The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 23, 1861

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA•

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
WASHINGTON, SEPT. 6.
Major-Gen. Fremont's proclamation has driven a
wedge not only into the fine piece of Cabinet work
at Washington, but into the whole substance of the
Union party. It did not need any such appliance
to cause fissures in either, for there were, and are,
deep rents and cracks in these fabrics, built up as
they are of bits of different platforms, which all the
Union glues and the varnishes of the politicians
could neither eventually cement nor conceal. A
system of ostracism and the liberal use of Lafayette
once introduced, it is hard to say where the result
may end, or when those who enjoy the power
will become philosophers enough to deny themselves
the exquisite pleasure of sending off an opponext
at an election or a possible rival to the seclusion of
the strict retreats, where he may reflect on the
errors of his way, and repent him of the evil he has
done. Ido not attach any importance whatever to
rumours, but it is within my own personal know-
ledge that serious personal dislikes exist between
the members of the Cabinet. The President in the
main cultivates the iatimacy, and perhaps approves
the councils, of Mr. Seward, but he is exhibiting
a rude vigour of his own,—rude because it is dis-
played openly,—which proves that he can reduce
his Cabinet to what it really is according to the
American theory—a mere board of heads of depart-
ments, who may be asked their opinions of any
matter as amici curice by the President, or who may
be put on one side if he pleases. Mr. Seward, wise
in his generation, confines his attention to the one-
rous business of his own department, but others of
his colleagues distinguish themselves by an un
lucky assiduity in tormenting themselves with the
affairs of departments which do not belong to them,
and " everything by turns and nothing long" are
the teredos of every plank in the Ship of State. Mr.
Lincoln, who has a right to go everywhere (and to
do anything he likes apparently), evinces a solici-
tude natural enough in all that is going on in the
army, the navy, and the other branches of the
public service, and has lately turned his attention
to the subject of big guns and ordnance. It would
surprise an Englishman, whose notion of the func-

Lions of a President, founded on the popular idea
that they were those of a milder sort of chief magi-
stracy than that which we have the happiness to
possess, probably restricted his powers to that of
veto or approval by signature of Acts of Parlia-
ment, and the sending of messages, to be told that
Mr. Lincoln is not only head of the army and navy,
but that in such questions as the propriety of re-
lieving Fort Sumpter by a military and naval ex-
pedition the Illinois lawyer studied books, heard
arguments on both sides, and finally determined on
the course to be pursued. Pray observe with what
subtlety the Southerners have acted, in the lan-
guage they have used in familiar correspondence
and in the press, when speaking of the United
States. They never mention the name of the ex-
Great Republic. The United States' army is to
them "Lincoln's mercenaries," the United States'
navy is " Lincoln's warships," and so on through all
the varieties of Lincoln's " hordes," " barbarians,"
" savages," &c. ; they endeavour to fix on the Pre-
sident the direct personal responsibility of the
whole conflict, and to restrict the agents he uses in
waging it to the Yankees of the New England
States.

The mass of the South are fighting for a Union
of their own, to which they have insensibly trans-
ferred their loyalty, and their national feeling,
which unquestionably is great, in the old flag, and
believe they are fighting against an alien enemy—
one Abraham Lincoln, who is aided and abetted by
the powers of darkness and their Yankee co-efficient.
And yet I have reason to believe Mr. Lincoln is
one of the most moderate men in the section of his
own Cabinet which looks to internal politics, and
that in the present distracting discussions he gene-
rally inclines to the view that the North is not
making a war against slavery, and that the result
of her success need not be the liberation of the
Negro. Mr. Blair, who is a downright dour Cove-
nanter of the American sort, and with whom the
Southern slaveholders are sons of Belial—" a sword
of the Lord of Gideon" man, who could smite Phi-
listines hip and thigh from the rising to the going
down of the sun—and being a chosen instrument—
I speak, of course, metaphorically, and not physi-
cally—has a great influence, derived from the clear-
ness of his head, his persistency, and the rigidity of
his principles, among his party ; but his doctrines
would most likely end in confining the United
States to the original New England settlements or
in establishing a dictatorship resting on bayonets.
What prelacy, Popery, and monarchy were to the
men of the first Covenant, Southern rights, slave-
holding included, are to Mr. Blair. Nor are they

less so to Mr. Chase, who possesses, after all, the
largest and most solid brain in the Cabinet, but who
had no objection at one time to let the South go if
it liked, believing that the system on which it was
founded must in the end, and not distantly, be the
means of inflicting a punishment and vengeance on
the seceding States far more terrible than any either
the army or navy of the North could execute. It
may readily, then, be imagined how General Fre-
mont's proclamation increases the difficulty and
augments the animosities which exist in the sections
of the cabinet. Lest it might be supposed that the law
confiscating slaves who had been employed by their
master against the United States in any way, which
Congress passed at the last moment, and which the
President signed so reluctantly, has been taken by
General Fremont as his authority for the edict he
has put forth, it may be as well to point out that
he goes so far beyond the terms of the statute as
to liberate the slaves of masters who are in rebellion

