The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-30 00:00:00

TUE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the Correspondent of the Times.)
NEW YORK, APRIL 15.
President Lincoln has so conducted himself dur-
ing his short tenure of office as to have acquired a
high reputation for prudence and sagacity. In the
estimation of the whole North, Democratic as well
as Republican, he is a man who looks before he
leaps, and who never takes a step in advance with-
out having made sure of the step preceding. But
the haste with which on Thursday last he issued
his quasi-imperial proclamation for a general
thanksgiving on Sunday has slightly shaken public
confidence in the wisdom of the counsellors by whom
he is surrounded, if not in his own patience and
self-control. Without waiting for the official re-
port of Gen. Halleck or the subordinate General
in command at the bloody struggle of Pittsburgh
Landing (the most obstinately contested battle
that has yet been fought in this unnatural and
unnecessary war), and relying entirely upon the
newspaper telegrams published on Wednesday
morning, which were as exultant as they were un-
truthful, he penned a request to all the churches
that they should offer up prayers and thanksgivings
"for the signal victories which it had pleased Al-
mighty God to vouchsafe to the land and naval
forces of the Union." Had the President waited
for official details of the battle—which, perhaps, ho
would have done had he or his advisers been less
anxious to celebrate the first anniversary of the
Confederate assault on Fort Sumter by a solemn act
of national gratitude for victories achieved in the
interval—he would have learned, in common with
the whole people, that the victory which he so pre-
maturely claimed was no victory at all. At the
best, it was a drawn battle, and one so narrowly as
well as obstinately contested, that both sides may
with equal reason claim the honours of the day.
Had the battle ended on the Sunday, when it was
commenced by Generals Johnston and Beauregard,
the dearly bought victory would have remained
with the Confederates ; and on Monday, when Gen.
Buell arrived to the rescue of the North, he did no
more than save the army of Gen. Grant from anni-
hilation, and enable it to retain its original position ;
and this boast of a victory which was not won, and
which if it were was barren of any result but the
slaughter of thousands of men on both sides, is not
the worst feature in the President's proclamation.
Surely, in declaring that the "recent victories had
averted from the country the dangers of foreign in-
tervention and invasion" he made an impolitic and
indiscreet confession ? And would it not have been
wiser as well as more dignified if the President, be-
lieving or disbelieving in this particular victory,
had reiterated the bold defiance of Mr. Seward,
uttered when the prospects of the Federal cause were
as dark as they now are bright, that the Union would
fight its own battle against its own children, unen-
cumbered by the aid or advice, and unimpeded by
the intervention, of any state or Empire in the
world ? It was not prudent in the President to
admit that such a danger existed, or that thanks
were due to Almighty God for its removal ; for the
European world, that looks with much interest and
anxiety on the progress of a war which inflicts such
present, and is likely to inflict so much future injury
upon the commerce and manufacture of its greatest
Powers, will feel inclined to ask if the danger of
foreign intervention remains as imminent as it was
before in the President's estimation, or if it be his
belief that such intervention is only to be obviated
by the speedy triumph of the Federal arms. The
proclamation, viewed in this light, appears to be a
double mistake, and one that is more than sufficient
to place the President in a false position in the
eyes of his own people.
General Beauregard, whose official report of the
battle hasbeen received through the Southern'papers,
which occasionally find their way to this city, does
not admit that the Confederate army was defeated
at Pittsburgh Landing, though its Commander-in-
C hief, General Albert Sydney Johnston, was slain.
That the Federals did not gain the victory is evi-
dent from the fact that both belligerents retain the
positions which they held before the battle and that
Corinth is still in the possession of the Confederate
army. The loss of life on both days and on both
sides appears to have been frightful. The ferocity
with which the armies fought shows how fiercely
the passions of the people were excited, and that in
this, as in other civil wars, the mutual hatred and
exasperation of the combatants grow with the
dimensions and the duration of the quarrel. And
the conviction which seems to have forced itself
upon the President's mind, that foreign interven-
tion is probable, will perhaps take root in other
quarters if many more such sanguinary and bootless
battles are to be fought before the combatants lay
down their arms, or restore that peace, harmony,
and union for which the President has so solemnly
invoked the assistance of the Almighty.
The siege of Yorktown, which has now lasted for
eight days, threatens to be a tedious business. The
Confederates, commanded by Generals Lee and
Magruder, have received large reinforcements, and
have so strengthened a position originally very
formidable as to make it evident to the besiegers
that the work before them will try all their
patience and skill, as well as all their courage.
General M'Clellan is reported to have demanded a
reinforcement of 40,000 men, and to have been
refused. Whether the report be strictly correct I
cannot say, but it is believed by many of the
General's friends in this city ; and it is no secret
that the head of the War Department, and other
persons in high places put not the President, or
Mr. Seward), bear the general no goodwill. They
look with growing disfavour on the position which
he has acquired in the country, and would not be
i
sorry if he were defeated in a pitched battle of m-
pqrta.r.ce enough to ruin his reputation by its loss,
though not, it is to be hoped, for the honour of
human nature, in a battle of magnitude sufficient to
imperil the safety of the Republic. But General
M'Clellan may perhaps be able to foil his political
adversaries by the capture of Yorktown, in which
case ho will have amply justified the high expecta- ,
tions that have been formed of his military genius,
and raised himself to the very highest place in the
estimation of his countrymen. His task, however,
is arduous, and it cannot be concealed or denied that
he will fight against serious odd, even if the Admi-
nistration should decide upon sending him the rein-
forcements which he demands.
In the remarkable struggle before Yorktown,
towards which all eyes are now directed, the part
played by the redoubtable Merrimac is not a little
exciting. The presence of that vessel and her five
consorts, the Yorktown, the Patrick Henry, the
Teazer, the Raleigh, and the Empire—two, if not
three, of them ironplated like herself—is quite suf-
ficient to keep in check the whole Federal navy in
Hampton Roads, and is admitted to be fully equal
to an additional force of 50,000 men for the defence
of the Confederate position. The Merrimac,whether
under the comniand of Capt. Pegrim, late of the
Nashville, or under that of Commodore Tatnall, as
some recent reports allege, is ably han dled,an d keeps
the whole countryv in e fever of anxiety. The manner
in which, on Friday, the Patrick Henry and the
Teazer, under shelter et the Merrimac, captured
three Union vessels under the very eyes and almost
within range of the guns of the Monitor and the Fe-
deral fleet, and towed them , 0
t Norfolk, was an
andexhibition of cool daring and effrontery, which has
m
greatly exasperated the Federal grins and navy,
and elicited a fresh howl of indignation against vlr.
Secretary Wells for not having ordered the capture
and destruction of the offending monster 'when she
lay for five weeks disabled and undergoing repairs
in the dock at Norfolk. The Monitor lies in wait,
with her steam up, ready for all contingencies, but
does not seem to be convinced enough of her own
strength to offer battle, though she may at any time
be compelled to accept it. The British war steamer
Rinaldo, the same that conveyed Messrs. Slidell
and Mason to Bermuda, and the French war
steamers the Catinat and Gassendi, are anchored
in Hampton Roads in such a position as to command
a full view of the engagement whenever it may
take place. Much regret and disappointment are
everywhere expressed that the Special War Cor-
respondent of the 7inzeB did not apply to the captain
of the Rinaldo for the hospitalities so churlishly de-
nied him by the Wae-office at Washington. Had he
been allowed a place on board of that vessel, he
would have had the opportunity of describing a