr.
Ortemback, the chief officer in the Custom-house
police department, to look into it. The same day

Mr. Zulneta and Mr. Toca sought audience of the

Captain- General, who denied them, saying he was
acquainted with the object of their visit (doubtless
to offer a bribe to allow the negroes to go free of

governmental interference).
On the 15th the ship Energy, from Liverpool for
New York, was boarded in lat. 41, lon 54.15, by
the Vanderbilt, which vessel was in search of the

Alabama. The Vanderbilt was steering east.
The steamship Giraffe, from the Clyde, with boots
and Whitworth guns and a 'arge quantity of stores,
and the Ares, from Sunderland, had run the
blockade.

LETTER FROM GENERAL NEAL DOW.

From a letter to the Secretary of the Alli-
ance, dated " Head-quarters, Pensacola, District
of West Florida, Dec. 6," we extract the follow-
ingby Brigadier-General
te here is delicious—
vN eerayl interestinglipttolew
aTnhpdeassskeailgeisenisba'right and warm as sum-
mer. This will be a glorious country when slavery
shall be overthrown, as it will be by this war.
The soil and climate are capable of yielding two
crops in the season, and of many things three
crops ; nothing is lacking but that sort of activity,
energy, and enterprise that will come with freedom.
As to the great rebellion, what can I say, except
Govintehre lap of time ? We have
nment, with all its vast re-
sources o ou thatn
d:6tsryeo4eftimhleianntgtchanresd money, its boundless superiority
over the rebels in all the appliances of war, has not
yet been able to suppress the insurrection. But the
delay of sharp measures and the procrastination of
the final issue are ruin to the insurgents, as fzequent
disagreements of a jury upon any case in court are
disastrous to a poor suitor, while his rich adversary
cares little for them. At the North money is more
plentiful than it ever was before; food of every de.
scription is abundant and cheap; and the various
channels of trade and industry are far less ob-
structed than they were in the commercial revul-
sion of 1837. At the South, on the contrary, every
branch of industry is entirely dead; nothing' i
done in any industrial employment whatever, ex-
cept by the rude labour of slaves in the cultivation
of crops for food that have failed a;most entirely, so
that every article of subsistence is so scarce that the
prices demanded in exchange for it are scarcely less
than those which prevailed in the beleaguered cities
of the Netherlands in the days of the Duke of Alva.
The coast is so perfectly blockaded, and the rebels
so entirely shut in from all the world, that the
prices of imported articles are fabulous. Flour is
from 50 to 80 dols. a barrel; salt is 1 dol. a pound;
shoes in many places are 20 dols, a pair, and boots
40 and 50 dols.; bacon is 60 cents (2s. 6d, English)
a pound, and everything else in proportion. The
rebel armies are very poorly clad and worse fed, so
that their sufferings this
winter must be very great;
and the rebel Government are entirely destitute of
money and credit, and have no hope of final suc-
cess, and can have none, except in their expecta-
tion of foreign aid. This has been their reliance
from the beginning,and the delusion is continually
fostered and encouraged by such utterances of im-
portant p( rsonages as those of Mr. Gladstone,
at
Newcastle. In this way the rebel leaders
are stimulated to further endeavours, and to