Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-02-03

Special correspOndence OF the Chicago Tines.
Important from Washington.
~ wAsHIseroS, January "a.
have Just returned from visiting the encamp-
ments of the divisions of General Kearney and
General Franklin, some miles across the Potomac.
Ii you could see the condition of nv splashed
boots and of my horses legs, you would think
had been .'in the saddle" for 4 week. The
sacred sOil' is very sticky just now. Ii sticks
to you like wax, and my horse. frisky animal
under ordinary circumstances, had as much as he
could do TO pull bis feet out of the mud, which
now covers all the roads hereabouts TO the depth
of from six to twelve inches. How in creation
artillery and baggage wagons can be pulled along
such roads, can not see. l saw more than
dozen wagons, some loaded with bread, but none
heavily loaded, and each one drawn by four
strong horses all stuck fast up TO the hubs, the
drivers swearing and shouting, and the horses
pulling away in sullen desperation. / returned
TO the city over the aqueduct. and near George
town saw battery of brass field pieces in mo
ton. The horses, SIX TO each gun, were splendid
animals, but IL evident that their strength
was being severely taxed. The wheels sank
keep into the mire and the spokes were thickly
coaled With the heavy clay. IL set me to think
ing how an army, with field artillery. could be
man9uvered IN such country. The move
ments even of infantry and cavalry on such a
soil as that which the army of the Potomac now
occupies, must be attended with almost insuper
able difficulties while il is next to impossible TO
use field artillery as il should be used
The army here now is thrown forward west of
the thirtytwo forts which protect the capital If,
when the grand movement takes place, battle
is fought between Centreville and Baileys Cross
Roads (which two places are seventeen miles
apart) il will be the design of the Confederates
IN ba 10 IN l,o
and cut them off from their base of operations.
If the action takes place far west as Halifax
they will have much better opportunity 20 do
this than il the line of battle is no further west
than the line of our present encampments But.
in either case, if the action takes place while the
roads in the present condition, the difficulty
of moving artillery rapidly may be very unfor
tunate circumstance | am beginning to think,
however, that the army near Washington will
not have much fighting to do this winter The
action of the drama, however, will now very
soon unfold itself. But if. ia twenty DAYS, a
great battle is not fought near CenTeyille. there
will be none till spring, and the armies will re-
main facing each other, as they now DO, till then
By that time, unless we have won great and de
cisive victories elsewhere, we will have Euro
pean war on our hands. arising out of questions
connected with the blockade
The camps across the Potomac, day or two
u .
of the Hutchinson Family of singers to.abOli-
tionize the men. This is part of the abolition
programme. The abolitionists, in the language
of Scripture, now compass land and sea to make
one proselyte, and, when he is made they make
him ten times more the child Of Satan than them
selves They sent these Hutchnsons TO the
camps to sing their detestabe abolition and trea
sonable songs, and among them the one encour-
aging amalgamation, containing the lines;
'IwiIl court some dark skinned maiden;
! She shall rear my dusky race"
Some of the Democratic soldiers, who had
white wives and children at home. thought that
was hardly the thing, and represented the matter
at the division headquarters i wish you could
have heard what Gen. Kearney said to the pest
lent Hutchinsons as he ordered them to leave. He
told them that the rebels themselves were not
more dangerous to the Republic than the abOli-
tionists. and that their vile songs a disgrace
70 the age and TO humanity. AL the soldiers Sin
the army, except very few of the radical Re
pnblicans, were deeply ineensed at the impu-
dence of the fanatical fools who came to SOW
! among them the seeds of discomfort. In every
! regiment there is band of amateur singers fully
as good as the HutchinsOns, ami, on the night af-
ter the expulsion of the latter, several of these
a mateur bands gathered around Gen. kearney 5
1 quarters, and made the air vocal with patriotic
songs, spiendl0ly executed. ne regiments nave
had singing of their own, in their own camps,
every evening. Gen. Franklin also ordered the
Hutchnsons out of his lines. On learning the
facts, Gen Mcclellan expressed his qualification
at the course of Gen. Kearney and Gen. Frank
lin, and issued an informal order to all the Gen
erals of division which will prevent the nuisance
in future.
The recent affair of the priyateer Sumter, at
| CadiZ shows the necessity of our having Minis
/ ter at the Spanish Court who understands his
business. The authorities of CadZ, acting un-
dOubtedly under the instructions of the Spanish
| Government, permitted the Sumter to enter that
port and land hes prisoners, the American citi-
zens whom she had taken captives from on board
three American vessels, which vessels she had
afterwards burned. Ii we had Minister at
Spain worthy of the name. he would enter an in
dgnant protest against this act. demand his pass
ports, and return home. As it rs. our Govern
ment is in no condition to chastise Spain tor thus
conniving at this act OF piracy, we must pocket
the insult and bottle up wrath the political
pars0n said in his prayer in the Senate on tie
day after we had given up the rebel ENJOYS. A
pretty expression that, by the way, for Christ
ian minister to use in PRAYER.
| The Paris Potrie and the Paris Pays both cor
roborate the statement in one of my former let
ters that Mr. Seward at first Offered to restore
the ENJOYS on condition that England would not
recognize the Southern .COnfederacy, but that
Lord Lyons positively refused to make that or any
other condition.