The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-03 00:00:00

" It will be remembered that on the 22d day of September,
1862, the President issued a proclamation requiring the in-
surgents to lay down their arms and return to their allegi-
ance, under the penalty that, in all the districts where the
insurrection should be still maintained with the support of
the people, he would on the Ist January then next proclaim
as a military measure the freedom of the slaves. The warn-
ing was generally rejected and defied, but the proclamation
which it heralded was:duly issued. As the national armies
advanced into the insurrectionary territories, slaves in con-
siderable numbers accepted their freedom, and came under
the protection of the national flag. Amid the great prejudice
and many embarrassments which attended a measure so
new and so divergent from the political habits of the
country, freedmen with commendable alacrity enlisted in
the Federal army. There was in some quarters a painful
inquiry about their moral capacity for service. That uncer-
tainty was brought to a sudden end in the siege of Port
Hudson. The newly-raised negro regiments exhibited all
necessary valour and devotion in the military assaults which
were made, with desperate courage, and not without fearful
loss, by Gen. Banks, This protracted operation engaged
nearly all Gen. Bank's available forces, While it was going
on insurgent troops which were called up from Texas re-
cupied much of the south-western portion of Louisiana
which he had before reclaimed. The surrender of Port
Hudson, however, set his army at liberty, and he has already
made considerable progress in restoring the national au-
thority thus temporarily displaced.
" The complete occupation of the Mississippi by the na-
tional forces has effectually divided the insurrectionary
region into two parts, and among the important features of
this division, one which is of the highest practical signi-
ficance is that the field of military operations of the insur-
rection is chiefly on the eastern side of the river, while its
supplies have been mainly drawn from the prairies of Ar-
kansas and Texas, which stretch away from the western
shore. These prairies can no longer supply the insurgents
with cattle for sustenance and use in the field ; and, on the
other hand, arms, ordnance, and ammunition can no longer
be sent from the eastern manufactories and deposits to
forces employed or in garrison in the west. The value of
the acquisition cf the Mississippi in this respect was illus-
trated only a few days since in the capture by General
Grant, near Natchez, of 5,000 beeves and 2,000 mules which
had crossed to the eastern bank, and at the same time many
hundred thousands of cartridges and other stores which had
just been landed at the western end of the same ferry,
"A vigorous blockade has been maintained at Charleston ;
and although fast steamers, of light draught and painted
with obscure colours, occasionally succeed in slipping
through the blockading squadron in the morning and even 7
ing twilight, many are destroyed and more are captured.
An attack by the fleet made on the 7th day of April last
upon the forts and batteries which defend the harbour
failed because the rope obstructions in the channel fouled
the screws of the iron-clads, and compelled them to retire
after passing through the fire of the batteries. Those
vessels bore the fire of the forts, although some defects of
construction were revealed by the injuries they received.
The crews passed through an unexampled cannonade with
singular impunity. Not one life was lost on board of a
Monitor. The defects disclosed have been remedied, and an
attack is now in progress, with good prospect of ultimate
success, having for its obj, ct the reduction of the forts in the
harbour by combined sea and land forces. We occupy more
than half of Morris's Island with land forces, which, aided
by batteries afloat and batteries ashore, aro pushing siege
works up to Furt Wagner, a strong earthwork which has
been twice assaulted with great gallantry, but without suc-
cess. On the 17th of June the Atalanta, which was regarded
by the insurgents as their most formidable iron-clad ves-
sel, left Savannah, and came down the Wilmington river.
The national iron-clads Weehawken,Capt. John Rogers,and
Nahant, Commander J. Downs, were in readiness to meet
her. At 454 the Atalanta fired a rifle shot across the stern
of the Weehawken, which struck near the Nahant. At
5 15 the Weehawken, at a range of 300 yards, opened upon
the Atalanta, which had then grounded. The Weehawken
fired
five shots, four of which took effect on the Atalanta.
She surrendered at 5 50.

