The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-17 00:00:00

TtIE CIVIL WAR T_','4 AMERICA.

(From the Times Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, JUNE 4.
Sunday last, for the first time in two months, was
a quiet day in New York. There were no second,
third, or fourth editions of the newspapers hawked
about Broadway by the vociferous and extortionate
young Celts of the Green Isle who monopolise this
branch of business, and bawl themselves hoarse with
the news of defeats and victories. People were dis-
appointed, and went to bed with the feetill that
they had been defrauded of their usuf:..l stimulant.
But the few who remained up till 11 o'clock were
rewarded for their vigilance 12,y, the well-known cry
of Young Ireland, annou.-,zoing a "great victory by
General M'Clellan r_efer the rebels at Richmond."
The details were, very meagre, bat Monday brought
fuller particulars in the shape of the official
despafet from General M'Clellan to the Secretary
of War, dated " the Field of Battle, Sunday,
June 1, 12 o'clOck." The battle took place on the
previous day, on the banks of the Chickahominy,
the attaek having been commenced by the Confede-
rates. General M'Clellan admits it to have been
'desperate and bloody; stigmatises one division of
his army under General Casey as having given
way unaccountably and " disunitedly,"•and ends
by claiming a great victory. The Confederates no
doubt claimed the victory also, and with as good
reason, for, like the battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg
Landing, it left both armies as they were in respect
of position--both damaged, and both ready to renew
the struggle on the following day, to take and to
retain Richmond. On Sunday accordingly the fight
was renewed by the Confederates, and according to
General M'Clellan they were everywhere repulsed,
with a loss which he declares to have been heavy in
his own army, and " enormous " in that of t!.e
enemy, but which subsequent despatches 1:c:0:Ince to
300 slain upon his side, and 1,200 of tin Confederates
left dead upon the battle-field. Baring the whole of
the engagement on Sunday morning Professor
Lowe's balloon hovered over the Federal lines at an
altitude of about 2,00(,) feet, and maintained success-
ful telegraphic communication with Gen. M'Clellan
at his headqw:dierf.l. It is asserted that every move.
anent of tte Confederate armies was distinctly visi-
ble, and instantaneously reported.
Up to the time of the departure of the steamer
for Liverpool no news has arrived of any re-
newal of the fight, so that the "great victory "
resolves itself for the present into a great skirmish,
in which, according to Federal accounts, the Con-
federates had the
worst of it; but which has not
resulted in any decided ad,:antage to the, victors.
Richmond still remains unassail.ed, and protected
by an army which General M'Clellan admits to be
superior in numbers to his own, but which is
asserted to be, and possibly is, demoralised and
discouraged, and aware that the ultimate capture
or surreuder of the city is but a question of a few
days.

such is the intense interest excited by the fate of
Richmond—near or remote—that all other war
news, however important, dwindles into insignia.
canoe compared with it. The rapid and successful
march of General Fremont a hundred miles across
the mountains of Western Virginia to the support
of General Banks would at any other time have
filled the country with deligk't, but is now passed
General Fremont came up
over almost unnoticed.
with the Confederates under Gen. Jackson within
five miles of Strasb:urg on Sunday, and endeavoured
to force an enr;iigement, but Jackson declined the
offer or th.<, opportunity, and continued his retro-
grade movement, leaving Fremont to occupy Stras-
burg unopposed. It seems probable that the result
of thir.", achievement—the only one of which Fremont
ha,, yet been able to boast, will be his junction with
Hanks, the reoccupation by the Federals of the whole
valley of the Shenandoah, and the capture of Jack-
son's army; the same that so scared Washington
and the whole North only eight days ago.
Next to the battle bf the Chickahominy, the
evacuation of Corilith by General Beauregard con-
tinues to excite in the highest degree the wonder
and specuk4tion of the public. It is not believed
that Ber.nrogerd was confronted by an enemy oo
much more powerful than himself as to render his
furtlyer occupation of the place utterly hopeless, or
eve.m. that his pro-visions failed him to such an extent
as to make a retrograde movement imperative, but
that the great object of gaining time, and of driv-
ing the war into July and August, when. Northern
men are liable to worse diseases in a southern cli-
mate than lassitude, listlessness, and exhaustion,was
the main motive of his masterly movement. Mas-
terly it must be conFj.aered, for he was engaged for
more than a fortnight in carrying it into effect
-without exciting the smallest suspicion on the part
of the enemy whsie Outlying pickets were on speak-
ing terms wi:ch his own ; and he took away nearly
everythi,:ig that he needed—storesyaramunition, pro-
visirins, letters from the post-office, invalids from
the hospital—everybody, in fact, who desired to go
away, and left behind him only the dogs of the
camp and a few women and old men who were too
infirm or, too indifferent to follow his army. General
Halleck has been completely foiled. He had not
the remotest notion up to the moment that' Corinth
was occupied by his own army that he would not
have to fight one of the most obstinately bloody
-battles of the war; when, as with the stroke of har-
lequin's wand at a pantomime, the foe retreated, no
one knows whither or for what purpose. It will
perhaps sake General Halleek three months after
'finding out the place to invest the new position as
he did the old. And in the meantime no one knows
what may happen, what Cholera or Yellow Fever
may have done, or whether at the last moment
Beauregard may not make another retreat into
Texas, where it will be difficult to follow him.
The part played by the Southern women in the
v...tir has often been remarked. General Butler, at
ew Orlear.,s, has found it difficult to deal with
81.1 d has only made bad worse by his blun-
dwehriinchg attempt to punish the spiteful enmity
uu could not prevent. A more powerful
person than
General Butler—the President him-
self, has
not been more fortunate in his efforts to
uncontrollable control the natrollable tongues of a few fair
rebels ; but he ha
„avoided the General'd blunder
d
and punished the 1•
lextßvithout calling them bad
names or forgetting that
of a "gentleman. A Mrs. CI
reela°l: position was that9n
long held in a kind of half
duranwee and surveillance
and some others,
at Washington, to the great di„o
mtort of ever one
who had anytling to do with tilelt,
and Po
'were y
litel
oxpelied the city last week, toudueted under
proper escort to Baltimore, e set at
liberty, with a caution to be discreet. Bet, bavinr.
much zeal and no discretion they made their exilbe
their triumph. Having a whole host of sympathiseti
amid the belles of Maryland, they took care to let,
their arrival be promulgated by the busy voice of
fashion. The result was that they held a great re-
ception all day, and were visited by everybody who
thought himself or herself worthy of being thought
anybody; and that in the evening they were
serenaded by a band, that (lid not play " Yankee
Doodle," " Hail, Columbia," " The Star-spangled

