The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 27, 1862.

THE WELLINGTON RE-OPENED.
The whole of the GROUND FLOOR IS NOW OPEN
for DINING from the CARTE. A Three Shillings Set
Dinner is Served, ala Russo, from 3.30 to 9 p.m. The Grand
Saloons are Open for Smoking and Reading. Open daily
from 9 a.m. to midnight ; on Sundays from 5.30 to 11 p.m.
The Wellington—Entrances St. James's-street, and
160,
By Order. F. SCOWEN, Superintendent.

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Designs and prices free.

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ir Public, against Spurious Imitations of
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** Sold Wholesale and for Export, by the Proprietors,
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THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)

WASHINGTON, MARCH 11.

The capital of the United States is at last libe-
rated by the action of the enemy who so long
menaced it. Yesterday saw the Union army pour
across the Potomac in pursuit of the Confederates,
with an absence of haste rendered neeessary by the
condition of the roads, which, however, no longer
forbade all onward movement. General M'Clellan
cannot go very far in chase of his wily adversary ;
every yard he stirs from Washington adds so much
to the difficulty of feeding his army; but if the
river blockade be removed, and the Confederate
batteries abandoned along the shores, the Fede-
ralists will secure great advantages in water trans-
port, not to speak of the benefit to the population of
this city, who have suffered so long from the high
prices of their necessaries of life, such as wood and
coal. On Saturday spies and negroes reported to
various officers at different points of the line that
the Confederates were retiring from Centreville
and falling back on Manassas, whence a steady
stream of regiments had been pouring South for
some time before. It was apprehended that these
movements were caused by the advance of Burnside
and Banks, and that either or both would be at-
tacked in force. The rumours had so often been
repeated that people did net pay much attention
to them ; but the officers on outpost duty from
what they saw were inclined to believe that
the enemy in their front were not in such force
as they had been lately, even though they
showed a bold front on all their line, and skirmished
successfully with the Federal patrols towards the
close of the week at Pohick and on the 0 ccoquan, and
inflicted on them some loss. Their cavalry force was
increased, and appeared in constant observation
along all the approaches towards Centreville. On
Sunday forenoon, while visiting the head-quarters
of General Smith's division, I heard that the Con-
federates were certainly falling back from their
advanced positions, but it was not supposed they
were doing more than concentrating in order to pre-
pare for the attack which was coming upon them,
and of which, no doubt, they had full information,
though they might have divined it without any great
sagacity. Still it never was intended, I believe, to
attack them at Manassas. The increasing power of
Banks's demonstration on their left must have seri-
ously disquieted their Generals and inconvenienced
their means of supply, and, notwithstanding the
possession of two lines of railroad, they must have
had very great difficulties to overcome in order to
feed their troops. One of General Smith's Staff
said that the men they had seen in front recently
were ill armed and poorly clad. Some prisoners
lately made in a cavalry hunt were so badly
mounted that the Federals ran them down. They
were dressed in coarse civilian clothing, and were
miserably equipped ; very different fellows, as he re-
marked, from the Carolinians whom he and his party
had taken after a sharp brush some weeks before.
It may be remarked here that not one of these
officers had any positive information that the
Confederates were retiring at two o'clock in the
day, and that they spoke of their movements,
force, and position as matters of conjecture. Their
impression evidently was that a flank movement
was soon to be made, but that no attempt would be
directed in full force on Manassas. From General
Smith's quarters at Smoot's house the path to Gene-
ral Fitzjohn Porter's division "lies all over the
country," through stumps and brush, which mark
the sites of " used up" forests, and through woods
not yet laid prostrate by the soldier's axe. The
head-quarters are about four miles and a half apart,
and by the time we reached the camp of General
Morrell's brigade the regiments were just turning
out for evening dress parade. The camps were in
excellent order, though the late gales had com-
mitted havoc on the pretty evergreen archways
and protecting lines of transplanted pines—not only
with these, but with the great observatory from
which ono used to have such a fine view of the
surrounding scenery. The 14th New York were
marching out in columns of companies from the
streets to the parade-ground, and nothing could
be better than the way in which they took up
their ground and the steadiness of their line.
They are young, robust men, considerably ex-
ceeding the average height, well uniformed, and
armed with rifles. Next to them came one of the
finest regiments, taking them all in all, I have yet
seen—the 9th Massachusetts, all Irish, from the
colonel to the drummers. Their regimental flag
displayed the harp and wreath of shamrocks in
gold on a green ground. The men were very steady,
and marched with the precision of well-trained
troops. Next in line came a Pennsylvanian regi-
ment, which is highly spoken of; but it was not so
well " sized" as either of the others. There were
many men exceeding six feet, some over six feet
three, and even four, inches ; but there were also
some round-shouldered, ill set-up men. Still, never
were steadier-looking troops seen on parade. All
these troops were armed with excellent new rifles,
and General Morrell has certainly as fine materials
in his hand as ever were moulded into soldiers. As
the parade was going on General Fitzjohn Porter
rode over, and Gen. Smith also came across from
his camp. Then the telegraph which binds
Ithe whole of the various commands together with
the offices and departments in Washington an-
nounced that Gen. M'Clellan was coming over, but,
as it was getting late, we could not remain to see
him on the ground. A regiment of this Division
had marched out in the morning and occupied
Vienna without any opposition from the enemy,
whose videttes were visible in the distance, but there
was no idea of a movement of the whole army, or
even of the Division, in the evening when we left
the ground. Senator Wilson, chairman of the Com-
mittee of the Senate on Military Affairs, in whose
company I returned to Washington, was not
aware of the positive confirmation of all the re-
ports respecting the retreat of the enemy from
Centreville, though he is so earnest and active
that few things connected with the progress'of the
war escape him. All his thoughts were centred
on one subject—an advance by M'Clellan, the
sooner the better, and a victory. Indeed, it is not
possible to' conceal the fact that the confidence of
many persons—l do not allude to Senator Wilson
—has been greatly shaken in General M'Clellan's
ability and energy, because he had not displayed
moro of the qualities of fulmani UM, which would
be better appreciated in the United States' armies, on
account of their rareness, as well as because of their
special utility in this expensive and exhausting war,
than any others a general could possess. There
were stories of all sorts last week respecting his re-
signation, retirement, dismissal; how the President
had said to the general that he must move in 10
and many things of the kind, which may
Ilal:yhs orea go,
aCanarding about in the halls of the hotels.
Last autumn, as I stated, it was proposed to divide
the, army into separate corps, which would at least

