The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-03 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH.
(No. I.)
There is no use in prefixing a date or a direction
to letters written at intervals from time to time, as
I find occasion and opportunity in the course of my,
wanderings through the South to halt at various
stations and to put together the result of my ob-
servations and reflections on what I have seen, and
I therefore shall forward this communication as
soon as I can get within the reach of any postal
system, just as it has been composed, uncertain
when it may arrive in England or where it may be
finished. As I write lam in the State of Missis-
sippi, and on my way to Virginia and thence to
Washington. The time is the middle of June. As
to all knowledge of the world outside the Confede-
rate States, lam in perfect ignorance. The posts
are stopped, the telegraphs are mythical, the
" news" not truthful or even novel, for a skirmish
is made to do good duty as a battle, a victory, a
glorious achievement, a brilliant success—in fact,
1 as everything but a skirmish, for at least a week
or ten days.. Of the Northern States as little is
known here as there is of Europe, and all one
can learn of England or of France is contained
in some dubious extracts from Northern papers
in reference to the policy to be adopted or the
opinions which have been expressed regarding
the Confederate States whenever the general tone
and temper of the remarks are favourable. This
much by way of preface and explanation. With
all their vehement hate of each other, and the wild
exaggeration of their words, the Northern and the
Southern armies are at present paralysed by want
of an efficient transport in the presence of each
other's outposts and on their own soil. There may
be bloody conflicts, there may be considerable
slaughter in undecisive fights, but no battle can be
lost or gained of such a character as to produce any
great influence on the course of the campaign till
General Scott, on the one hand, and Mr. Davis, on
the other, shall have succeeded in organizing an
efficient force of cavalry, artillery, and, above all,
a proper commissariat and transport. Mere infan-
try combats, unless in siege operations between
covering and investing armies, rarely determine the
issue of any war, no matter how sanguinary they
may be. It is impossible for me to express any
opinion as to the condition of the Northern army
till I see it, but, so far as I have had means of exa-
mining the state of the Southern troops, I incline to
think they are not at present capable of any'very
great aggressive effort ; and I am disposed to the
belief that nothing but the instinct of self-preserva-
tion will prove strong enough to hold them toge-
ther, even in a defensive attitude, for any consi-
derably protracted war. In cavalry and field artil-
lery they are miserably deficient, and mere talk
about " cold steel" will not win victories or main-
tain successful campaigning. I doubt if Mr. Davis
could for his supreme struggle just now put 3,000
horse and 50 pieces of light artillery in the field.
If General Scott is not much better off, he has,
at all events, the nuclei of both arms in the United
States' cavalry and artillery which remain to
him ; and it will not have been unobserved by
Europe that, while the officers of the United States'
army have to an extraordinary extent proved un-
faithful to their flag, or, at least, have gone over to
the Confederate States, the troopers and common
soldiers have, almost to a man, stood by their colours
and refused to take service under any persuasion
with the Secessionists. As to commissariat supplies,
so long as the armies are scattered in various pro-
vinces or States resting on rivers, railroads, and
towns, in the midst of corn growing, beef and mutton
making communities, there may be no very great
difficulties felt by either, but when the armies are
massed together or moved away in rapid marches
their deficient organisation on vital points will be
speedily apparent and cruelly felt, and as the war
goes on the North, having the sea open and supplies
of food and other matters accessible, must have the
advantage in the long run, if there be one. Even
at this moment the Southern troops seize on carte,
horses, and stores, for which the commissariat offi-
cers give receipts that at some time or other will
entitle the owners to payment in Confederate States
money. All this will icon be severely manifest in
the States subject to these operations when regular
campaigning:comes on, and unless a proper trans-
port and commissariat be organised, the country in
which these armies move will assuredly be obliged
to submit to pillage, plunder, unforeseen contribu-
tions, and much of the calamities of war, which will
be intensified just in proportion to the want of iden-
tity of sentiment between the inhabitants and the '
troops moving through their villages.
No one can say in such a conflict, or, indeed, in
any warlike operations, what a day may bring forth,
but it is evident as yet that the South has lost
ground, and that the North has gained it since the
fever of excitement which broke into flames at
Sumpter ran through the Union, and devoured it
with the consuming eagerness of the fire in stubble.
A blockade has been enforced, which, despite all
assertionsan d pretences to the contrary, has pro-
duced already, to my certain knowledge, much in-
convenience,and will, I believe, causs serious mis-
chief in the South. At present the Southerners are
cheered by the hope, almost as strong as a conviction,
that England and
bleckide to be Franceenforceda
s so 0
nd dare n
se t
heo
et 0
tpermittonero thep i s
ready, and that they will find means to raise, resist,
or force it, even by a war with the United States.
Theyloc
impossibility of enforcing a
b
their hetirecoast, and of the thousands of
k blockade
tall:, l k
of, too,
al
1
o
miles of coast which they Possess,
as
the navies of the world could not do that which the
navy is called on
to perform. a
a rf
l(janngitueadgSetkaitanss' nbeeanv
usedßut it is not necessary to blockade all these many
miies of coast ; nature--thy; coral reef, the sand-
bank, shallow water, dangerous seas, have done that
From
work most effectually. England
Chesapeake Bay, on
a n
elsewhere.o
Similar that all
the north-west frontier of Virginia, to Galveston,
or Indianola, there is no port which a vessel of
'
large tonnage would care to enter which is not at
this moment nearly as efficiently blockaded as is
usual in war. The Fortress Monroe commands 1
Norfolk, the best harbour and port
on the Southern
coast. Broad River, Port Royal, and Wilmington
are of little consequence, and can he closed at any
moment. Savannah, Charleston, Pensacola, M?-
bile, and New Orleans are at present under watch
and ward. Cast your eyes over the chart of shallow,
tumultuous, eddying waters, fanged with rocks and
reefs, end breaking .on outlying sandbars, which
chafe the shores of the Southern States, and you
will sae abundant reason for the conclusion that.
foreign shipowners will not be anxious to run
in for cargoes on these dangerous coasts. As soon
as the stock of merchandise, provisions, wines,
clothing, bouts, tea, coffee, and such articles, now in
the South is exhausted a powerful test will be ap-
plied to the statement that the South can supply
itself, and can produce all that it wants. Already, .
for example, there is an outcry against the scarcity
of salt_ When the salting season comes what will i
become of the meat ? And without salt pork what A