Banner," or any other tune that is supposed to
express or to represent the martial ardour or national

patriotism of the North.
The hideous enmity of the North against the
South, and rice versa, has risen to such a pitch that
scarcely any one in either section of this once great
and free Republic dares to breathe a word in favour
of peace. Millions may secretly prey for it, but so
great is the dread felt by prominent men of the
excited public opinion which raves and roars

_ -
around them that few have courage to utter what
many thousands feel. There has, perhaps; been
more courage in this respect in Congress than any-
where else ; for if a free thought—even should it
be an unwelcome, or unpopular one—cannot be
spoken in that Assembly, the liberties of the United
States are already at an end ; but even in Congress
one of the representatives of the city of Newyork,
the Hon> Benjamin wood, a popular man, and cer-
tain, it is alleged, of re election when his term ex-
pires, is so doubtful of hie reception that he prefers
to print his thoughts rather than to "speak them.
Ho had written out, and was prepared to delivk
an elabonte argmcnt in
mistrusting the temper of
favour of canciliat ion,but,
a
his auditors and the per-
sonal reception ho Inlo
'At meet if he ventured!to
stand up in his place and
spy ak of peace, he vin-
the house in a ftw tented himself by informin

—....aaa_..,
words that he had a speech ready, that he was dis-
inclined to speak it, and that he requested permis-
sion to have it printed and circulated among the
debates of Congress. The request, which is quite
proper and Parliamentary in Washine ton, though
somewhat unusual, was at once grAr.ted, and the
document has been given to the public and circu-
lated extensively in New York., especially among
the hon, gentleman's
rz
of the tyrannous' nstituents. It is a feature
public opinion of the time that not
1 one of the daily journals has deemed it expedient to
I bestow a word of comment upon it, either in the
shape of approval or of condemnation. The docu-
ment is a very remarkable one, and is creditable to
the courage and patriotism as to the ability of its
author. As a disclosure of the unspoken sentiments
of thousands of men, who only await the opportu-
nity to break silence, it has importance here, and
may have some interest in Europe. After depre-
cating any interference with the slave question, or
any aggravation of sectional differences of opinion,
and earnestly calling upon men of all parties to do
their best to heal existing acrimonies, and restore
a free Government, Mr. Wood continues :
" There may be a craving for martial glories in
the hearts of men, and an instinct of contention
which we share in common with the brute creation.
But if ever there can be a time when a more Chris-
tian impulse should possess our souls it is now; now,
when the triumph and consciousness of strength
give us the noble privilege of extending the hand of
conciliation without fear of degradation, or of self-
reproach for cowardice. If adversity has been our
excuse for sternness, let success be our plea for
magnanimity. Providence has placed within the
reach of the North a greater triumph than count-
less armed legions could conquer 1 th
`subduing a brave enemy Ivith a
ciful policy that Will disarm generous and mer-
resentment and re-
kindle the old brotherly flame that perhaps is not
yet totally extinct. For, after all, they are our
brothers, and some softening of the stern Roman
rigour which our rulers have assumed is due to that
brotherhood which by untimely severity may be
cancelled for ever. There are gentlemen who will
say that the South must be subdued; that every
armed Southerner must throw down his Weapon
and sue for mercy. Should a freeman ask so much
of his brother-freemen P Would they be worthy
of companionship in our fraternity, being reclaimed
at such a sacrifice of manly feeling P What would
you have them do ? Would you have them crouch
and cringe and strew their heads with ashes and
kneel at your gates for readmission ? They are
Americans, and will not do it. No, though Roanoke
and Fort Henry and Fort Donelson should be re-
enacted from day to day through the lapse of bloody
years, they will not do it, Give them some chance
for an honourable return, or you will wipe out every
chance, and the two sections will be twain for ever.
You may link them to each other with chains, and
pin their destinies together with bayonets, but at
heart they will be twain for ever. They are the
children of the same heroic stock, the joint inheri-
tance with ourselves of the precious legacy of free-
dom ; and it seems a sacrilege and an insult to the
memories of the past that so many, Sir, should sit
in your Presence here today to goad them on
to desperate resistance, and so few—alas! so very
few—to mediate and restrain. Of those few I
thank my God that I am one."
It is a pity such noble words were not actualy
spoken to the Assembly they were intended to con-
vince. Mr. Wood was equally eloquent and was
possibly prophetic in the picture he drew of the fate
