The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-28 00:00:00

TILE AMERICAN NETS,

(From the Times.)

Those persons who have always maintained that
the Federalists would necessarily establish their
superiority in the field and at sea over the Confede-
rates are not by any means bound to the admission
that they will also prove successful politically. The
journals of New York of the 13th add nothing to the
information respecting the actual state of the belli-
gerents contained in the Times of Monday, and the
telegraphic summary of two days later adds nothing
to the details of the more important operations of
the war. At New Orleans, indeed—where Com-
mandant Clouet, of the French steamer Milan, ap-
peared in good time to protect the 30,000 French
eubjects, who must have been very grateful for the
acknowledgment of their nationality—there is ad-
ditional proof of the brute-force rule of the New
England General Butler. Had the city not sur-
rendered,and Commodore Farragut had carried out
his intention to bombard it after 48 hours had ex-
pired, there would have been a serious difficulty
between the Federal Government and the Cabinet
of the Tuileries, unless the Emperor had disavowed
the bold demand of his naval representative for 60
days' grace before any Federal attack should take
place, under the pain of their accounting to France
for such a "barbarous act." There was no English
ship present, although New Orleans contained at
least 15,000 Irish as well as many thousands of
Scotch and English residents and sojourners. Se-
nator Trumbull, a man of that capacious ignorance
which no amount of questions, blue-books, returns,
and resolutions can ever satisfy, has, it appears,
determined to make amicable relations between
foreign Powers and the United States by introduc-
ing a resolution calling on the President to give the
Senate any information he may have of any design
on the part of any Government to interfere, or to
make arrangements with the insurgents. That,
considering what has occurred, goes far enough as
a menace, but Senator Trumbull is not content with
it. He insists that the President shall state whe-
ther any Power ever " contemplated" making ar-
rangements with the insurgents, the object being,
no doubt, that the " contemplation" should be made
an overt act of hostility to the United States.
An examination of the circumstances under which
Portsmouth was occupied after the Confederates had
made a retreat, destroying the Gosport Navy•yard
and all the public property, blowing up the Mer-
rimac, and ruining the dockyards, satisfies us the
transaction scarcely reflects less disgrace on the
Federal arms and on the officers than the singular
act which led to the abandonment of the position to
their enemies a year ago, after their imperfect en-
deavour to destroy their own vessels and burn
their own arsenal. According to one statement, it
was under the direct influence of President Lincoln
himself, and of his Secretary of the Treasury, Mr.
Chase, who must have been particularly edified by
the results, that General Wool, always anxious to
hoist himself out of the obscurity and inactivity to
which he had been so long condemned, projected
the expedition from Fortress Monroe which led to
the surrender of Norfolk. It must be remembered
that Norfolk is situated on the eastern side of the
Elizabeth River, almost directly opposite the town
of Portsmouth, close to which is the Gosport Navy-
yard. The river is not much more than half a mile
across. The Federals had a poweful fleet. On
Saturday morning, the 10th of May, the troops pre-
viously destined for the operation landed near Wil-
loughby's Point, to the right of the Confederate
batteries at Sewall's Point, and marched towards
the city. When they came to " Tanner's Creek,"
about seven miles from their landing-place and
three from Norfolk, the main body being fired on by
a few guns, and finding the bridge on fire, re.
treated till they came back on General Wool and
another body of troops, and then proceeded along
the road, turning the head of Tanner's Creek, to the
city, about ten miles distant. General Wool tells
us that he arrived at the intrenchments in front of
the city at 20 minutes before 5 p.m., the whole day
having been spent in this most cautious advance,
and that he then accepted the terms of surrender
proposed to him by the Mayor and Committee
of the Common Council of Norfolk ; but with a
disingenuousness which deserves exposure, he
declares, " Soon after I took possession
of Gosp ort and Portsmouth." He did no
such thing. During the evening of the 10th
not a step was taken by the Federals to take pos-
session of the city, which lay within a gunshot
from them. It was not until the 11th that General
Wool ventured to proceed across the river to the
city, although the glare of fires and the explosion
of the Merrimac herself at 5 o'clock in the morning
must have warned him that the Confederates were
busily engaged in the work of destruction. "On
the 11th," says he, " I visited the Navy-yard, and
found all the workshops, storehouses, and other
buildings in ruins, having been set on fire by the
rebels, who at the same time partially blew up the
dry dock." As soon as they had been destroyed a
naval reconnaissance was sent to see what had hap-
pened. The Monitor, Nangatuck, Stephens, San
Jacinto, Susquehannah, Mount Vernon, Seminole,
Decotah, and the two armed tugs Zouave and
Dragon, then steamed boldly to Craney Island,
found the works abandoned, and the guns spiked.
All the other batteries, at Sewall's Point and else-
where, had been evacuated in face of this formidable
force without the smallest loss, and, when all was
done, the President, who had been for an hour in
front of the city in a steamer, returned to Fortress
Monroe, with Secretary Chase, while Mr. Stanton
remained at Norfolk till a late hour in consultation
with General Viele and General Wool.
About 200 guns, a large quantity of shot and
shell, some powder, and stores have been taken by
the Federals ; but while they were thus successful,
what we read of the conduct of the people they had
subjugated contains little of hope or encouragement
for the restoration of the Union, The people, we
are told, rent the air with cheers when the Confe-
derate mayor, in his address, spoke of their attach-
ment to their own Government. They hurrahed for
Jefferson Davis, and groaned and hissed President
Lincoln, in the midst of the Federal troops. They
talked boldly of their future, declared they would
take nothing but Confederate money, and that they
would have nothing to do with Lincoln's "shin plais-
tors." One account declares
"they scowled upon the
hated Yankees, and the wcanen almost spat upon the
officers and soldiers." The houses through the city
were generally closed, especially those of the
wealthier classes; but, says one great
physiogno-
mist,mwas a subdued
" There quiet among the
middling classes, their countenances implying a
desire to wait and watch for future developments.,,
It is to be regretted the President had not returned
to Fortress Monroe after he had found out the land-
ing-place and directed the operations, for he might
have seen the expression of the people. It is said,
indeed, that strcng Union feeling was shown at
Portsmouth, but the President and his secretaries
returned to Washington on the night of the 11th
Nyithout testing by a personal visit the truth of the
assertion. It may not be out of place to say there
is an impression in New York and elsewhere that
the Merrimac was really unfit to fight since her
encounter with the Monitor, and that she was
merely used to frighten the Federals and to paralyse
the operations of their wooden vessels. The truth
of this it seems well nigh impossible to ascertain.
But admitting Most frankly the gallantry, deter-
mination, and successes of the Federals, there are
some facts which have the most important influence
on their plans for a summer campaign. On the
evening when President Lincoln was looking out
for a landing-place against Norfolk, the steamer
Ocean Queen arrived in New York from York-
town, with no less than 800 invalid and wounded
soldiers, the majority of them from one division—
Porter's, which was not severely engaged, and
therefore had not many wounded mon.• The 44th
Regiment, New Y
Ellsworth's Avengers,,, ork State who called themselves
engers," formed one of the finest
regiments in physicalaeppearance in the United
States' armies. The men were all picked, and
each of them was reported to have given 100 dols.
for the privilege of serving in the
corps. Out of
the 1,040 that left the State, only
400 now remain
in a condition for duty—this in the
first week in
May. I is doubtful if any portion of that consi-
derable loss occurred in action. Under the same
date, an arrival of more than 100 invalids was re-