have a tendency to mobilise it, and render it more
easy to handle. Jealousies, rivalries, conflicting
interests and parties, as well as objections in high
quarters, prevented the aecomplishmeet of the idea;
but it has now been adopted, and Generals
Tleint-
zl:man, Sumner, Keyes, McDowell, and Banks are
thus in command. General M'Clellan still remains
commander-in-chief, subject, of course, to the Pre-
sident, who may be said to work with the Secretary
of War. Military men are divided in their opinions
of their general. Some men of experience and
authority acquainted with his plans maintain that
he possesses skill and ability ; others characterise
his inactivity in the strongest terms, and ridicule the
notion that he directs operations in the West or else-
where by telegraph, or that the recent successes were
due to any,direetion by him, or to any concerted plans
at Washington. General Wool, who commands at
Fortress who has been pressing hard
for an Independent Monroe, and
command of 30,000 or 40,000
a
men, with which he pledges himself to move on
Richmond, is especially malcontent at the sight
presented to the world by the vast army of the
United States held in check under the dome of the
Capitol, month after month, by so-called "rebels,"
d ac
unwilling,y.
has or unable,
Then
d
blockade of the Potomac,
such as iu
raised, but it has not been
aa
un
oi
ts
was,e enemy.
eni
done by the Federal arms. The Confederates ex-
hibited little skill or daring in the way in which
they used such means a damage and annoyance,
and now, as will be seen hereafter, they have aban-
doned all their works, burnt their steamer, Page,
and gone off in some enormous panic or on some
mysterious errand to parts unknown, alarmed, pro-
bably, at the immense flotilla assembled in the
Lower Chesapeake, near Fortress Monroe. In the
most astutely conducted war there is much of
future good or ill in great successes as in untoward
events. Mind marches 'with matter. As circum-
stances grow, so does intelligence now and then, but
the latter rarely anticipates the dimensions of the
former. When the President called out 75,000 troops
it was thought to be a prodigious levy. Gen. Scott
thought 30,000 or 35,000 would be more than
enough, and protested against the extravagance. A
Commander-in-Chief and a Secretary of War, who
shut up the press in a moral Lafayette, would have
been thought monstrosities a few months ago by the
worthy Republicans, who now are charmingly
optimist, and declare that whatever is is best. They
grumble, indeed, at finding their newspapers
"exhausted receivers." The Congressmen, who
walked about public offices, monarchs of all they
surveyed, and who now dare not trot a horse down
the Avenue, are rather irritated by a commander-
in-chief who is kept invisible, they say, or inacces-
sible, and who does not answer or notice their
letters. But General M'Clellan only aspires to be a
soldier ; he does not affect politics, like many of the
officers of the regular army ; ho rather ignores them;
possibly, like some I know of high rank, he feels a
certain sort of pride in avowing that he never "gave
a vote at any of their elections in all his life." But
it is obvious that, in order to maintain this position,
he must do something to prove that he is fit for his
position as a military chief. If he does not, the po-
liticians and circumstances will be too many for
him, and, although the American people are now
astonishing the world by the display of tractability,
submissiveness, and docility beyond example, it may
be safely predicted, unless he speedily achieves some
signal success by the troops under his direct per-
sonal command, he is not likely to retain the confi-
dence and support of the nation. Deputations will
soon be set to work upon him, and the Young Na-
poleon will be among the number of undeveloped
celebrities. But General M'Clellan can never lose
the credit of having taken the volunteer masses in
hand and formed them into an army, of inspiring
them with confidence, and instilling into them the
principles of soldierly life- and discipline; and,
whatever comes, he has earned and deserved, whe-
ther he gets it or not, the praise and gratitude of
