The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-19 00:00:00

Confederate Prospects.

A writer in a contemporary says :—The Euro-
pean eye, gazing through the clouds raised by
Federal claqueurs,will discover those unreal shadows
which Federal voices now proclaim to be veritable
triumphs. That they are shadows time will prove.
Newspaper correspondents for the sensation journals
of New York have so often destroyed or captured
General Lee's army on paper, that he must certainly
be allowed a few days' grace for the purpose of re-
appearing erect and defiant. At the risk of being
considered both obstinate and ill-informed I shall
dissent from their opinion, and most probably from
the great mass of Europeans who now, doubtless,
consider the war at an end, and that it requires only
the formality of apportioning the conquered pro-
vinces to insure the restoration of the " glorious
Union." Take my opinion for what it is worth,
and say in December if I have not truly understood
" the coming events which cast their shadows before
them."

Richmond was not the original capital. Inc
Government was moved there 'shortly after the
secession of Virginia in June, 1861, for the pur-
pose of 'giving moral aid to the Virginians, by an
assurance from the more Southern, States that her
soil should be defended to the last extremity com-
patible with the general good. How nobly that
implied pledge has been redeemed, the deeds of
the past four years testify in letters of gold, which
future generations will read with admiration. The
Virginians themselves have done wonders—they
have filled the ranks with gentlemen of education
and refinement, who have borne every privation
without a word of complaint, and in so many thou-
sands of instances as noble martyrs have laid down
their lives upon the altar of their country. The
grand old State has been scourged with fire and
sword, its fertile fields have been drenched with the
blood of her best, bravest, and purest sons ; yet not
a murmur has the proud old commonwealth uttered
in the hour of the greatest agony. Nor is her ardour
or patriotism in the slightest degree diminished.
Richmond was the pride of all Virginians, and keen
indeed has- been their sorrow to witness its fall into
the hands, of the modern Huns. But the only re-
sult will be a still more stern defiance, a still more
bitter resolution to conquer independence. The
shades of Jackson, Stewart, and a host of fellow-
martyrs beckon them onward in the path of honour
and of manhood. After the heroism of years it is idle
to suppose that a race could be so recreant to them-
' selves, to their country, to their children, as to suc-
cumb so long as a band of guerillas could strike a blow.
Past history disproves it, for the future is but a repe-
tition of the past. Before the:war, Richmond was a
city of 40,000 inhabitants. Accessible as it was by
water, it has been a source of wonder that its eva-
cuation was not long since compelled. Only distant
about 100 miles from the enemy's capital, their
generals from the beginning deemed its acquisition
easy, and the prize thus grasped was to bring also
the termination of the war. This delusion was
similar to that which prompted the North to begin
the war in the expectation of its ending in 90 days.
The evacuation of Richmond has been a real military
necessity for twelve mouths. It was impossible to
supply the army from a country desolated as Vir-
ginia is. Three-fourths of the provisions for the
soldiers, and corn for the horses, besides ammunition
and other munitions of war, were transported from
Georgia and Alabama, a distance of 1,000 miles,
over a line of railway defective and worn from long
usage, upon which the regulated :speed was 8 miles
per hour. Probably the only reason for holding
Richmond was the hope that tardy justice would
be done by recognition in Europe. When that
fallacy was dispelled there was no longer a neces-
sity for its retention, as the moral effect of its
evacuation could produce no damage. When the
evacuation of the Atlantic seaports was resolved
upon, Richmond was no longer to be held. I
know of one foreign despatch, which, months ago,
said that its evacuation would not be delayed
longer than the Ist of June. It was of consider-
able importance to get everything away which could
be useful, and this was probably being rapidly ac-
complished. But the sudden movement of Grant,
with an overwhelming force, which I have no doubt
was strengthened by nearly all of Sherman's army,
compelled General Lee to gradually fall back after
a series of bloody battles, and leave Richmond to
its fate. Arsenals, storehouses, and the great mass
of public property and tobacco have been fired. True
to their instincts the Yankees endeavoured to save
the plunder by extinguishing the flames which were
destroying so many millions of dearly-loved dollars.
General Lee's loss has certainly been heavy, doubt-
less 10,000 men, but you will find that there has
been no route, no crushing disaster, and that the
great body of his troops have retreated in good
order. He will have under his command, including
Johnston's army, fully 150,000 men between Raleigh
and Lynchburg. Whether his line of defence will
still be in Virginia or in some other State, will
depend entirely upon the ability to supply his
armies. From the fact that very valuable lead
mines in the Virginia mountains furnish a large
supply, General Lee will most probably defend
that line. The retention and defence of Mobile,
whilst the other ports were given up, indi-
cated to observing minds the intention to locate
the Government either in Montgomery, Ala-
bama—where it was first organised—or somewhere
in Georgia. The defence of Mobile would prevent
the Yankees from penetrating the interior by means
of the Tombigbee or Alabama Rivers. Possession
of Richmond does not give the Federals more than
2,000 square'miles of additional territory, and the
war assumes another phase. Their armies will be
compelled to commence new operations, and to
penetrate into the heart of the country hundreds of
miles to seek out and crush there the still defiant
rebellion. Their troubles have only commenced,
for whilst the Confederates now give up an exhausted
territory, which the Federals can only hold so long
as they maintain therein a preponderating military
organisation, the Southern armies will be concen-
trated in a rich and productive country, with ample
supplies, and will fight upon an inner circle,
Yankeescon-
nected by many lines of rail, whilst the
facilities
will meet with increased difficulties for every mile
which they advance. They have no such
harastshethCeoirnfredeaer-.
of communication,
. will the longer their
ains,
and, being compelled to trans-
port their supplies in waggon trains,
basea tesline boeffc o mtheesi
their the hseu
pmpol
ee
If Generals Lee and Johnston do not wish to fight
seasaallidy
pitched battles, a constant series of skirmishes and
retreats will prolong the campaign to an indefinite
length, without any decided result. Marching
through a country does not conquer it. The
Yankee armies may leave a trace of desolation like
the track of a hurricane when it passes through a
forest. But in other respects there can be no sign of
subduing the country, and when the army marches
on all traces of its subjugating power are moved, as
the waters of the ocean close up in the wake of any
steamer which cleaves its way amidst them. The
capture of the largest southern city, New Orleans,
with 175,000 population, gave the Yankees partial
control of the Mississippi, but it required fifteen
months- to capture Vicksburg, which would have
been no disaster if General Joe Johnston's orders
had been obeyed to evacuate it. And yet, what
benefits did they obtain ? The Mississippi River is

