The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-21 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(Iron the Times Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, JUNE 6.
The battle on the banks of the Chickahominy,
which General M'Clellan, in a proclamation to his
soldiers, has named the Battle of Fair Oaks, has not
yet been followed by a general engagement. Yester-
day there was a slight skirmish, consequent upon an
attempt of the Confederates to prevent the recon-
struction of a destroyed bridge over the Chicka-
hominy, on the road to Mechanicsville. Beyond
this all was quiet in both camps. A heavy storm
of rain, that raised the waters of the Chickahominy
several feet and flooded the low lands and swamps
between that river and Richmond, interfered with
all military movements, and will possibly prevent
any considerable action on either side for a few days.
In the meantime public expectation in this city is
strained to the highest pitch. The Confederates have
lately shown themselves so much more able to eva-
cuate great cities and important strategical positions
than to retain or even to defend them, that large
numbers of people believe that there will be no
pitched battle at Richmond after all ; that within
a week M'Clellan will occupy that city, as he occu-
pied Manassas and Yorktown, and as Halleck occu-
pied Corinth, and Butler New Orleans; and that
the remnant of the Southern army will make its
way into Texas, where it will be able to maintain
itself for an indefinite length of time, if it do not
even succeed in detaching that great State—which
is as large as France and much more fertile—from
the Union. There are others, again, who are of
opinion that the Confederates really mean to fight
this time—that General Lee and Mr. Jefferson
Davis, both of whom are in Richmond, command
an army of double the ngmerical strength of
M'Clellan's; that their desperation is such that they
will carry the threat of the Southern President into
execution rather than surrender ; that literally
the streets of Richmond will run with blood
before it is captured ; and that when McClellan
enters not one stone or brick of it will be left
standing upon another. No one knows exactly
what to think, although it must be admitted that
very many affect to know what to prophesy. Every-
thing about this war is so unexpected as to defy
calculation. I, for one, shall not be surprised if
the Confederates effect a masterly retreat before
M'Clellan knows what they are about. Neither
shall I be surprised if they make a second Moscow
of their beautiful city, and enact the greatest and
bloodiest tragedy ever -witnessed on this continent.
One result is about as probable as the other, and if
a third, undreamt-of or unimagined by anybody,
should end the eventful history, it will bo accepted
by most people as a matter of course, that they ex-
cite a sensation abroad but not at home.

In a struggle so indecisive as that of Saturday and
Sunday it was natural that both sides should claim
the victory. While M'Clellan admits his own loss
to be " heavy " but pronounces that of the enemy
" enormous," the Confederates, on their side, assert
that they "drove the Yankees back a mile and a half
into the swamp," that " the Yankees fought despe-
rately, but were badly whipped," that "the carnage
was terriblb on both sides," but that "the Yankees
lost two to their one." While it is clear that there
was no real victory to either side in this fierce en-
counter, it is almost equally clear from the detailed
accounts that have since come in that the trial of
strength must have cost the lives of 5,000 men, be-
sides the wounded ; and all for Liberty, Union, and
Fraternity, and not in the least degree for the subju-
gation of the weaker party !
There is no trustworthy news, though there are
many reports, as to the whereabouts of General
Beauregard. A despatch from General Halleck,
announcing the capture by General Pope of a divi-
sion of the Confederate army lately at Corinth,
amounting to 10,000 men, leads to the inference
that Beauregard's army did not retire in ono
body or by one line of railroad. Indeed, it seems
probable that a portion of it has gone to Memphis,
and another portion, under Beauregard himself, to
Okolona, as originally reported. Where that re-
markable general, who certainly fights well when
he has a chance, but who as certainly rails away
with a precision end scientific completeness unpa-
ralleled in the history of this war, will next be
heard of, it is useless to conjecture. Were it not for
the Mississippi, and the 'ascending and descending
Federal flotillas which ought about this time to
effect a junction upon its waters somewhere be-
tween Vicksburg and Memphis, it might be ex-
pected that Beauregard would Strike for the latter
point, and cross over into the wild but friendly re-
gions of Arkansas, whence he might make his way
leisurely into Texas. If Vicksburg, as reported in
to-day's papers, be still in the possession of the Con-
federates, and if the guns of Fort Randolph, above
Memphis, still guard the river against the passage
of the descending flotilla from Island No. 10, also
reported from Cairo and Chicago, there is a dis•
tance of upwards of 400 miles on the Mississippi in
the possession of the Confederates, at more than
one point of which Beauregard, if not hard pressed
by Gen. Halleck's pursuing armies, might effect a
passage. The achievement, though difficult, would
not be impossible. Could Beauregard accomplish it,
he might even yet run away with the highest mili-
tary honours of the war, and establish for himself a
reputation second only to that of Xenophon. But
unless he and the other Confederate leaders succeed
in retreating into Texas there is not the slightest
hope for their cause. Their secession er rebellion is
at an end, Their dream of independence has va-
nished. They can do nothing further to realise it
unless by carrying on a savage and hopeless gue-
rilla warfare amid the swamps and mountains of
their more inaccessible regions, a course of proceed-
ing that would deprive them of the little sympathy
that is left for them, and which is daily growing
less as reverse follows upon reverse. If Great Bri-
tain end France have any intention of stepping in
at the last moment to stay the tide of battle, now
is
their time to urge submission upon the South.
and magnanimity upon the North, The act would
be graceful a,
well as friendly—would be hailed
with satisfaction by all moderate and sensible men,
and would relieve Mr. Lincoln's Government of a
great difficulty in the future management of the
affairs of the Republic. Should, however, the
Confederate chieftains, beaten at every point,
as they are certain to be, succeed in reaching
Texas, the question
Would assume a diffe-
rent aspect, the war would gain a new life, and
complexities and difficulties would arise that might
be equally troublesome to Europe and
America.
But, though victory attends the Northern arms,
events every now and then occur to prove what all
the world can see except the Republican party in
this country, how much more difficult it will be to
govern the Southern States hereafter, upon the
principles entertained by a portion of Mr. Lincoln's
Cabinet, than to conquer and re-annex them to the
Union. Mr. Lincoln has personally pursued a clear,
straightforward, well defined, and consistent policy.
He declares it to be his business to restore the
Union and the Constitution. But some of his sec-
retaries understand the matter differently, and de-
clare it to be his and their business to restore the
Union without the Constitution, or with such
modifications of the Constitution as shall get rid of
slavery in States that have a constitutional right to
retain it. Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward are sup-
posed to be of one mind and purpose on this matter
—to look at facts, not at theories, and to shape
their course accordingly. Mr. Stanton, Mr. Chase,
and Mr. Sumner, the latter not a member of the
Government, but an official in high place, entertain
a different opinion, and foreseeing that as the
!laver), question caused one attempt at Secession
must inevitably came another in due course
of tine, unless slavery be abolished (which is the
philosophical and logical, but not the statesman-
like or practical mode of settling the difficulty),
they have been
continually doing their best—
though at the eminent risk of protracting the
war—to force-
u the President an abolition
policy. They approved
ywhioithe proclamation of
General Fremont b
he took upon him-
self to emancipate the slaves in .
his military dis-
trict. They also approved the egreg •
e_ns proolama•
Lion of General Hunter to the
same effect and have
been powerful enough to retain him in his com-
mand—though not to prevent the President's
disavowal and nullification of his unauthorised