against the Government, and so far as his district
extends, therefore, he would, if successful, liberate
nearly all the slaves, because there can be but little
doubt that a vast number of the masters in the
South are in rebellion against the Government of
the United States. To the Democrats of the
North, who are at this instant talking of " guaran-

tees" for the South and the remission of the Consti-
tution in the same breath in which they speak of the
vigorous prosecution of the war for the Union and
denounce secession as revolution, the doctrine,
founded as it is on the undefined powers of martial
law, must be particularly objectionable. It may be
a bold stroke of General Fremont to attach to him-
self a coherent mass of the Republicans, or it may
be a simple act of war, without any arriere pensee.
At all events, it is embarrassing. The Commander
of the Forces in the West is an ambitious, bold, and
enterprising man, bat it will surprise me to find he
proves a very great man. lie is profuse in expen-
diture, energetic in action, and speculative in plans,
but still I. doubt whether he can effect all that is
expected of him with the materials at his disposal.
A new difficulty has just sprung up, not
only for him, but for the Federal Government.
Kentucky, the object of so much solicitude,
seems, notwithstanding the majority of Union men
returned to her Legislature, to be about to cast her
lot with the Southern States, as Mr. Preston ad-
vises, or to be made the theatre of a " belluin
civile in belle civile." Yesterday the Governor
of the State sent his message, and made one
more effort to assert the sovereign rights of Ken-
tucky as an armed neutral Power in the quarrel
between the so-called Confederate States and the
United States of America. At this moment the
Federalist troops are actually on the soil of the
State, and the Confederates have just invaded it,
and have seized upon positions commanding the
Mississippi at Hickman, below Columbus, the latter
place—as, indeed, I suspected, all the vicinity—.
being Secessionist of the most determined cha-
racter.
The Governor orders them to withdraw on
both sides, and menaces the opposing forces with
the arms of Kentucky. Like Randolph, he steps
in with drawn sword between the Confederate
Norval and the Union Glenalvon with, "Hold! I

command you both ! The man who stirs makes me

his foe ;" then orders them off the premises to fight

their battles outside. As 3et the Confederate seems
most disposed to yield, possibly because he is tole-
rably sure of his object without any fight for it, for
the position of Kentucky exposes her to such pres-
sure between the upper and the nether millstone
that she must give way at last, and it is easy to see

in what direction that movement will take place
unless indeed she splits in two. It will require suc-
cess in war and great dexterity to make Kentucky
safe for the Union ; greater still to recover Mis-
souri, in spite of the extreme weakness, feebleness,
and ignoranea of the Confederate leaders, and their
inability to turn their advantages to account. The

war of the colonies with Great Britain must have

been conducted very much in the same fashion on

both sides. The'vast size of the States and the enor-
mous distances to be traversed render it impossible
for mere fighters to do anything except kill and
wound each other in a guerilla, till a leader, some
soldier who knows something about the A B C of
his profession, rises up and reduces the efforts of
his followers to a systematic mode of warfare. It
is pitiable to see the Union distracted as it is, but
I fear the condition of things will become worse
instead of better. No one out of the great pit can
rejoice in the sight of the people of this mighty
confederacy—that had once a future which the eye
of speculation tried in vain to pierce, but which
must now be sought for by the eye of faith alone
—turning their grand forests and mountains, their
cities and villages, their glorious plains and
prairies, their rivers and seas, into scenes of blood-
shed, rapine, and blind rage; but unless in this
hour of peril some voice is heard which:no man can
yet hear, and some hand is felt which is as yet
covered with clouds and darkness, the prospects
before us, which black as they were a month ago,
have been charged with additional gloom by the evi-
dences of disturbed .unity in the North, cannot be
regarded without terror and dismay. " Wait till
we are ready," cry the professional gentlemen, who
are preparing their batteries and sharpening their
tools for the great operation. " Have a little pa-
tience, and you will see what a cure will be effected."
Alas ! it will all end in mutilations—tin wooden
legs and arms for the poor body politic. And mean-
time the expense—the fees. One million two hun-
dred thousand dollars a-day. The people have come
forward to the loan office with their tribute. As yet
they have subscribed in New York about three-
fourths of one day's expenditure ; and the banks are
to be repaid their advances. If they do not see a
great national impulse in support of the Govern-
ment there is little chance indeed of the other ad-
vance of 50,000,000 doll. in October, not to speak of
the further sum in prospective.
It is under such circumstances that the New York
democrats boldly denounce the Republicans as being
next in guilt to the rebels—call on the Government
to offer the South a convention for the amendment
and revision of the Constitution, to encourage loyal
citizens in the South by ample guarantees of just
sinto a war of emancipa-
tion and stigmatise any at-
temptof restoring the Union,
at
inodn aa os
tnofoautt raualrbnit
theeo cao Inlconflict
hopes
Having thus attacked their natural enemies in their
own camp, the Democrats proceed to assail the acts
of the President and of the Government itself. The
suspension of habeas corpus, in defiance of the At-
torney-General Bates's opinion, is declared to be the
prerogative of the representatives of the people,
and not of the Executive. The passport system, the
State police system, the doctrine of Mr. Lincoln,
that the Federal Government gives the States their
authority, instead of deriving it from them, and the
restrictions on the liberty of the press by suspend-
ing the transmission by mail, are unhesitatingly
condemned. If the Democrats throughout the States
adopt these principles, it is evident that a great
blow will be given to the Government in its efforts to
grapple with the difficulties around it, notwith-
standing the strong resolutions in favour of the war
for the Union with which they were accompanied.
Hence Cabinet Councils and secret sittings—hence
Ministerial wanderings. The gleam of sunshine
from Hatteras has thrown a dark shadow across the
South. It has revived the hopes of the North, and
gilded the weathercocks of the Navy Department,
not forgetting the much-abused and hard-working
secretary, Mr. Gideon Welles. But for the present
it is not considered prudent to attempt the reduc-