Our lines have notchanged in North Carolina. All
attempts of the insurgents to recapture the towns from which
they had been expelled have been repulsed. Much damage
has been inflicted upon their communications, and valuable
military stores have been destroyed by expeditions into the
interior. North Carelina shows some symptoms if disaffeo-
r tion towards the insurgent league. Similar indications are
exhibited in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas.
" The situation on the York and James rivers has re-
mained unchanged since the withdrawal of tha army of
Gen. M'Clellan from the Peninsula a year ago. Attempts
by the insurgents to retake Williamsburg and Suffolk have
been defeated, but the garrison at the latter place has been
withdrawn for purely military reasons to a more defensible
line.

"I now return to the Army of the
an end
which was
went tioi
:the first in-
surgent rde c ro
obliges s e dd
left resting and refitting after putting
invasion of Maryland. Gen.
the Potomac and entered Virginia in November
the invading forces under Lee to fall backward to Gordona-
villa, south of the Rappahannock. When the Army of the
Potomac reached Warrenton it was placed under command
of General Burnside. He marched to Falmouth, hoping to
cross the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and to move at
once upon Richmond. Delays.resulting from various causes,
without fault of the General, permitted the insurgents to
occupy the heights of Fredericksburg; and when at length,
in December, General Burnside crossed the Rappahannock,
his assault upon Lee's well-fortified position failed. He
skilfully recrossed the river without loss. Gen. Hooker suc-
ceeded to the command, and it was not until the beginning
of May that the condition of the river and roads permitted
a renewal of offensive operations. The General crossed the
Rappahannock and accepted a battle, which proved equally
sanguinary to both parties, and successful to the army of
the Potomac. The heights of Fredericksburg were captured
by Gen: Sedgwick's corps, but the whole army was com-
pelled to return to the north bank of the river. After this
battle Lee, in the latter part of May and in June, withdrew
his
_k of the
an armyfrom Gen. Hooker's front, and ascending the south
bßapidan, towards the sources of the Rappahan-
nock, entered
tempted the
l fortunethe oSfhwenuarnbdyofanhvVedatnfigeyf,healnoydalonscteetems.oA
severe re
cavalry engagement at Beverly Ford unmasked this
movement
• The army of the Potomac broke up its camps
and marched to the encounter. The militia of Maryland,
Penney vania'
and New York flew to arms, and occupied
Baltimore, Harrisburg, and the line of the Susquehannah.
The two armies met
at
Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania, and
after a fierce contest of three days' duration, and terrible
slaughter on both sides, the
insurgents recoiled from the
position held by
Gen. Meade, who had then been only four
days in command of the arm
the day of the surrender of V:ica
Vicksburg,
sbthe Potomac. On July 4,
ing through Chambersburg and uaulVwn to , Lee retreated, pass-
where the proper disposition to attack
Williamsport,
him was made by
Gen. Meade. Deceived concerning the
d to be unfordable, Gen. state of the river,
suppose Meade, hourly
reinforcements, delayed the attack a day too 1: expecting
insurgents partly by fording and partly by floating
band the
succeeded in withdrawing across the river by night,witlidtges,
artillery and a great part of their baggage. Much of this bag_
gage, as well as of the plunder which Lee had collected, w-e;
destroyed by cavalry, or thrown ont of the waggons to make
room for the wounded whom Lee carried off from the battle.
field. He had buried most of his dead of the first day's conflict
at Gettysburg. The remainder, together with those who
fell on the second and third days of the battle, in all, 4,500,

