The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-09-22


THE SITUATION.
Our latest accounts from Washington indicate
no Immediate prospects of battle. While the eff.
cheney and discipline of our army continue to inn.
prove under the vigilant supervision of General
Mcclellan. the conduct of the rebel army in that
direction would lead to the belief that no attack
will be made until such time as General Mcclellan
may decide upon an aggressive movement, which
Will not be until decisive and successful
blow can be struck. Whatever intention thu
rebel generals might at ono time have
entertained Of advancing upon Washington
oy flank movement through Maryland, that idea
has evidently been dispelled by the vigorous
measures adopted towards the unsound members
OF the Legislature and other dsaGrected parties.
which crushed out the last hope Of the traitors in
that State. An officer of the rebel army who is
said to have held high rank. reached Washington
yesterday, having deserted from Manassas in dis
gust, states that the troops are utterly democrat.
lied; that several regiments from the Atlantic and
Gulf States have abandoned the service and
gone home, and that the rebel forces are Who'll.
ly incapable Of either attacking or resist
ing An attack by the Union army. The
victory" of Bull run. he says, had so
disorganized the rebels that their condition was
more critical after that encounter than that Of the
Union army, which had abandoned the field in dis.
order The guns are still maintained at the diff
ferentsponts Of defence, and garrisons kept there
merely for show, while the great body of the armv
has fallen back. This information was Accented
as reliable, owing to the known responsibility and
intelligence of the informant, who is a native Of
Baltimore, and was impressed into the rebel
service. All was quiet in the immense army
OF the Potomac yesterday, and with the exception
of review of General McCall's division by the
Prince de Joinvine and the commanding General.
nothing occurred to disturb the monotony of the
camps. The utmost confidence in the capacity of
the army and feeling of perfect security exist in
the federal capital.
We cannot fail to notice the significant fact that,
while the captious scribbers of the British press
and the representatives of British aristocracy in
Parliament and elsewhere are defaming our govern.
nent and institutions and sneering at the national
cause, the princes of the first European empires
not only endorse the struggle Of the administration
against rebellion, Us Prince Napoleon has done in
his last letter to the Opinion Rationale, but are
throwing themselves into the contest IN tho
~ <ra
de Chartres, the grandsons Of Louis Philippe who
have just rendered their services to the President
and whose swords will henceforth be employed in
the cause of legitimate constitutional govern.
ment. Thus the voice Of sympathy which comes
from the Emperor Of Russia, the candid admission
of Prince Napoleon that the American government
has vitality enough to surmount the present crisis
and will become greater than ever, and the adhe.
sion to our army Of the two Bourbon Princes. are
more than an offset to the equivocal and shuflins
position which English statesmen and journalists
have chosen to assume towards this government at
the present stage of the contest.
We publish to-day an extraordinary letter which
appears in the Richmond Whig, which shows
TINT thorough disgust and want of confidence in
tho rebel government exists to q considerable ~.
tent throughout the South. The condition of tho
army Ia represented as deplorah|e and democrat.
lied. The soldiers, it is said, are treated worse
than dogs, and the horrors of the coming winter
are fearfully depicted. The rebel government ia
openly pronounced to be rotten and Ineffective
and the incapacity of the army to accomplish anv.
thing in the face of the Union forces ia bo,d,v rro
claimed. While Southern men can write and
rebel journals publish such sentiments rs these q;
Is manifest that the state Of Affairs must bs verv
bad indeed within the rebel sta4es.
The condition of things at Lexington. Mssonr,
where Colonel Mulligan, with his Irish Brirado.
and large force of Illinois cavalry, Kansos 70.
giment, and a thousand Home Guards-in all three
thousand 1--WE hundred men-stn holds ont
against the rebel General Price, with an i'm.
>nenss force, continues much the same as a.
tass reporsa By Intelligence from Kansas
Uity, however, We learn that Gen. Price.
with force Of thirty thousand men, made another
aasault On ~ city % Wednesday, which la.tea