tion of the fort defending Beaufort, or of other works
further South, where all will be put on the qut wive
for defence by the recent operation. For a short
time to come they will have a respite. The land
forces are, as you will see, engaged in skirmishes and
in the preparations for deeds to come, and so great
are the issues and so thoroughly bent are the North-
erners in their object down here, that no one who
believed in the report of Mr. Jefferson Davis's death
—and there were many who did so—spoke of it as
an event which would influence the course of the
war or the strength of Southern resistance, although
some considered it unfair that he should be per-
mitted to baulk their vengeance and escape the
gallows. General Beauregard has been feeling his
way along the front of the Confederates, from Alex-
andria below, to Great Falls above the capital.
There are the usual doings in scoutings and shoot-
ings goineon daily, and Munson's hill, which is
only two miles outside the Federal lines, and can be
plainly seen with a glass from the Navy-yard, is
occupied, and is said to be fortified by earthworks
and batteries. Is General Beauregard about to try
a second Sebastopol ? It would be a curious and
interesting military spectacle to see " an invest-
ment of the south side" over again, and two armies
engaged in making approaches to lines of earth-
works, and defending them, with a city on the
water, and a long bridge, and a Navy-yard, and a
good many other things incidentally resembling the
position before the Russian stronghold. Scarcely,
I think. It is quite certain that he hathactually
commenced his march on the 28th of August to
cross the Potomac and cut off Banks's column, when
he received the news that General M'Clellan fore-
seeing the probability of such a movement, had
baffled him by ordering Banks to withdraw from
Harper's-ferry and concentrate his forces nearer to
Point of Rocks. In the present state of things a
serious action may occur at any moment. From Gene-
ral Smith's troops up at Little Falls I hear accounts
unfavourabie to success in battle, as the troops are
said to be in very bad order, though the officer in
question is one of the best in the service. The army
here seems to me in better order, and Gen. M'Clel-
lan considers it is making very fair progress. Still
it is difficult to judge. The men are kept in their
camps ; a cordon of sentries is drawn round each
regiment, and not a man is allowed to go out, un-
less he has a pass, or is permitted to bathe or mar-
ket. There have been all kinds of rumours and
alarms of war—nocturnal marches of infantry and
batteries through the streets. The night before last
a distinguished little crowd came. to my window at
the small hours to ask the meaning of a movement
of troops towards the Cha. bridge and Little Falls.
Gen. Welellan, at midnight, sent out two bri-
gades and a reserve of guns in consequence of in-
telligence that the enemy had appeared in force
across the river that day; and there were the
Ministers of two foreign Powers, a rich banker,
and others anxious to know " if the capital was
going to be attacked." We live in rather exciting
times. If Sir Wtn. Armstrong had one of his guns
at Munson's-hill he could do me the favour of drop-
ping a shell down my chimney without any great
effort. As to my diary—l; Story, God bless you !
I have none to tell, sir." The world cannot be much
interested in hearing that one day I rode out be-
cause it was dry and saw the President on my way
under a tree, and that another day I staid at home
because it was wet, or that such a regiment
marched down the Avenue one day, and looked
better than another which had preceded it the
day before. If it would not prove very agreeable
to chronicle small skirmishes and useless deaths of
gallant men, still less would it be worth while to

record my own personal movements in and about
the camps. The correspondents of the American
journals, who were denied passes for the last two
days, are now to receive weekly orders from the
Provost-Marshal's office. By the mail from New
York next Wednesday there will be, in all pro-
bability, some more important and exciting news
to be told to the English public.

General Beauregard, in his official report, is said
(by telegraph) to say that the battle of Manassas
was an artillery duel ; not very far from what your
correspondent said it was.