Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-01-31
Special Correspondence Of the Chicago Times
ImpOrtautsrOm Washington.

Special Correspondence Of the Chicago Times.
Important from Washington.
Physical Iplpediments 10 Actire Operations on the
POtOmac-The Small Game Of the AbOltionists.
and Hon il ras Frustrated Who is our Min
lister to Spain?-V indicafion Of the Truth Of
History
WASHINGTON. January "a.
have Just returned from visiting the encamp-
ments of the divisions OF General Kearney and
General Franklin, some miles across the Potomac
If you could see the condition of nv splashed
boots and Of my horses legs, YOU would think |
had been lin the saddle for a week. The
"sacred soil is very sticky Just now 1t sticks
to you like wax, and my horse "A frisky animal
under ordinary circumstances, had as much as he
could do To pull his 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, / not | more than a
dozen wagons some loaded with bread, but none
heavily loaded, and eleh one drawn by four
strong horses, all stuck fast up to the hubs the
drivers swearing and shouting, and tie horses
pulling away in suen desperation. | returned
to the city the aqueduct. and near George
town saw a battery of bI~sS field pieces in mo-
ton. The horses, six 10 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 1t set me to think
ing how an army, with field artillery, could be
manpuvered 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 it is next to impossible to
use field artillery as il should be used
The army here now is thrown forward west of
the thirty two forts which protect the capital IT,
when the grand movement takes place, battle
is fought between Centreville and Bailey'S Cross
Roads (Which two places are seventeen miles
apart it will be the design of the Confederates
To flank the Union troops to get i'm theirl0ar,
and cut them off from their base of operations
If the action takes place as far west Halifax,
they will have much better opportunity 10 DO
this than If the line of battle is no further west
than the line of our present cncampments But,
in either case il the action takes place while the
roads are 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 it, in twenty DAYS "A
great battle is not fought Centreville. there
will be none tlll spring, and the armies will re-
main facing each other, 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
ago were in hubbub account Of the attempt
OF the Hutchinson Family of singers to aboli-
tionize the men. This is a 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 Hutchinsons to the
camps TO sing their detestable abolition and trea
sonable songs, and among them the one encour-
aging amalgamation, containing the lines
twill court some dark-sknned maiden;
She shall rear my dusky race"
z Some of the Democratic soldiers, who had
white wives and children at home. thought that
was hardly the thing, and represented the matter
n the division headquarters j wish You could
have heard what Gen kearney said TO the pesti
lent HutchinsOns as he ordered them to leave. He
told them that the rebels themselves not
more dangerous to the Republic than the aboli-
tionists and that their vile songs were disgrace
to the age and to humanity All the soldiers en-
the army except a very few of the radical Re
publicans. were deeply incensed at the impu-
dence of the ianatical fools who came to
among them the seeds of discomfort. In every
regiment there u DailN OF amateur singers July
good as the Hutchinsons. and. on the night af
ter the expulsion of the latter, several of these
maieur bands gathered around Gen. kearney's
quarters, and made the air vocal with patriotic
songs. splendidly executed. Theregiments have
had singing OF their own, in their camps,
every evening Gen. Franklin also ordered the
Hutchinsons out OF his lines On learning the
facts Gen Mcclellan expressed his qualification
AZ the course of Gen. kearney and Gen Frank
sr4, to al he
erals OF division which will prevent the nuisance
in future -
The recent affair Of the privateer Sumter. at
Cadiz, shows the necessity OF our having Minis
ter at the Spanish Court who understands his
business The authorities of Cadiz, acting un-
doubieiy under the Instructions of the Spanish
Government. permitted the Sumter TO enter that
port and land her prisoners, the American citi
zens whom she had taken cantives from on board
three American vessels. which vessels she had
afterwards burned II we had Minister at
Spain worthy of the name ne would enter in
dignant protest against this act. demand bis pass
ports, and return home As IL Il. our Govern
ment is in no condition to chasiise Spain for thus
conniving 1t this act of piracy we must pocket
the insult and bottle NJ our wrath the political
parson said in his PRAYER in the Senate on the
dav after we had gwen up the rebel ENJOYS
pretty expression that. BY the way, for a Christ
ian minister 10 use IN PRAYER
The Paris Pafrie and the Paris Pays both cor
roborate the statement in one of my former let
,ers. that Mr. Seward al first offered 20 restore
the envoys on condition that England would not
recognize the Southern .Conieieraey. but that
Lord Lyons positively refused to make that or any
other condition.
DisFrRrNcr-W lille Judge Howe is arguing
the uueonstilutionality OF the fugitive slave Law
in the Senate. President Lincoln IN the White
house appoints tor the Supreme Bench for life a
man who believes the law constitutional. This