The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-13 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
As to the Burnside Expedition, one does not know
what to believe or think. The Southern papers
state that an expedition which went out from
Roanoke Island on Monday last could not discover
the vessels of the expedition in Pamlico Sound.
But there is positive intelligence that on the 21st of
January (Tuesday last) there were upwards of 100
vessels inside the bar at Hatteras and 25 large
steamers outside. What they have been doing
ever since no one can tell. No communication
had been received from them at Fortress Mon-
roe. It would seem as if these expeditions
_were singularly unfortunate or ill -managed. Here
is the last of them, fitted out with much care,
with elaborate preparations of many weeks, and
covered with a cloak of the profoundest secrecy,
so that to this moment there is no certainty where
' it is going, and the enemy will know more on that
point than we do. It sails, encounters a storm, and
as I write may be exposed to the furious gale which
rages here, or which may have swept over it, as we
learn there has been no communication between
Norfolk and the coast since Monday, in cense•
quence of bad weather. It appears off the enemy's
shores several days before anything is done. 'the
Confederates are alarmed, but at the same
time put on their guard. They are enabled
to accumulate troops, to strengthen menaced
points, to place women and children in safety.
Newberne and Roanoke Island get ready for de-
fence. The militia of North Carolina are called
out. By the time the expedition lands the hands
of the Confederates will be much better prepared
for resistance. Every day wasted bet weep the ar-
rival of the expedition in sight of land and its
descent is of incalculable value to the enemy. But
even if they are beaten and driven out of their
paltry sand works, what happens P The victo-
rious General writes despatches, issues proclama-
tions, intrenches himself, feels feebly about for his
enemy, rests for weeks inactively, or engaged in
petty reconnaissances, makes some weak demon-
stration which ends in a skirmish, and retires to
his intrenched position. I do not wish, Heaven
knows, to be a carping critic, but I appeal
to any one who knows the facts in the United
States themselves to say if that description is not
literally true. If the possession of runaway negroes
and the seizure of a few villages and some
thousands of bales of damaged cotton be the sole
object of these expeditions, no doubt they are very
successful. But as far as real mischief is done, or
the interruption of communications, or the dis-
traction of the forces, as yet little or nothing has
been accomplished by the hundreds of ships, and
thousands of men, and millions of dollars, employed
in the various Northern armades, from which so
much was expected. General Burnside's may prove
an exception, and I am not disposed to question the
ability of the officer or the conduct of his men.
Biloxi, it now turns out, was not occupied. A naval
force appeared before the place which was deserted
by nearly all but women and children ; a small sand
battery was found unmanned, and its 6'pounders
and 9-pounders where taken away, and a schooner
laden with lumber (wood) was captured. The town,
such as it is, of course, is in the hands of the Fede-
ralists virtually, for they can occupy it whenever
which
occupiedshuw s
they please; but it is not intended to use it for an
advance inland. There is a report from Southern
sources that Cedar Keys, some small islands near
little from the
ethe p
expeditions
ei Florida railway
directed terminus,ag against
stit. A. Boston
have b, ee n
tbhyatthtehe
South Federalists.
h a s
as
so
yetf a far fors suffered
theff er e news, ew s
gentle-
man, who has been down in New Orleans, and who
received permission " to pass our lines into the
United States" from General the Rey. Leonidas Polk,
at Columbus, states, through the Cincinnati Gazette,
that he found no evidence of Union feeling since
General Phelp's proclamation, before which there
was some " suppressed" sentiment of the kind ;
that the Sumter is not a
privateer,
u
be-
lieved to exist ; that the blockade is only effective
Orleans is defended by fortifications
d 50, o(I0 n
enough to be provoking, and that four vessels ran it
o
to
n Savannah
ht but ie
newn
n a r
Ine wleaerk Confederate States' man of
g
war;
under General Lovell. These state-
ments
trteegstuitrhee spirit
salt
and animosity of the
Southern a
that
a
; but there is no proof
necessaryldayef ince. In the North there are dissen-
-1111
aionsasa always
to
to the means of dealing with slavery and
finance which will not diminish in asperity as the
war continues and the want of a fixed principle is
more obvious. _ _

As to Congress, it is engaged in providing for the
future of a question which is not now on its hands.
rather thanwith the present of the vast problem
which lies before it and presses on the United
States in the financial crisis. There is no haste to
approach the subject of taxation; but every one