were buried by the victorious army. Many thousand in-
surgents, wounded and captives, fell into the hands of
General Meade. It is not doubted that the second unsuc-
cessful invasion cost the insurgents 40,000 men. Our own
loss was severe, for the strife was obstinate and deadly.
General Meade crossed the Potomac. Lee retired again to
Gordonsville, where he is now understood to be in front of
our forces,
" While the stirring events which have been related were
occurring in the East and in the West, General Rosecrans
advanced upon Bragg, who, with little fighting, hastily
abandoned his fortified positions of Shelbyville and Tulla-
homa, in Southern Tennessee. General Rosecrans took,
hurried retreat, has fallen back to Chattanooga.
and he yet holds them, while Bragg, with severe
Ilotsissionna.
derstood that his army had been already much weakened
by detachments sent from it to reinforce Johnstone, with a
view to a raising of the siege of Vicksburg.
h the
" I must not overlook the operations of cavalry. General
Stoneman, in connection
a rapid wanitdheiftheeotimvoovpeamsseangtenthproonugChan
cellorsville, ma
insurgent country, from the Rappahannock to the York
river, which will be remembered among the striking achieve-
ments of the war. While our forces were operating against
Vicksburg and Port Hudson, Colonel Grierson, with a force
of 1,500 men, left Corinth, on the northern border of the
State of Mississippi, and made an expedition, in which he
broke military communications, destroyed stores, and
effected captures through the length and breadth of the
State, and finally, without serious loss, joined the army of
General banks, then engaged in the siege of Port Hudson.
" John Morgan, hitherto the most successful of the in-
surgent partisans, recently passsed through the lines of Gen.
Burnside, accross the States of Tennessee and Kentucky ;
moving northward, and avoiding all large bodies of our
troops, he reached the Ohio river at Brandenburg, below
Louisville, and seized two steamboats, with which he crossed
into Indiana. Thence proceeding rapidly eastward, subsist-
ing on the country and impressing horses as his own gave
out, he traversed a portion of Indiana and nearly the whole
breadth of Ohio, destroying railroad stations and bridges,
and plundering the defenceless villages. The people rallied
to arms under the call of their governors. Some of them
occupied the most important points, while others barricaded
the road or hung upon the rear of the intruders. Morgan
found no disaffected citizens to recruit his wasted ranks,
and when he reached the Ohio his force was prevented from
cros,iag by the gunboats and driven backward with great
slaughter. His force was between 2,600 and 4,000 horse,
with several pieces of artillery. Only some 300 succeeded
in recrossing the Ohio and escaping into the wilds of
Western Virginia. Many perished in battles and skirmishes,
and the remainder, including Morgan himself, his principal
officers, and all his artillery, were finally captured by the
national forces. An attempt has just been made by the in-
sargents to invade Eastern Kentucky, which probably was
begun with a view to make a diversion in favour of Morgan's
escape, but the forces, after penetrating as far as Lexington,
have been routed by detachments from General Burnside's
army and pursued, with the capture of many prisoners and
ail their artillery.
" This review of the campaign shows that no great pro-
gress has been made by our arms in the East. The opposing
forces there have been too equally matched to allow great
advantages to accrue to either party ; while the necessity of
covering the national capital in all contingencies has con-
stantly restrained our generals, and forbidden such bold and
dangerous movements as usually conduct to brilliant mili-
tary success. In the West, however, the results have been
morn gratifying. 50,000 square miles have been reclaimed
from the possession of the insurgents. On referring to the
annexed map it will be seen that since the breaking out of
the insurrection the Government has extended its former
sway over and through a region of 200,000 square miles, an
area as large as Austria or France, or the peninsula of Spain
and Portugal. The insurgents lost in the various field and
siege operationsof the month of July which I have described
one-third of their whole forces.
" Jefferson Davis, the leader of the sedition, has since
proclaimed a levy of all the able-bodied men within his mili-
tary lines. This, if carried into effect, will exhaust the whole
material of which soldiers can be made. The insurgents
estimate the total number of conscripts thus to be gained at
from 70,000 to 95,000. Our armies now confront the insur-
gents at all points with superior numbers. A draught for
300,000 more is in progress to replace those whose terms of
service have expired, and to fill up the wasted ranks of our
veteran regiments ; and the people, just so fast as the evi-
dence of the necessity for that measure is received and di-
gested, submit with cheerfulness to the ascertained demands.
Our armies everywhere are well equipped, abundantly fed,
and supplied with all the means of transportation. The sol-
diers of two years' service bear themselves as veterans, and
show great steadiness in every conflict. The men, accus-
tomed to the camp, and hardened by exercise and experi-
ence, make marches which would have been impossible in
the beginning of the contest. The nation is becoming fami-
liar with arms, and easily takes on the habits of war. Large
voluntary enlistments continually augment our military
force. All supplies are abundantly and cheaply purchased
within our lines. The country shows no signs of exhaustion
of money, material, or men, A requisition for 6,200 re-
mount horses was filled and the animals despatched from
Washington ell in four days. Our loan is purchased at par
by our own citiaens at the average rate of 1,200,000 daily.
Gold sells in our market at 120 to 128, while in the insur-
rectionary region it commands 1,200 per cent. prem.
" Every insurgent port is either blockaded, besieged, or
occupied by the national forces. The field of the projected
confederacy is divided by the Mississippi. All the fortifica-
tions on its banks are in our hands, and its flood is patrolled
by the Federal fleet.

" Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland—all slave
States—support the Federal Government. Missouri has
already in convention ordained the gradual abolition of
slavery, to take effect at the expiration of seven years.
Four-fifths of Tennessee, two-thirds of Virginia, the coasts
and Sounds of North Carolina, half of Mississippi, and half
of Louisiana, with all their large cities, part of Alabama,
and the whole sea coast of Georgia and South Carolina, and
no inconsiderable part of the coast of Florida, are held by
the 'United States. The insurgents, with the slaves whom
they yet hold in defiance of the President's proclamation,
are now crowded into the central and southern portions of
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and
Alabama, while the pioneer slaveholding insurgents beyond
the Mississippi are cut off from the main force. On the other
hand, although it is less than six months since the laws or
customs of the United States would allow a man of African
descent to bear arms in defence of his country, there are now
in the field 22,000 regularly enlisted, armed and equipped
soldiers of that class, while 50 regiments of 1,000 each are in
process of organisation, and 62,800 persons of the same class
are employed as teamsters, labourers, and camp followers.
These facts, show that, as the insurrection continues, the
unfortunate servile population, which was at the beginning
an element of its strength, is being transferred to the sup•
port of the Union.
" You will use the facts presented in this paper in such a
way as may be most effective to convince those who seek a
renewal of commercial prosperity through the restoration of
peace in America, that the quickest and shortest way to gain
the desired end is to withdraw support and favour from the
insurgents, and to leave the adjustment of our domestic
controversies, exciusively with the people of the United
States.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,

" WILLIAM H. SEWARD."

COLT'S REVOLVERS are to be extensively intro-
duced into the Prussian army, and the cavalry and artillery
officers are to be supplied with them immediately.
A violent hailstorm broke over the town and
neighbourhood of Cahors (Let) two days ago. At Bellevue, a
man named Tilsac had just entered his house when the
building was strack by lightning and set on fire. The
owner escaped uninjured, but an umbrella which he cart ied
in his hand was literally consumed by the electric fluid.
The flames of the house spread so rapidly that nothing could
be saved.

A NAPLES letter in the Opinion of Turin gives
an account of the trial now going on of the mur-
derers of a watchmaker, named Ruffo, who was waylaid
about a fortnight back in the immediate Leighbourhood of
that city. The trial excites great interest, and on the 25th
August the Court was crowded, especially with cammor-
rists, who want, if possible, to intimidate the judges.
While one of the counsel was engaged in the defense of a
workman named Cherubini, who had been in the service of
deceased, and was supposed to be the chief author of the
murder, the report of a musket was suddenly heard, and
immediately afterwards the roll of the drum, calling out
the guard. Great confusion was occasioned in Court by
this occurrence, the President ordered the hall to be cleared
and the strictest watch to be kept over the prisoners. Soon
after the cause of the disturbance became known ; a sen-
tinel upon guard under the windows of the prisons hard by,
had fired upon one of the prisoners, who had been address-
ing him in the grossest and most insulting language for
upwards of a quarter of an hour. The sentinel in so doing
had only obeyed orders ; but most probably the prisoner
was acting according to instructions received from the Ca-
morra, in order to create a disturbance. The trial was at
once resumed, and the belief is that the persons accused
will be condemned.
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