The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-28 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the Times (;orrespondent.)

JUNE 13.
General M'Clellan rem sins quiet and watchful
before Richmond. Both armies in the desperate
battle of Fair Oaks suffered so severely that tne
incessant
rains forced upon them by the almost
of the last few days has doubtless been as
welcome to the one as tlee other. Yesterday the
weather changed and the glass now stands at
" Settled Fein" Everyone, therefore, anticipates
stirring news by Sunday next, but whether the
news is to ccme in the shape of a decisive battle, or
in that of the sudden evacuation of the Confederate
capital, no one ventures to predict. Whether it be
either of t ese, or something else, the people of
Europe maybe certain that the defeat of M'Clellan
—which is possible, but not probable—would be of
no real advantage to the Confederates. It would
but prolong the agony of the contest, and cause
such an uprising of the excited Northern people as
would place at the disposal of the Federal Govern-
ment any number of men it chose to ask for. The
South, unless it enrol and arm its slaves, an ultima-
tum of hard necessity, on which it looks with alarm
and repugnance, is not in a position to raise an
extra 100,000 men for any emergency whatever ;
while the North—vast as its armies already are—
can double or treble them in case of need, and will
do so at a word from the President rather than
stop short in the work it has commenced. A Con-
federate victory at Richmond might give the
Powers of Europe a welcome opportunity of recom-
mending the South to lay down its arms, and the
North to grant a general amnesty ; but it would
be of no real help to the cause of Southern inde-
pendence, unless upon the untenable supposition
that the great Powers of Europe were prepared at
elle eleventh hour to make that cause their own
aud brave the certain consequences of a war with
the United States. Recognition of the South was
once as possible as it would have been wise
and humane ; but that day has long since passed,
and can scarcely be said to have outlasted the
evacuation of Manassas. At the present time,
with a whole harvest of laurels upon its
brow, the North might listen to the•pleadings of
Europe for mercy to the vanquished ; but any
attempt at recognition, even should victory smile
upon the Confederate arms at Richmond, would
awaken such a spirit of vengeance as would be omi-
nous of a more dreadful war than France or Eng-
land would care to engage in for interests so remote
or advantages so problematical.
The struggle, so far as it has yet proceeded, has
offered many surprises, but it has produced nothing
very dashing or brilliant on either side, except on
the water, where the famous exploits of the defunct
Merrimac in Hampton Roads, and the capture of
New Orleans by the gunboats of Farragut, may
rank with almost anything in history. But as the
plan and results of Gen. Stonewall Jackson's late
raid into the valley of the Shenandoah unfold them-
selves to the public comprehension, the North itself,
which would gladly have him safe in Fort Lafay-
ette or on a halter, is forced into admiration at the
gallantry and success of his movement. In order to
prevent a concentration of force under M'Clellan at
Richmond, and thereby to gain valuable time for
his friends. Gen. Jackson suddenly pounced upon
the unwisely diminished army of Gen. Banks, the
strength of which he knew to a man, drove him out
of the valley of the Shenandoah and across the Po-
tomac ; frightened Secretary Stanton almost out
of his wits for the safety of Baltimore and Wash-
ington ; and kept the whole country from Maine to
Maryland in a fluster of alarm and indignation for
at least a week. Finding that his force was not
adequate for all the mischief he had intended, he
commenced his retreat. Gen. Banks recrosaed the
Potomac in pursuit. Gen. Shields followed on the
war-trail with the persevering vindictiveness and
cool sagacity of some old Sachem of the Redskins;
and Gen. Fremont, anxious to do something to
merit the confidence which has been unwillingly
reposed in him after his escapades in Missouri,
started across the mountains ur weeteeee ve.ssence
on the scent of the fugitive. But Jackson was too
strong and too fleet for each and all of them ; and
after some skirmishes with his pursuers, in which
he and they suffered considerable loss, he at last
made good his retreat from the Shenandoah Valley
across the Blue Ridge Mountains. The event has
produced sore chagrin to the three generals, who
thought to make sure of him, and disappointment
to the whole North. He is, doubtless, by this time
far advanced en route for Richmond, where his
arrival, if there be any gratitude left in the city,
will be hailed with shouts of well-earned welcome.
A little light has been thrown on the mystery of
General Beauregard's movements by a recent de-
spatch from General Halleck at Corinth. It con-
firma the first report that the Confederate leader had
retired towards Okolona, and adds, on the authority
of a captured officer of the Commissariat, that Beau-
regard had originally a force of upwards of 120,000
men at Corinth. General Pope is of opinion that the
loss of the Confederates since their retreat, by cap-
ture, desertion, and the casualties of war, must be,
at least, 20,000 men. General Buell estimates it at
30,000. In either case it would appear that Beau-
regard remains at the head of a formidable army,
and letters from Louisville, Kentucky, under date
of the 9th, allege that he has been enabled, within
the last few days, to detach a large force to the aid
of General Kirby Smith, who is marching from
Knoxville in Tennessee, across the mountains into
Nashville, gathering strength as he goes, and rous-
ing up the overawed, but not by any means extin-
guished Secessionism of the Tennesseans. If this
information be correct, the army of the South-west
may yet give General Halleck employment.
General Butler, at New Orleans, continues to
excite the hope of all moderate and Conservative
men in this part of the country that the President
will soon find an opportunity to remove him to some
position where he may do less mischief. He is carry-
ing matters with as high a hand as if he were a
St. Just or a Fouquier Tinville, utterly forgetful of
the fact that the people of New Orleans are not
savages whom he has conquered, but citizens, or ex-
citizens of the Republic, which owes them freedom
and protection as preliminaries to their allegiance,
and to which they are as much entitled as General
Batler himself. Re is regulating, or attempting to
regulate, not only the behaviour and dress of women
and children, but all the operations of trade and
commerce, and the prayers
of the multitudes in
their churches. The last heard of him is that a
furious Charlotte Corday has been locked up in the
calaboose for threatening his life, declaring
as she
Was thrust into durance that there were a thousand
women in New Orleans ready to execute the ven-
geance which she was about to accomplish) unless
she were imprisoned for life; and that ho has
sent
an order to the churches and chapels of all denomi-
nations, that he will not tolerate any prayer that
may be offered up for the destruction of the Union
or the success of the Confederates. His " little
difficulty" in the matter of the foreign Consuls, and
the seizure of the specie in the office of the Consular
agent of the Netherlands, is, it appears, to be
amicably arranged by the intervention of Mr.
Seward—a result which is generally considered
satisfactory as far as it goes, but which would be
received with tar greater pleasure if accompanied
by the announcement that this very sharp lawyer
from Massachusetts was no longer the Military
Governor of New Orleans, or any other place.
Farragut captured the city very easily, but Butler
may lose it more easily if ever a Confederate army
come within 20 miles of it.

Wall-street does not appear to be quite certain
that Mr. Chase is right in flooding the country
with any more "green backs," as the new Trea-
sury demand-notes are called. As anticipated in
my last, be has applied to Congress for the requi-
site permission to issue 151) millions of these notes,
and the Bill, it is understood, will take precedence
of all other business. No opposition is looked for
in Congress-, Mr. Chase having withdrawn that
portion. of the project which provided
for the issue
of 25 millions in notes of smaller amount than 5 doll.
When this measure becomes law, the new
paper
currency of the United States, as distinguished from
the 'paper currency of each individual State, and
most, or all of which, is amply secured, will amount
to 300,000,000 doll. or X 60,000,000 sterling,