Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-08-23
Comment. :, 81. !: 4 FF;.. r s.,. on 'A' sAs''' 4
rom the London Times, Aug

At~tAee-
"The diseussions which arose some months
ago in the United States Of North America
have unfortunately assumed the character OF
open war; Such 10 the tranquil comments OK
the royal speech upon the events In the New
World which have fallen % UNEXPECTEDLY upon
the ear Of Europe Our queen has renected,
with an excellent fidelity, the feelings OF her
people. After the fret surprise was over, sna
the "God bless me! you don't say sof nad
been said. We think we never heard Of battle
In which rs 900 men seem to have been engag.
ed on each side, and which fell so blank upon
the public ear, and engaged 90 little European
interest. The fact 10, that we do not like 70
laugh, and the sense Of the ridlculous comes
too strong over US when We would be serious
Il is q great battle without the dignity OF dam
ger and the painful interest Of great carnage,
There are eli the ridiculous incidents Oh stark
fear and rabid terror, without much real peril,
and with very little actual suffering. we pegin
to feel that We have been cheated out Of our
sympathies. When this war broke out, we Eng
lish all pictured to ourselves two earnest sec
tions of the same population, interlaced IN NOR
tai combat. warning to the knife and TO the
death. We received by every mail little samples
Of an atmosphere Of blood and thunder and war
and wounds. All America appeared 20 us, poor
dupesl like fresh exploded mine--all smoke
and fragments and torn limbs. We fancied our
kinsmen reckless, furious, flying at each others
throats, and careless Of their own safety. AT
the same time that they were shaking their
knives at each other, they were shaking their
fists at US. We trembled for what we we're fated
to see. We held our breath for the fret shock
OF battle between these two young giants. We
shut our eyes against the deadly struggle. We
are calmer now. We are all calmer. We are
satisfied that these warlike athletes, who were
issuing such dire threats against any one who
should dare offer TO separate them, are not 30
very reckless. Since their dissensions have
assumed "tbe character of open war" they have
been carried on upon strictly humanitarian prin-
ciples. II we are TO believe the American press,
an American battle has never yet been 30 dan
gerous as an American passenger boat, and not
much more 30 than an American railway. The
hostile forces shell each other out of strong for.
tresses without losing single life. They light
o battle In Western Virginia, which determines
the fate of district at the expense Of less than
q score of casualties; and o great stand up bat
tie is fought between $50 600 men, ending In O
panic and twenty miles run; and when the
"Grand Army Of the Potomac" reaches Alex
andria, the New York Herald reports that "the
killed and wounded on our side will be between
three and fve hundred"
It is very difficult to gauge the aolidity Of
anything American-even Of great battle
We know that there was great rout In front OF
that gap which runs up into the hills, for we
were represented In the tuck, and may say that
we cav IL with our own eyes and heard the can
nonade with our own ears. There is proba-
bility, also. that the number of men present at
the battle mounts to the high figure of Isl, 600,
for both accounts seem 10 agree upon this. Be-
yond these facts, however, everything seems
vague and uncertain. The advance of the
"Grand Army Of the Potomac reads in the
American papers like burlesque of the prog
ress of Xerxes 10 the Hellespont. The great
National victory Of Bull Run, which was fash
ed over the Northern States aud recorded In
the Northern papers, was thing lowering for
hours, while yet in print, upon the confines of
fancy and possibility. The abject rout, the ul'
innate reality, was what we could have least
believed. Perhaps we ought to have anticipated
that the same ferocious men who had burnt up
the homesteads on their line of march, would
speed back over the embers with pale faces in
their panic flight. But this never did occur 10
us. II requires the testimony Of the americans
themselves and the witness Of our own corres
pondent TO suggest 10 US that $4,000 American
patriots fed Tor twenty miles in an agony Of
that rs, 900 other American patriots abs,aiGtd
from pursuing these rs 900 enemies, becsuse
they were not informed how stark frightened
these were. Even the artillery were not capt
ured, but picked up. The guns we're left be-
hind, because they impeded the flight Of the az,
tillerymen, and they might have been to great
extent carried Of, If the appreheDsioDs of the
gunners would have allowed them to take, ad-
vantage OF ;he leisure which the prudent con.
queror was so ready to afford. On the other
hand, our correspondent thinks that the panic
had gone 40 right to the heart Of the North,
that if Gen. Beauregard had the enterprise to
follow up his advantage, he might have gone
almost unresisted into Washington City ITSELF
All that the Northern press says upon this SUBJ
ject, Is to congratulate themselves that the enc
my did not know In what fright they were.
This 10 not our account of the battle. II is
the American account, Ills the account of the
New York papers, alternating, as they do, be-
tween shrieks of victory, of agony, and of vim
dictiye despair. If they have only lost between
300 and 500 men, il seems to US to be a very
cheap lesson. See what they have gained by it.
They have found out row that the spirit of
patriotism, aud even the instinct Of combat,
does not prevent Northern volunteers from 20.
ing OF In body, under pretense Of their time
of enlistment being up, although the morning
Of the combat may be come, and the cannon
may be sounding In their ears. They have
found out also that even Northern army can,
without much good military reason given, lose
Its attraction Of cohesion, ana dissolve into a
mob. They have also found out that the Soutb-
srners are not to be walked over like part
ridge manor, and that they have some military
heads among them. OF course, we must ex-
pect them to meet these hard facts by certain
quantity of bluster. They must call out few
more millions of volunteers, and they must
make confident demand upon an incredulous
world for o few more hundred millions sterling.
But behind all this there must rise gathering
doubt that this Southern nut 10 too hard 10 crack,
and that The military line. az matter Of business
doss not ansp1. The North has now made its
experiment., and not only has it not answered,
but the process has not been encouraging. As
q matter of habit, and to ease the American
mind, certain quantity of threats aud tall
words may be necessary, and they may pass,
But they will be of small avail against the facts
| as they now stand. In the face of the picture
of that screaming crowd-the Grand Army Of
the Potomac, etc.-tbese great words from the
expectant gentlemen at Washington lose every
charm. 1.l
From the Times Aug. 81 9H'
Itiss complete victory-as, much victory
as Austerlitz. All the incidents OF q victory
are frankly stated in the New York telegram.
All the artillery, arms, stores, and email arms,
have been captured by the Confederates. And
now, what next7 No one can hope that this is
one Of those victories which produce peace.
There will be shouts Of exultation all over the
South, and there will be frenzy all over the
North; but we cannot hope that there will be
any thought Of peace. We may be sure that
the iirs. thought will be for revenge. We will
make no remark upon the number Of casualties
| recnrdad. axcent 20 aAY that other telarrams