ported from Burnside's corps. If this takes place
early in May, what may be expected when the real
heats of summer are fully developed ? Their losses
in battle also mount up largely. At Wiliarasbuvg
it appears the Federals lost no less th-in 2,500 men,
but as the New Jersey brigade of Geu ral Patterson
had 565 hors de combat, it is excccdingly likely
that their loss is far heavier. It is not to be sup-
posed the Confederates do not suffer from expo-
sure, but they do not lose in equal proportions. On
the whole the advantages of a summer campaign
must be largely in favour of the Confederates. In
Western Virginia there is something more than a
guerilla warfare, although the constant attacks
made upon the Federals are designated by that
name. It is even stated that Banks has been driven
back to Strasburg by Jackson, while Schenck and
Milroy are in a position which gives rise to appre-
hensions for their safety. Guerillas have been hung
by the troops ; reprisals will certainly follow. Al-
though it may not be true that Banks has received
any check, neither he nor M'Dowell have given
any assistance to General M'Clellan.
By the latest accounts, which are dated Sunday
May 11, General
sme,iles from Richmond,
Stoneimn gan'sKaedtivtanCc oe uwr ta-sh
2o u 2
at a place called White House, with the rear-guard
of the enemy in their front, at a place on the line
of railway not more than 17 miles from the Confe-
derate capital. The intervening railway and bridges
on the Pamunkey railway had been destroyed by
the Confederates, who had also sent out a force to
check M'Dowell, although that officer has as
yet shown no disposition to cross the Rappahan-
nock. M'Clellan was resting his army on Sunday,
but the telegraph gave no signs of his having Droved ,
on the following day. General Fremont is traN-1-
ling with his wife and son towards his Mountain
Department, but the attack of Jackson and others
on his lieutenants will no doubt quicken his move-
ments. His destination is supposed to be Monte-
ray, Western Virginia.
The accounts from the Western armies only esta-
blish one fact—that Halleck has no yet attacked
General Beanregard, who was facing him near
Corinth in enormous force, but General Pope, who
was advancing down towards Pittsburg on his
right, had been attacked at Farmington, and had
been compelled to withdraw his troops across a
creek, after a considerable loss, by the Confederates.
Extensive "depredations," as they are called, are
meanwhile reported in Kentucky and Western
Tennessee.

