The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-20 00:00:00

inside after the place fell, says there was only ) '
one man killed to be found inside the larger work.
It is to the troops who took the small work in the
centre of the island that the honour belongs. The
sister services all the world over are animated by a
jealousy more or less wholesome, and pull as well
together almost as the French and English du in an
allied expedition. The flag of truce sent down on
espion to Columbus reports to-day that the Confede-
rates are evacuating the position, destroying their
winter quarters, burning their stores, and removing
their guns, except those in the water batteries. Let
there be no outcry made about this use of the flag of
truce, which has been perverted on both sides. There
is no want of instances where it has been similarly
employed in recent wars in Europe. There is a rail-
way from Columbus, which is on the left bank of the
Mississippi, below Cairo, to Memphis, whence there
are railroad communications with the whole of the
Southern and Western States; but the Confederates
were exposed to complete isolation by the recent
successes of their enemy on their flank and rear on
the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. It is scarcely
credible that they will he guilty of the folly of falling
back on" island No. 10," which lies above Memphis,
in the Mississippi. If they do, a dose of Dahlgren
shot and mortar shells will but induce them to
repeat the capitulation of Donnelson. There was a
strongly situated intrenched camp on the bluffs,
some hours' journey above Memphis, when I was
there, where they could better make a stand, but
their river positions are exposed to be taken in re-
' verse, and they will not like to put themselves under
two fires. The Mississippi expedition is now
moving down the river, and the land forces are said
to be in motion also ; nor do the 4derals hesitate
to express their conviction that th will be in New
Orleans in a very short time after they have over-
come the resistance to be expected near Memphis.
That city was poorly defended by parapets of cotton
bales and some heavy batteries when I was there,
and any attempt to protect it would lead to the
destruction of the place by the fire of the iron-
plated gunboats. These latter are considered to be
a great success. Foote's flagship was struck 61
times at Donnelson, and the iron mail suffered little
though the woodwork was knocked to pieces.
The news which has just arrived that the
Confederates are surrounded by Buell's forces
at Murfreesborough is most important, if
true, but granting that there is a railroad
from Nashville, which has fallen into the
hands of the Federals, to that place, it must be by
virtue of great strategical and marching powers
that General Buell has got round his enemy so com-
pletely as to be able to demand their unconditional
surrender. Undoubtedly, the possession of that
place would be a heavy blow to the Confederates.
It would apparently throw the whole of the rail-
road into their hands down to the junction with the
Memphis line, cutting off communication with Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, and the Eastern Slave
States, except by a most circuitous route. It is not
easy to perceive how Beauregard, who is down with
them, can extricate the Confederates if these reports
be correct. He has a formidable adversary in Buell.
The surrender of Nashville was a military necessity;
but if the Federal Generals had lain on their arms
after their successes, and had given time to the Con-
federates to collect themselves and their energies after
their defeats they might have given their enemy some
trouble. The negroes are said to have followed their
masters. They have not gained by changing them in
other parts of the States "up to the present writing,"
and the accounts from Port Royal and the coast of
North Carolina of their condition continue to be
unfavourable. I am not prepared to accept the
Murfreesborough story, but the telegram will set it
right or wrong before the Boston steamer sails.
The Confederate Government is by no means pre-
pared to yield Tennessee. It is true Nashville has
gone, and the Cumberland river is in Federal hands,
and the Tennessee river is almost theirs; but the
Confederate Government has called out 22 iegi-
ments in the State itself, and West Tennessee is
loyal to the core to the cause of Secession. The
defence increases in desperation as the Federals gain
ground. The surrender of Fort Donnelson is no
exception to that remark. The causes which led to
it yet remain in obscurity. General Buckner's
statement, that he found himself unexpectedly
in command, does not throw any light on the
other circumstances which induced him to follow
Mack's example at Ulm. The cause could
not have been want of ammunition nor of food,
for it is said that stores of both were found inside
the works. I have spoken to an English gentleman
who conversed with many of the prisoners at Chi-
cago. They told him that, after fighting all day
and inflicting a tremendous loss on the enemy, they
lay on their arms to renew the fight. At dawn they
were ordered to pile their arms by their officers,
They did so without a suspicion on their minds till
the Federal columns appeared marching into the
works. My friend failed to discover any Union
' sentiment of which the Chicago papers speak
among the prisoners, whom he describes as rough,
ill-clad, powerful fellows, animated by the most
bitter feelings against the Yankees. If the Con-
federates in Arkansas deliberately poisoned the
provisions left behind them on the evacuation
of Mud Town, so that 42 officers and men
died after eating of them, General Halleck will
be justified in treating such ferocious men with
stern justice. It is to be feared that an inhu-
-1 man and atrocious spirit animates the conduct
I of the war in the remote border districts, which i
I are far removed from the knowledge or control
1 of the central authorities. But arson and bridge
I and steamer burning are not uncommon in the in-
\ terilr States. It was with difficulty the people of
', No.shville prevented 11. a., Texans burning their beau-
i.f..ll city before they retreated. Meetings of cotton
planters have been hcqd, with the view, it is said.
i to an organized ineendiarism of any cotton which
may be in danger of falling into the enemy's hands.
IHowever, a Federal officer who proceeded some
1
days ago up the Tennessee river as far as Eastport,
in the State of Mississippi, below Florence, de-
clares he found "Union sentiment" strongly preva-
lent along the banks, and " Union sentiment" may
mean 25 cents a-pound for cotton. It is significant
that he could get so far in a single gunboat, and
that he could carry away unmolested a quantity
of stores intended for the Confederates from
Clifton, Tennessee. The attention of the Trea-
sury and of Congress has been turned to the best
mode of cultivating and rearing cotton in the parts
of seceded States in Federal hands, and of re-
opening trade with Southern ports. The sooner the
better. The Tax Bill is to be reported by the
Committee of Ways and Means this week. With
its operation will come the solution of the great
experiment. There is reason to think the Eastern
States will pay their share. But will they pay the
proportion of the Western States also in case the
latter declare their inability to do so? The Ger-
mans in these States roundly say they have saved
the Union, and that is as much as they can be ex-
pected to do. There are thousands in the Western
States exulting in the prowess of their people, who
will use the same arguments, and in some of the
States the inhabitants of large districts will be
found unable, even if willing, to pay their quota.
MONDAY, MARCH 3.
A heavy fall of snow took place yesterday. It
froze hard last night. It is thawing to-day. An at-
tempt to get across the river, and see how matters
were going on in the camps, was utterly unsuccess-
ful on my part. Tho thaw had loosened the roads,
and the snow was churned up with the mud into a
treacherous compost varying from 18 inches to 21
feet on the levels, and any depth you like in the
ruts and hollows. The waggons along the road at
the Long-bridge were up to the axles in it, and
the six mules or horses to each could scarcely move
them- This disposes of the advance for a day or
two. It was struggling through such mud as this
that General -;_etsiearnaslt. Landers, the news of whose death
lie
waxs'
endion reached us last night, expired.
men slog, inea"uting, I am told, to force his
ing Gap, for which of the raid on Bloom-
commendation fro had received such very high
in
wea.tanton, and died at a place
called Paw-paw,
bye, one of your contempotr tern Virginia (where, by the
describes Burnside's
lee: as operating, to thereat
..rnerican papers), rather from
ovnleugriremkent of some
the effect of the wound he received. afttharnßfarollm,s
Bluff. His loss will be greatly felt, and especially ,

