The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-15 00:00:00

STAMPED ....sd.

7'llE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)

WASHINGTON, MARCH 25.

To-day General M'Dowell reviewed his corps
d'armee, consisting of upwards of 30,000 infantry,
62 guns, and a few squadrons of cavalry, in the
neighbourhood of Alexandria, previous to their em-
barcation on the great expedition destined, it is be-
lieved, to act against Richmond. The Commander-
in-Chief of the Army of the Potomac was, with his
staff, upon the ground, but did not take the salute,
and left the command to General M'Dowell.
Colonel Rowan, R.A., Colonel Neville, Scots Fusi-
leer Guards, Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher, of the
same regiment, and Mr. Conway Seymour, who
happened to be present, were received by General
M'Clellan and General M'Dowell with much
courtesy and attention ; the impression pro-
duced upon their minds was, on the whole,
exceedingly favourable ; partly owing, perhaps,
to the idea they had formed of this great volunteer
army, and partly in consequence of the undeniably
good physical properties of the troops. Neverthe-
less, it would be futile to conceal the deficiencies
of that army. There is, for example, General
M'Dowell, an officer of the regular army, accom•
plished, well instructed, and acquainted with the
duties of a leader, surrounded by a number of
young gentlemen very earnest, gallant, and hard-
working, but ignorant for the most part of the
proper duties of staff officers. The attempts made
with some success to furnish an adequate number
of staff officers to the various divisions of comman-
ders have encountered bitter opposition in Congress,
and in the case of Gen. M'Clellan the disposition of
some members to forget what he has done, and to
remember what he has not done, Ni as shown with
great acrimony. In the main there has been a feel-
ing of consideration and trust evinced towards men
who have done nothing at all which entitled men
who have done something to great forbearance.
The General officers of the American army know
its defects ; the people do not.

The publication of General Beauregard's report
has satisfied them that their soldiers had won the
victory when the retrograde movement on the
right, caused by Johnson's arrival, changed the for-
tune of the day, and, forgetting the deficiencies of
their own countrymen arrayed in arms against
them, they imagined that their army was equal to
one of the well-organised and well-trained armies
of the great European Powers. No doubt, they
might become so in a campaign or so, if the money
lasted, and if the means of employment were so
much diminished by war that men would willingly
enter the service even under reduced pay. As it is,
there is a very considerable restriction of the rights
of the citizen in the person of the citizen soldier,
which promises well for the success of any experi-
ment that may be made on the persons, purses, or
prerogatives of the people. For instance, there
has been issued recently, I am told, an order to
prevent the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac
writing home to their friends. Whether the order
is governed by certain rules, or is unrestricted,
lam not able to affirm. It certainly seems an
extraordinary thing for the volunteer soldiers of
that nation which declares itself to be the freest in
the world to be forbidden to communicate with
their homes, The American mind, accustomed
to bow to the force of the majority, recognises, per-
haps, in " General Order No. 1" of the military
chief, the utterance of the whole popular voice, and,
the citizen becomes at once as mute and submissive
as Private Tompski, of the Pauloffski Regiment.
The exercise of power is practically unrestricted in
the Executive of a Republic provided the Govern-
ment has armed force and a majority of the repre-
sentatives of the people at its back ; the rights of
the minority then cease immediately to exist. No
exposition of democratic force more vigorous, power-
ful, and irrepressible than the press of the United
States could have been conceived, and it is certainly
not easy to imagine any agency snore potent than
that by which it has been virtually suppressed in
the exercise of the functions which a free press dis-
charges in less favoured countries. The War De-
partment has forbidden the transmission of any
despatches by telegraph which can convey any in-
formation to the enemy. It is impossible for editor,
correspondent, or publisher to define what the word
" information" may mean. They have not even
the benefit of a warning. To this remarkable
negation of the rights of a newspaper in communi-
cating news is now added a still more remarkable
repression. The Postmaster-General has issued
orders to prevent any newspaper in which a forbid-
den telegram has appeared to be forwarded by post
thenceforth ; and there are now a number of editors
trembling under fear of arrest. The " idea" of the
war for the Union is, in fact, far stronger than the
idea for which any monarchy or imperial Power in
Europe ever contended. These attacks on the
privileges of the press are made by the Executive
immediately after reports of Committees of Congress
censuring the censorship of the press itself, and
debates in both Houses in *which such interference
has been strongly deprecated. "We are a law-
abiding people," exelaim the citizens of the United
States ; it may be said they are " a no-law-abiding
people" too, because they are content in this fight
for the Union to part with all but what is called
sulks populi. It may be they will submit to the
taxation which is inevitable, and may submit, after
the deputations of vested interests have been de-
feated, to contribute out of their pockets directly to
the expenses of this war for their great idea. The
other day, in riding through the deserted camps,
where hosts of petty pilferers were engaged in
plundering whatever they could take out of the
tents, our party came upon a sutler's store on a
bleak common, in which the proprietor was still resi-
dent. On entering, we found two soldiers, one sick
with fever, consequent upon the march to Manassas,
the other a stout Canadian, who had entered upon
the service of Uncle Sam. The sutler, an intelligent,
keenwitted man, who had travelled in Europe, told
us some curious things respecting the class differ-
ences of the American officers in regard to messing
and other matters of the kind. Officers from the
town do not, according to him, agree with officers
from the country. There is in the Republican army
a sense of social distinction which is not found in
the aristocratic armies of Europe. If the Guards
were called upon to mess with the officers of some
regiments, whose local exposure and condition might
cause them to be considered un regiment condamne,
they would probably object to it; but among them-
selves the officers are all equal. Here it is not so.
The Canadian soldier did not take a cheerful view
of his pecuniary advantages, but he evidently had
been spoiled by eating, drinking, and " piping
times cf peace." " Why !" exclaimed he, in reply
to one of the party, " what's thirteen dollars a
month? It ain't enough for a man to live on ! Who
is going to eat them crackers and bad meat all
his life? And what's thirteen dollars to a man who
has to get his boots, and buy something to eat and
drink now and then ?"
' The liberal pay given to the American soldier
is not, in fact, adequate to his imag.;nary wants.
The best fed soldier in the world, he desires things
The sutlers,
that no commissariat could supP.' Y.
who are set upon by Act of Congress, and are
Boards and Commissions,
regulated by all sorts of
come to
worksto his and a system has been adopted
wonderfully well, and which quay be
considered
as an emanation of the ingenuity
which invented the Treasury paper and certifi-
cates of indebtedness." The sutlers keep a sort
of checkbook and a ledger, and are permitted to
issue checks to each soldier to the extent of one-
half of his monthly pay. On the approval of the
captain of his company these checks are receiv-
able in payment for articles in the sutler's store
and are paid off from the soldier's bimonthly ac-
count by the paymaster. The man to whom we
were speaking told us he had not received anylpaY
for three months, or, in other words, that his two