Governor Johnson has been obliged to threaten
the most extreme measures against people who do
not develop Union sentiment. What a prospect for
the United States ! Military governors issuing
ukases, and maintaining themselves by military
force ! Why, even North Carolina—that loyal hot-
bed of Union sentiment, is to have a military gover-
nor all the way from San Francisco ! As to the
way in which these gentlemen do their spiriting,
we have but to remark that General Hunter, nomi-
nally commanding the military district of Georgia,
Florida, and South Carolina, has thought fit to de-
clare martial law in these States, and, as a natural
consequence, he sets forth that the state of slavery
being incompatible with martial law, all slaves
within his command are ipso facto made free ! The
pecuniary question is attracting attention from
those who but a little time before were indifferent
to its magnitude. It is scarcely credible that Con-
gress should have appropriated the sum of
421,000,000 dols. for the military services for the
year ending June, 1863, in addition to the
208,000,000 dols. previously voted for similar ex-
penditure—a total of £135,000,000 sterling. Money
is easy. The World raises its warning voice as
follows :

"par paper currency, owing to the falling off in
business, was about one hundred and fifty millions ;
it will soon be over four hundred millions, owing to
the issue of Government money. Why this is so
will appear from one of the organs of the specula-
, tors who clamoured for the issue of Treasury-
notes :
" 'Never before in our history not even in 1836
—did money increase and multiply at this financial
centre as fast as it is doing at present. Money is
pouring in, not only from the Government, which
is creating its daily millions in the shape of legal
tender paper; but likewise from the banks of
New England, the Middle States, and the West,
which are keenly alive to the opportunity now
offered them of increasing their circulation. Every
bank in the country—with the exception of the
banks of this city, which have never made money
on their circulation—is expanding its paper issues.
The real expansion of the day is not in the ratio of
the Government issues of paper, but in the ratio of
the square of those issues ; for every dollar issued
by Government serves as the basis for an issue of
two dollars by some bank or other.'
"There needed no prophet to foretell all this be-
fore the passage of the Demand-Note Bill, and
nothing in the above is new to our readers. It is
but our duty, however, in this hour of financial
madness, to warn prudent people of what is ahead.
We may have flush times for a year or two, but
the bubble is as certain to burst as to-day's sun is
to set."

