, 1861-08-01
The Stale OF Affairs in xhe South
IEron the PhfIade1nf,fa Press ,IulHp path I

we NAG an interview JesterdaJ WILL gen
tleman who left Savannah, Georgia, on Mon
day, the ed inst, from whom We learned some
Interesting. facts In relation to the state Of
affairs in The South. At that time only the
first reports Of the battle of Bull Eun had been
received there, and there was no great dispo
sition to rejoice ogez the result. The general
feeling was that it was virtually drawn battle,
and as Georgia had lost one Of her generals,
in the person of General Francis Barlow, Of
Savannah; Florida another, mot the General
Johnston who ocomnandedat Harper's Ferry;(
aud .as Gen. Bee, Col Wade Hampton, ofsonth
number OF the rank and file OF the Southern
army, were killed aud many wounded, there
was but little e1nltatton over. their victory.
When he arrived at Atlanta, news Of the
raIld retreat Of our army had been received,
and caused much rejoicing, aud in Tennessee
the same gleefu1 spirit was evinced.- n Ken
tucky the Onion men bore up brave1y against
the news Of our disaster, and ;theY proudly
boasted that the United States Government
WIS strong enough to stand dozen such de-
feats, without being destroyed or sensibly
weakened.
He states that the news Of Gen. McClel1an's
victories in Western Virginia had caused
much depression among the insurgents Of
Georgia; and that they Particularly regretted
the death Of Gen Garnest, and the dsstruc.
ten Of his army, q considerable GO body Of
considered by their hiends uneonquerable,
had been under his command.
He considers that the great error Of the
North has been in undertaking the strength of
the Southern forces in Virginia He has seen
the late battle they had 185, 900 men Under
arms In that State, and since then further re-
Inducements have been sent forward They
consider Virginia the battle ground, and
| Howell Cobb expressed the general convic-
tion when he declared, recently, in Atlanta,
| zion Of Virginia, their whole cause Was lost.
| There are great efforts now being made to re-
| eruit more soldiers, but they meet with com
| paratively little success. Nearly all the good,
available fighting material OF the South has
already been sent forward, and those whom
have but little sympathy with their cause, and
| would prefer not to d ghI at al, or to sustain
| The Union. There is also great difficulty in
supplying with arms, munitions, and equip
merits their new troops.
There will be a great falling of in the cot.
ion crop of the South this year-at least one:
fourth. The planters are undecided as to ths
beEt p1an Of disposiug Of it. Some advise
them to prepare it as usual, and deposit Large
Quantities Of it at New Orleans. Others ar
| opposed to this scheme, because, IS they al
lege, the accumulation Of such stock Of thai
temptation to Northern cupidity, and that tht
Union army would probably capture 1t. Thel
therefore say that for the present IT shoull
not be ginned, but simply deposited IN 1t;
raw state, on the plantations. The effort tt
eecure cotton subscriptions to the Confederat
loan meets with moderate success. The larg
planters Of Georgia appear to be willing t
| subscribe freely, as they are animated BY sucl
an intense haiti ed OF the North, that they ar
ready to sacrifice everything they possess Il
| promote the SUCCESS Of the 1nsurgent army
They say they would much rather BE- be subject |.
Etates, But the email planters have little 0
no faith in the Confederate bonds, and man
Of them refuse to subscribe single bale t.
| the proposed loan
It's said that in the northern part Of th
State there Is still strong Union SCI hmeu'
At Atlanta q soldier, who had been v1sltin
that section on furlougb, declared when b
heard a man hurrah for JEFF. Davis, that b
had lately seen good many Georgians wh
! were rea1y to hu1rah for Lincoln
are all very reserved and silent. Each mn
: \ appears dist1ustfu1 Of his companion, ar
fearful that he may In some way expose I
betray him.
The negroes generally are suIlen and !
served. Great pains have been taken to di
arm them, and there ia but little fear express'
Of an insurrechon, although among 6o1
persons such apprehenaions exist. Our
n foI1nant illustrates the cautious concea1me
D Of their real feelings by q remark Of as1aye
whom he asked, "What do you negroes th11
Of all these military preparations? 7" al1udu
to the formation OF com panies aud the mar
Of troops which he had observed The s
aver was, "Can't say, massa, II We do kus
anything, or the whita people Will cut OF Q
leads"
- Previous to the attack On Fort Sumter, t
conviction Was almost universal in Geor:
> that the Union would be reconstructed. 7
Montgomery Government was regarded
simply a temporary affair, which was resort
10 for the purpose Of fobtaintng from the Mo-
y such concessions as the ultra Southern pol
ciaus demanded, and it was this view OF
moe ttan anything else, which led many u
to favor the secession movement, as only
II adrolt political -maneuyer, that would resi-
not in a 6la1 separation Of the Union,
merely in new guarantees to the South. 81,
the war has fairly commenced, however, m
q who for lorg period defended the Uni
- have become the most bitter and proscript
seeessionists, the change being caused
IS some instances, By desire to secure their |
u soral safety, and in others, perhaps, by 81
! ce1e change Of views.