of the American Union, should no friendly sword
in Europe cut the knot of the difficulty which the
North refuses to untie. " Is it possible," he asked—
" That gentlemen can hope to reconstruct the
Union by pursuing a policy of unrelenting severity?
Can they expect to re-establish concord and
brotherly love by pushing hostilities to the extreme
verge ? What is the Union worth without mutual
respect and reciprocated amity to bind the sections?
What ! a Uuion of unwilling States, driven into
companionship at the point of the bayonet, and held
there hereafter by military power ! Such a Union
would not be worth the shedding of one brave
man's blood. Wo want their hcarta, or wo want
them not at all. And we cannot conquer hearts
with bayonets, although they should outnumber the
spears of Xerxes. If not brought back by negotia-
tion, they are gone from us for ever. To conquer
them may be possible. To slay their soldiers, lay
waste their lands, and burn their cities may be
within our power. But to hold them in subjection,
having conquered them, would in itself be a final
repudiation of the first principle of Republicanism.
Prosecute this war until you have established the
necessity of holding a subdued section in subjection,
and the world will look in vain for a Republic on
the western hemisphere."
Nor is the peroration the least striking part of
the warning voice that Mr. Wood raises in the ears
of his countrymen :
" When the Executive hand, for the first time in
our history, was interposed between the citizen and
his rights, the germ was planted of a danger
mightier than rebellion in its most gigantic phase;
for I believe encroachments by an Executive to be
in itself rebellion against the only sovereignty I
acknowledge—the majesty of the people, I believe
each step towards absolutism to be more fatal to the
welfare of the Republic than any possible act
within the power of the citizen to conceive and
execute. I will resist every grasp that may be
made upon an attribute of sovereignty not hereto.
fore acknowledged to the Chief Magistracy ; for
reason and instinct, no less than the fearful ex-
amples that history has furnished from the ashes of
republics, teach me that the first step, unchecked,
will not be the last, but only the precursor of those
giant strides by which, over the necks of betrayed
freemen, ambitious men have mounted to a throne.
We want a Union, Sir, of Sovereigns, not of subjects.
And that our Government shall extend over a vast,
area to me is of less moment than that it should be
purely, and strictly, and unequivocally Republican,
at all times and under all conditions."

Mr. Wood is right, though his countrymen lag
far behind him. This is the view of matters that all

men not blinded by passion have long since taken
—the view of all the impartial and clear-sighted
observers abroad, who owe the Union no allegiance,
but who wish it well, and would regret to see so
fair an experiment of liberty as it once seemed
ruined for ever by the madness of a moment. The
time has not yet come when Americans may speak
cut ; but it may come sooner than is generally
imagined.

The position of the " irrepressible negro" is ever
thrusting itself upon public attention. The war
'81°?"- continually ne u anya
ll y
has been ostensibly commenced on his behalf, and
the rights and wrongs of poor Sambo, who seems
radially to care very little about the matter, or,
ar.":great bulk of likings at
ball, seems to like his
.master better than his Northern friend,
canvassed y angry patriots, the
whom wish most Oevoutly that there
were no ne
mass of the N motttaile ulaywhere except in Africa. The
re people do not care a straw for
the etnancEpatio,
blacks in the South, and
were they all set free of ,
sccial crusade against the,
tz rrowwould commence a
faces northwards, of Which 11
they turned their
more awful to the race than
the
the slavery to which
ret the
mNorthern
e
shouldbe
they de-
the South has doomed it: An that
people have hitherto desired, and
all that
sire even now, is that slavery
within its existing limits. They look vectfincd
lth m
alarm
end disgust at all the propositions that are made
from time to time by the Abolitionists for arming
the slaves against their masters, and with (us,:
proval at the more moderate propcsal of enrolling
regiments of free blacks to serve under M'Clellan

and Haßeek, or wherever else they might be made

useful. If they entertain at all the idea of arming

the slaves, it is only to put it aside as premature—
thing not to be thought of except as an expedient
to be reserved for the last extremity of national

peril; and only to be adopted evcn then with rc•

pugnanee and a defrecation of the world's unfa-
vourable judgment that they shenid resort to so

desperate an expeciient. But, altbouah this is the
present feeling of the North, the popular passion
for conquest grows so much fiercer as the war
. _

-Widens, that the minor proposition of arming the
free blacks is not received with the same disfavour
as before, and has at lest found supporters in the
Council Chamber of the President. For the last