The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-18 00:00:00

serious character not only an the North, but in
Europe. The fruits of its success can only be
developed by time. Assuredly there n ust be
something more than a mere haryin a. of the
seaboard, the destruction of property, he burn-
ing of small towns, or the flight of t "contra-
bands" to the ships to justify the assertion that
the expedition has done everything to con-
tribute to the subjugation of the South or the
reduction of the Confederates to submission. We
shall speedily hear if the fleet has rounded the capes
of Florida, or has stopped short on the coast nearer
Richmond; and then a few days more will suffice to
report its appearance before the ports in the gulf.
Mobile is, perhaps, for its size and importance, the
least difficult of attack, but it is by no means an
easy nut to crack. Galveston, which has been men-
tioned, is of little consequence in comparison with
the places alluded to. Besides, there is really
nothing there. The blockade has produced great
distress. The town is in darkness ; there is no
coal for gas, and the lamps are not lighted ; and it is
positively affirmed that there is not a stone-weight
of candles in the whole place. There is not a hundred.
weight of coffee in the stores, and other articles of
first necessity are equally scarce. Beaufort, in
North Carolina (not the place spelled the same
way, but pronounced Buefort, on Port Royal River,
in South Carolina), which also offers considerable in-
ducements to attack, is defended by Fort Macon, a
first-class casemated work, mounting about 160 guns.
The fortifications, which were built by the United
States' Government to defend the shores of the
seceded States from attacks by sea, are now used by
the Confederates to resist the fleets of the United
States, their weak points being all landwards, as is
the case at Fortress Monroe, at Macon, at Sumter,
and at all the strong places I have seen in the
country, except the formidable defences of New
York, which are, however, weaker on the land
side than on the sea faces. But, no matter what the
risk, " something must be done," for the country
is fretting and fuming at the inaction or the slow
progress of affairs, while money is flawing away
into contractors' expanded pockets, into the coffers
of bankers—after a preliminary canter out of their
road by way of the Treasury—and war, with all its
cost, even that of blood, is waged without progress.
From Kentucky there is such " no-news" that we
are justified in thinking the Government has
nothing good to tell us, and that General Sherman
was not quite wrong when he made the statement
attributed to him in General Thomas's most remark-
able report, to which I solicit your best attention,
that it would require 200,000 men to save her for
the Union—in other words, to prevent her being
taken out of it. From Missouri we only know that
General Fremont is pursuing General Price with
solemn state, and no indecent precipitation which
may ba forced upon him by the condition of the
force he commands, as he has everything at stake on
overtaking and defeating his adversary. If he fail,
or succeed not quickly, the Presidential scissors is
ready to cut his thread ; and even now there are
doubts whether he is not hanging on by a cord of
his own spinning. " Something must be done," for
the Government of the United States exhibits to
the world the strange spectacle of a capital
blockaded from the sea, which is in its power—its
exclusive command—while its vast army is kept at
bay by the enemy within a day's march of its
streets, every onward step being resisted and de-
feated with disheartening losses. " Something
must be done," for Europe is becoming impatient of
this cruel and apparently hopeless strife, which
causes so much misery to the people engaged in it,
and in the populations abroad whose industry is
paralysed by the results of the conflict. It may be
denied that the Potomac is closed, but no vessels
come up, and the price of provisions is rising
rapidly ; winter is coming on, and fuel is already at
an enormous rate. Only the other day a Foreign
Minister was obliged to borrow a small quantity—
say a scuttlefall—of coal, as there was none to
buy in his neighbourhood. The price of that com-
modity has risen to 9 dollars—nearly L 2 a ton.
There are petitions lying at the newspaper offices
in Washington addressed to the Secretary of War,
and praying for his action to avert the evils which
must afflict the poor this coming winter, and which
are now upon them, in addition to the increase in
the high price of provisions and want of employ-
ment. Last night, on arriving by the train from
Baltimore, I found the line blocked up by enor-
mous convoys, which could not be got out of the
way till we had backed some miles down into a
siding, and the railway, in spite of its admirable
management, and the extraordinary ability dis-
played in adapting it to the prodigious traffic
thrown upon it, gave signs in the approaches to the
station, which presented on all sides a mass of
loaded waggons, puffing engines, and great strings
of vans and carriages, that already it had more to
do than it could possibly manage. And this is but
the beginning of the trouble. There is, indeed, at
the head of the Quartermaster-General's Depart-
ment one of the most indefatigable, large-minded,
and energetic men who eould be found in any army,
but General Miegs cannot work miracles, though
he comes very near them ; and his capacity, fore-
sight, and administrative talent are tested to the
utmost to provide for the wants of the day. The
Confederates, who were slow in taking advantage
of their position on the Potomac, are now, no doubt,
revelling in the enjoyment of the mischief they are
doing, and revel iu the pleasures of shelling Gene-
ral Sickle's men out of their camps on the Mary-
land shore by long range fire, or from the impudent
little "Page" which runs across the river, and
drives the Excelsior s, it is said, to great lateral
lengths from her guns.

The affair at Edward's Ferry, as to which the
papers will convey many elucidations in the shape
of reports from the officers engaged, looks all the
worse the more clearly it is seen, and it is hinted
that Gmeral APClellan did not give the orders for
the advance, but that the demonstration was made
in consequence of instructions from a higher mili-
tary authority. There can be no doubt concerning
the delicate state of the relations between General
Scott and General M'Clellan, but it is a base and
scandalous accusation which could scarcely be made
in a country where men are respected for past ser-
vices and high character, and where old ago and
the recollection of a distinguished career combine
to shield gray hairs from insult, to say tfiat Gen.
Scott is " intriguing" to procure the substitution of
the new Major-Gen. Hance'z fur the present Com-
mander-in-Chief of the army of the Potomac. Be-
fore the appointment was noticed in the American
journals, I announced that expectations were
formed, particularly among engineer officers and
the scientific branches of the service, that the officer
who had just returned to the army, after a long
seclusion in civil live, would play a distinguished
part in any command b which he might be ap
pointed; but it is not to be supposed for a moment
that General M'Clellan, in whom such a mass of
the public still profess the utmost confidence, could
be wantonly superseded because he did not wish
to risk a battle against his better judgment. Gen.
) Scott will speedily retire on his full pay and allow-
ances, which were secured to him very much at
Gen. M'Clellan's urgent representation by the
Congress, before it adjourned this summer, and the
choice of his successor will prove embarrassing ;
but, unless I am much deceived, the veteran
General who but four short months ago was but-
tered
over as thi •
ckly with fl:.ttery as he is now
spattered With offensiveinsinuation or worse, is the
,
last man to stoop to an
intrigue" for any purpose
on earth. He may have many faults, but meanness
and underhand dealing cannot be among them.
As it may be well to show
Americans drawn
by themselves, I send you
of the the
picture, which I think a
little harsh and severe, drawnap
the New
of
the army at Washington by in
a writer
York Tribune. It is true in many respects, but it
must be remembered how this army is formed, and
it is unjust to apply the canons of military citicism
to a force raised in a few months from the field and
the streets, though the bombastic nonsense and in-
flated praise one sees in the papers provoke their
application with all but very long-suffering critics
like myself. I have rarely seen, except among the
Court troops of Europe, a finer regiment in appear-
ance than the 44th New York Regiment, which
came in hero a few days ago, and there are other
battalions here and there which really deserve every
commendation for the soldierly look of the men, due