by the "'energetic" section of the belligerents. The
roads will prove as grave an obstacle to the Confe-
derates in making any fresh dispositions as they are
to the Federals in their advance. The former are
quite aware of what is coming. Intelligence
from their campS informs us that they have sent
away their sick and women and children, and that
they ale ready to break up cantonments at a short
notice. By this time Mr. Jefferson Davis's Message
has been received in England. The Federals see
in his frank confession of " serious disasters" an
expression of despondency as to the ultimate re-
sult of the struggle, but there is to. the neutral eye
no such meaning in the calm admissions which
are rather made the bases of a more strenuous policy
and more vigorous resistance. And in his deter-
mination he is well supported by the " so-called"
Senate of the "so - called" Confederate States►
which on last Thursday passed a resolution that
the Government would entertain no proposition
for peace founded on the exclusion from the Con-
federacy of any of their States, and pledging
themselves to continue the war till the invading
enemy should be entirely expelled from their ter-
ritories. This is the best answer which can be
given to the rumours that proposals to treat had
come in from Mr. Davis, and this measure will
effectually cut the ground from under the feet of
the Democrats of the North, who have been dream-
ing of a Peace Convention and of a reconstruction
of the Union on the old basis. The constancy and
unshaken faith of the Confederate leaders are
worthy of the highest—let us not say a better—
cause. Extracts from the Southern journals, which
are made here to prove the straits to which the Con-
federates are reduced, do but exalt one's opinion
of their tenacity of purpose. Their soldiers are ill-
clad and badly armed. They are not well fed ; and,
as to the state of supplies, read this
" Gold commanded a premium of 40 to 50 per cent.,
and silver 35 to 40 per cent. in Richmond on the 25th
of February. Whisky was worth 2 dols. a gallon for
common and 4 dols. for choice brands. Butter was
424-c. per lb., and sole leather 75c. a pound; calf-
skins 55 dols. a dozen. Apples in the Richmond
market commanded 15 dols. a barrel."