his fellow-countrymen for doing that which, to
be fully understood in all its magnitude, ought to
be witnessed by one who beheld Washington in the
last week of July, and who can now ride through
its streets or visit the camps on the Potomac. Much
is due to the zeal of the men who started out of the
clouds and darkness that rested on the land after
the battle of Manassas. Senators like Baker and
Wilson raised regiments, drilled them, and marched
them into the field, and the Puritan spirit of New
England gave a vigorous earnestness of purpose to
the work of war which has fretted and chafed
against the restraints of prudence or the sugges-
tions of military knowledge. On Sunday evening
I happened to be in company with two Federal
generals, one the head of a department, the other
a General of Division, as well as with one of Gen.
McClellan's Staff. One of them was grave enough,
for the news had come in as beyond all doubt
that the Confederates had left Fairfax Court-
house,' Centreville, Manassas; that they had burnt
and destroyed their huts and tents, and had
marched off no one could tell whither, without
giving an opportunity for the display of the
strategy to which so many eyes were turning, and
on which so many hearts were fixed. How the
nation will be disappointed! It had set its soul
upon another battle of Manassas, or a reversal of
the judgment pronounced by the God of Battles en
July 21, 1861. The whole movement was so pro-
voking--so unexpected! It was, besides, so incon-
venient ! Pursuit would be out of the question.
The state of the country might just permit an ad-
vance of cavalry and light troops, but they could
not stir beyond the reach of their daily supplies by
slow-moving waggons coming out from Washing-
ton. Starvation awaited man and horse. The nation
never comprehends the Quartermaster-General's
department, nor sympathises with its impediments.
No victory to be announced in the Senate ! Not
even the consolation of boasting that the Confede-
rates had run away as soon as the Federal troops '
had begun their march ! It appears that as soon
as General M'Clellan had satisfied himself the Con-
federates had evacuated Manassas, and were in re-
treat on the interior, he gave orders for an advance
immediately. The withdrawal from their strong
and commanding position, whatever its motive, left
him free to act—it mobilised an army of near
200,000 men, with at least 250 pieces of artillery.
An orderly came in search of the aide-de-camp—one
of the generals went off across the river, only to
march off with his division at three o'clock in the
morning—the other departed to sit up all night
arranging the details of his department. In the
dim moonlight all the camps woke into life, and
before the first streaks of morning lighted up the
cold sky, and pierced tho clouds heavy with rain,
the streets were filled with Waggons, orderlies,
cavalry, infantry, and mounted officers, and one's
sleep was broken by the cracking of revolvers,
which their owners were getting ready for service,
and by the loud summons of comrades to each other
to arouse, gg We're all off over the eiver.,,
There was a drizzling rain, which blew over as the
day wore on ; it is now as I write Boon_
y and warm
—a glorious spring day. I - was told by those
who saw it that the passage of the Federal troops
over the long bridge was a magnificent spec-
tacle, but, unfortunately, I could not get down to
witness it. The men were full of spirits—some too
much so, perhaps, and they "chaffed'' the by-
standers, particularly the John Bulls whom they
recognised, in Irish, German, or American, very
good humouredly. Seventeen batteries of artillery,
splendidly horsed and Equipped, moved over the
bridge in an unbroken succession, making, with
three batteries previously sent across, 120 guns of
the reserve ; these were supplemented by the regu-
lar infantry of the United States, the Volunteer
Neyes's Reserve, battalions of and three or four
cavalry regiments, one of Lancers, and the spec-
tacle impressed those who Witnessed it as a most
imposing display of military power. The streets
were thronged with commissariat carts. The long
bridge, the chain bridge, the steam ferry, the ape-