still unsafe even for their best
steamers are constantly destroyed in he tititein& to
navigate it. Their garrisons hold four or five points
upon the river, and cannot venture into the country
ten miles except in heavy force. Every attempt to
penetrate east or west has been a disaster, and their
only profit has been the systematic pillage of
the unfortunates who resided within their line of
march. The disastrous defeat of Banks up Red
River compelled the evacuation of all the trans-
Mississippi Department, a territory of 400,000
square miles, and more than eight times the area of
England. The possession of a fleet has enabled
them to hold in check our army of nearly 100,000
men west of the river so long as General Lee's and
General Johnston's armies were operating at such
an immense distance to the east, nearly 2,000 miles.
But now, when the Government will be nearer, this
force will be enabled to co-operate and to cross the
river whenever required. The Confederacy is not
dependent upon the arsenals and workshops of Rich-
mond for supplies. For instance, the greatest
powder mill, producing 10,0001 b. per day, is located
at Augusta. The supplies of nitre are procured
from thousands of artificial beds prepared three
years ago in every
locality of the Confederacy. The
greatest arsenal for field artillery is also at Augusta ;
but there are others at Macon, Selma, and Mont-
gomery, east of the Mississippi, and vast workshops
of every description were organised in Texas and
Western Louisiana three years ago in contemplation
of this very step of evacuating Richmond.
Paris, April 16.

THE AUSTRALIAN MAILS.

(REUTER'S EXPRESS.)
SOUTHAMPTON, April 18.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Nyanza, Captain Weeks, with the heavy Calcutta,
China, and Australian mails, arrived this evening.
She brings 195 passengers, 16 packages, value
£24,800 ; precious stones, value 1,000 rupees ; and
1,017 packages. General cargo, including 710
bales raw silk, value £60,000 sterling.
The Nyanza experienced in the Mediterranean
light breezes and fine, along the coast and across
the Bay of Biscay thick and rainy, off A shant and
up the Channel heavy fogs. The Nyanza spoke on
the 7th the steamers Poonah ; Bth, the Ellora ;
14th, the steamers Dido, Persian, and Orontes ; and
on the 15th, the Ripon steering south-east.
The French frigate Perdrise and Egyptian fleet
were at Alexandria. At Malta were H.M. ships
Victoria, Royal Oak, Resistance, Enterprise, Peli-
can, Surprise, Wizard, Hibernia, Psyche, Cossack,
and three Turkish ships of war.

GIBRALTAR, April 13.
Her Majesty's ships Racoon and Procris are in
the harbour.

The bark Dement, of London, sprung a leak on
the Bth, and foundered two hours after wards off
Cape de Galt, whilst on her passage from Constan-
tinople for Cork. The crew were picked up by the
British brig Cambyses, and landed here on the 10th
inst.

The bark Wigtownshire (of Newcastle) was
abandoned in a sinking state on the 3d inst., in lat.
47 10 N., long. 8 30 W., whilst on her passage from
Shields for Genoa, 11 days out. Her crew were
landed by the steamer Aleppo on the 6th.
The following British vessels arrived here since
the departure of the last mail for Southampton:—
Steamer Messina, 10 days from Glasgow ; steamer
Sydney Hall, 9 days from London ; and steamer
Aleppo, 5 days from Liverpool.
H.M. screw troopship Himalaya arrived here on
the Bth in five days from Kingston, with the 84th
Regiment from Malta.

Exchange—London, 90 days' date, 49i ; Paris,
sf. 25c. ; Marseilles, 8 days out, sf. 17c. ; Genoa,
sf. 26c.; Madrid, 2 dis. ; Cadiz, 31 dis. ; Seville
par ; Malaga, dis. ; Valencia, par.