It would now appear that the conduct of the Fede-
ral Generals is not approved, that after all the
enormous expenditure cries of neglect, inefficiency,
and mismanagement come from the army.
The Confederates are praying to Heaven for suc-
cess, while the Federals are singing " Old John
Brown," and serenading everybody ; but, indeed,
the Union flotilla must receive almost miraculous
ill-treatment if it does not succeed in destroying the
forts guarding Mobile, as well as forcing the city
itself to surrender. On the 2d, probably, Porter
and Farragut left the Mississippi; on the Bth seven
Federal vesselo had appeared off Fort Morgan, Mo-
bile, and were firing occasionally; 10 more were
moving to the east. On the same day the Union
gunboats were actively engaged reconnoitring in
front of Savannah, where the Federals have been
inactive so long in their threatened attack. Thus
both cities may fall into the hands of the Federals
about the same time. These cities will perhaps soon
present the same appearance as New Orleans—de-
serted streets, closed shops, starving population ;
sullen, discontented, armed guards over the public
buildings; empty Custom-house--these, we are as-
sured, will be the results of Union victories, but
certainly these blockaded ports could not have pre-
sented much tokens of prosperity during the last
year. Here is an account of the effects of the
blockade :

" A copy of the New Orleans Price Current,
embracing a summary of the year's business ending
March 1, 1862, has been sent to the Navy Depart-
ment by one of the officers of the Gulf Squadron.
It appears from this journal that the exports of
cotton from New Orleans for the past year have
been 11,000 bales, against 1,500,000 bales the pre-
vious year. The exports from the Southern ports
have been only 13,000 bales, against more than two
millions the previous year. Exports of tobacco
from New Orleans nothing, against 17,000 hhds.
last_ year. Imports--specie nothing, against
efficientll;
1-2,a0.60000 dols. the previous year; coffee, 300 bags,
blockade"h o
says
aasac,Kims Who
250,000 bags; salt, nothing, against 500,000
tdha? New Orleans has not been
In New York the
wives of the soldiers had as-
sembled in the Ciarms, and threatened ty
Hall with their childen in their
the Mayor, when he endea-
voured to appease
their
they would leave theiraitildren around his house.
in the newspapers, that the?: and it is alleged justly
r husbands had not re-
ceived any pay for three or
even
Mayor's eloquence was lest months. The
into the halls and seized upon the „m—
-they Fathers," burst
who were only rescued by the
City
Police .
nom toeir
grip, and a scene which Could have been by no
means agreeable to the sufferers took place
any apparent termination. Having t, -without 1
ences of the effects of war at home, where
are"lePderi- I
hope the people of the United States will not authet:
ticate the angry promises which are made by th;
worst possible advisers, and seek either revenge or
the reconstruction of their power in levying War
against the unoffencling Powers of Europe.

[ADVERTl39fENT.]—Holloway's Pills.—Ever valued.
—Summer brings with it a class of diseases originating
in diminished nervous power, which both for comfort and
safety should b..e arrested and restored to its natural state.
Holloway's
Pills accomplish this purpose with certainty
and precision. They cleanse the tongue, quicken the
appetite, and enable us to eat food with pleasure, and to
digest it without difficulty. Profuse perspirations, flush.
ings, low spirits, enervation, and weakness generally are
remedied by the invigorating and tonic properties of these
Pills, which brace the nerves and impart renovated health.
Feeble and nerveless invalids will derive from a course of
Holloway's Pills an immediate improvement of their
feelings, which will make them hopeful of regaining greater
strength and better health.