duct bridge, and all the roads leading to them were
alike crowded, as we hear, and trembled under the
ceaseless tramp of man and horse and the roll of
waggons. Meantime, the troops encamped south of
the Potomac were advancing since an early hour,
and it became an ascertained fact that Centreville
was evacuated and that clouds of smoke were rising
from the abandoned cantonments of the enemy along
the ridges of Manassas and Bull's Run. The head-
quarters' house, at the corner of President-square,
was surrounded by a strong cavalry escort, and the
officers were busy packing up in the various depart-
ments. A crowd assembled to see Gen. M'Clellan
set out, but it was late in the day before he mounted,
and proceeded amid cheers which reached the
room in which I was writing, across the river to his
new quarters in the village of Fairfax Court-house.
The staff officers who set out for the field took little
with them. A cloak and blanket, a feed for the
horse, well-stuffed holsterS, and a case of provisions,
formed their baggage.

The battle to which so many were looking for-
ward is now indefinitely postponed; nor is there
an indication where it will be fought. If the Con-
federates are on the run, it is difficult to say where
they will stop. Already there is a report that the
Confederate Government is about to abandon Rich-
mond, and that President, Cabinet, and Congress
will move to Raleigh, in North Carolina—a city
perilously near to Goldsborough, New Berne, and
the sea coast.

One thing seems to me very sure. The Federal
army cannot make any considerable or rapid ad-
vance from its present position until the railway is
completed from Alexandria and Washington out to
their front. The line must be laid; another will
have to be completed. And the nation and the
Congress all this time ! Well, we must wait and
see. Fairfax Station is in the hands of the Federals,
and they will now be able to work at the line, and
have already set to the task, As I write, lam told
a considerable number of the cavalry and artillery
will have to fall back close to Washington in order
to obtain food for their horses. The country is a
desert about Manassas, if not all round the camps in
Virginia. The country people have fled.