However, the dollars are in paper. We don't kno w
what we may come to in paper currency yet, though
France is alive after a paper age in which a man had
to pay I,ooof. (assignats) for a decent dinner, and
half the United States exists after an infancy sus-
tained on paper currency which is not liquidated to
this day. The Confederates are about to appoint a
General Commanding-in-Chief; they are creating
a navy—where, how, and from what is beyond
our ken ; and their President boasts that he has
400 battalions in the field, with proportionate
forces of cavalry and artillery. Mr. Davis inveighs
strongly against short term enlistments, which
have impaired their ability for successful defence,
and as the Southern papers contain many adver-
tisements for substitutes, at sums varying from
50 dole. to 1,000 dohs., it is probable the new levies
called for by the different States, which are said to
be in course of organization, are pressing hardly on
the. populations. There is amid all the distress and
discomfiture of the South no sign of repentance,
submission, or fear, any more than there is on the
part of the North any token of weariness, relaxation
or infirmity of purpose. If a correspondent could
multiply himself at this moment he would be ex-
ceedingly useful, as the American papers are now
forbidden to publish any news relating to the war,
except that of such accomplished facts as Govern.
ment may please to communicate; but as Washing-
ton is the centre of the most authentic information,
and as it will be close to it in all probability
that the great battle is to be fought, it is better
for me to remain here than go on uncertain
missions with expeditions in the West and in
the interior, where the telegraph will far anticipate
written despatches, if, indeed, the latter ever
reached at all. As a proof of the insecurity of the
postal system westward, I may mention that the
despatches between the Navy Department and
Commodore Foote and others in the West have been
mislaid or intercepted on several occasions, and they
rely principally on the telegraph, the cost of which
to Government is something enormous. This is a
war of lightning—in all except celerity of move-
ment and brightness of flash. But Fort Donnelson
would be a respectable victory in any part of the
world. There was a large " butcher's" bill, and
though no official details have been published, I
have reason to think that M'Clernand's division
lost upwards of 1,300 men in the sortie.
Although Mr. Seward is described to be somewhat
uneasy on the score of intervention, the relations
between the State Department and the British Le-
gation are more easy than they have been for some
time past, even before the Trent affair, and the
American Minister expresses a regard for Great
Britain whiCh is inconsistent with the opinions
perhaps so erroneously attributed to him. For
myself, I must say that, having had several oppor-
tunities of hearing Mr. Seward speak of Great
Britain, it struck me that at the bottom of his
heart there was a profound respect for the tradi-
tions, literature, and power of England, mingled
with a disposition to regard certain of her institu-
tions as deplorable weaknesses, and that, next to
the favour of his own countrymen, he coveted the
notice of England, and would attract it, if it could
be done in no other way, by a slap in the face. The
letter in which he has renounced all claim to the
Presidency has produced no impression ; but I be-
lieve that if Mr. Seward were in that office, he
would be less hostile to Great Britain than many
of his brother politicians, though he would not
hesitate to encounter any risk except that of war
a l'outrance in defending a pet syllogism or expres-
sing a political paradox in a neatly rounded sen-
tence. It is almost alarming to see that the Ame-
can papers are beginning to praise Lord Lyons.
To slue which have no sense of thame, dencency,
or Justice there is a nice appreciation of profit and
loss, and in the face of the published correspondence
they dare not deny to the Minister they had vilified
and abused the credit of fairness, moderation can-
dour, and a sincere desire to maintain peaceable, re-
lations, exhibited at the very time when they were
accusing him of violence, passion, partisanship,
and Secession proclivities, and shouting out for his
dismissal a la Crampton.

DEC171..4L COLVAGE.

-.--- ---

The lovers of progress and friends to improve-
ment will of course be glad to see any remarks on
decimal coinage—a subject apparently forgotten, if
not altogether abandoned. It may be well to re-
mind the Decimal Coinage Association that from
their exertions alone can success be obtained for
the accomplishment of the desired object, so useful
to the public and now so necessary to enable us to
keep peace with other countries.

Are we to be for ever left behind benighted
amidst the complication of an old-fashioned system
of s. d. f. with three divisors ? And is the arith-
metical knowledge of our merchants so inferior to
that of a junior clerk in any counting-house at
Hamburgh or Amsterdam that they cannot see the
evident advantage of using decimals in all their
calculations ? A quarter of a century at least has
elapsed since decimalising was first proposed, giving
ample time for instructing even every man and boy
in the kingdom in a competent knowledge of the
use of decimals. And surely at this season of pro-
found peace, with a legislature idle for want of
business, it may reasonably be expected that a
measure so long and ably advocated may be at
length promoted by Government, and that we may
eCin in the decimalising the coinage one step in im-
provement, giving a hope that at no distant day
another may be accomplished in freeing us from the
1190 of one hundred and tweivo pounds for one hun-
dred weight. A. Z.

=---
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