The New York herald., 1863-09-02
THE AMERICAN QUESTION.

the name OF his brother
THE AMERICAN QUESTION.
~~~o~~e~--~~~~~-~-,~~~o~~-
British War Reports.
ENGLISH OPINION or THE FALL or vIoKsBURa AND
PORT HuDs0H-GUERiLLAs ON THE BANKS OF
THk MISSISSIPPI RECOMMENDED.
(agerstown, Mo- July 2s correspondence Of the Lon
don Times
For months and months the press OF England and Sme
rca has taught It's readers believe that tho fate OF
Vcksbug hinged the fate OF the rebellion 1t has been
IN vain TO raise faint voice OF warning that Vcksburg
asd Port Hudson might stand might fall. but that
federal commerce than would the Yangtze Kang. Both
have laen-what ncxty u has always been held by
many wise heads III tne souln tnat the policy OF hxing
and Port Hudson. and trying to convert them into
Gibratars, impregnabe from land or water, was
mistake and would so DO proved sooner or later Such
points, 1t argued offered resistance to the North
which. with their facilities Of water communication, tney
admirably prepared cope with AS II be.
evident that gunboats and wooden vessels could
pass batteries like those Of Vcksbarg with iDpunity II
became useless 10 expose large bodies Of and abun
dance Of rial to be besieged by land. N0ng
'oaned regard hc Mississippi than small bodies
OF suerlss rpm, either bank. who will pick of the pilots OF
commercial vessels and occasionally send six pOunder
shot through the cabins. All the forces OF the United
states army and navy combaed could not prevent every
commercial vessel which desconds from st Louis to New
Orleans being fired at dozens OF times in her long passage
frnW city to city The Con!edeates have lost the two
stronghods situated for Defence and, report speaks
TRUTH they about TO be garrisoned as well as GraAd
Gulf and Nachez, by the North. II Will probably take
not many months to teach the latter that their govern
ment is far from the OF tho Mississippi
and that the successes OF General Grants will
restore the Union than did the capture or New Or
Such arguments many thousands of Con-
federates in confirmation Of their opinion, am bound
to record that never at period OF residence with
in tho conederacy did SEQ the spirit Of resistance to
Northern domination so 1agrant and ind0mitabe Vcks
burg and Port Hudson may fall, Charleston and Mobile
may bc akenus as every seaport town was taken ard
held by England during the Revolutionary warbut there
is behind them enormous o! richly productive
country which Is unconquerable. The resolution shat,
what may shall the South go under crops up
and meets you every turn and has not hated ot
Of heart hope because tho horizon s for the moment
gloomy aud cloudsd.
THE cHARIKsroN--TR'BuTE
There s In my judgment, only circums connect
ed with the present federal attack upon Charleston which
justfes apprehension in regard the possibility Of s
success. tsto be found the character and ability Of
the naval ccer in command All En2ishmen who have
s % ~ "a WIN
to ordnance and guunery he has NOT living superiors
TO this knowledge he adds tranquil energy Of character
which Is refreshing contrast TO the bombast Of most
federal officers Any attack conducted wholly or IN part
by such officer cannot fail to Be formidable But up
that viii So impossible Tor sSs i.derss 10 reduce
Battery Wagner (Which is the nut that thcy pre-
the cluinocal gales shall have commenced Nothing ID
Ia the latitude OF Charleston than gale or
great violence about the middle Of August The ederas
win then have 10 other method assaiing the battery
than from their land approaches upon Morris Island.
These approaches must % conducted entirely along the
two foot Ii dug in the sand II hls instantly with
water There is therefore. little possibility of ad
vancing by parallels. t 10 doubtful whether any
batteries which tho federas can construct upon the
island reduce 0asemated work like Fort Wagner
But, assuming that Fort Wagner is taken, the
federa will then have to take the work Cummings
Point less strong work than Fort Wagne) before they
can open preaching batteries i,om the end o. Morris
sand hundred and sixty yards After the destruc
tion OF Fort Sumter (and II may be conceived In what
condition. II IL be reduced II will be handed TO the
federas the work OF reducing Charleston will only have
commenced. The conclusion To which all who are ad-
fence cannot bat that. Charleston Is seriously
endangered the task OF reducing IL will severely task
Yankee patience and pertinscty and were i not for the
experience Of the past might be considered certain 70
exhaust such long suffering endurance has been
long exhibited by England and France.
MILITARY NIsNANAGe eNEsT TBE REfEs.
do not propose in this letter to enter into detail upon
the subject OF the important operations ao the Mssis
present 20 say that the fault where may there has
been grieros niondgsmxn ia the ccnduct there OF Cone
dero affairs There have been In the department over
which General Johnston exercises n control, which he
maintains 10 be only nominal but which the War Depart
ment believes TO hove been actua-s department which
extends from MOBILE to Memphis--not less. as am in
formed than one hundred and twenty-five thousand
II Is not necessary recaptrlatc how the ef
ectve acton OF this large body OF men mas ben neoo
tired by breaking them up into four or five compa
rstiveiy Insignificant bodies. Assuming that General
Johnston found himself unable to relieve vcssburg, is
hard TO understand why some other move. such as
junction with Bragg and an advance INTO Kentucky or
descent upon the army General Banks and the ee OF
Port Hudson, might not have been successfully under
taken But a moment when in this city feeling runs
high upon this subject s safer 70 await fuller nforma-
top and camer state OF feeling before any attempt 70
aesign praise blame is prenaturely undertaken The
hopeful feature IN regard she West that the lovcrn
very well aware that there has been great
want Of management aud of hormonous ociOn among ne
o,rdis engaged IN Western operations, aud s earnestly
bent upon introducing Improvement. In addition 70
the under General Johnson's command. there are
the Mississippi some forty atty thousand men
under General Kirby Smith, an admirable officer and II
believed that, south OF the Missouri line General smith
holds the whole country with the exception OF Helena 10
Arkansas Al tho ground which gained In Western
louisiana by General Banks during last winter has again
slipped from the federal grasp. TO no retskeu possibly
during the coming winter and 10 again ncxt sum
the ,ossessiou OF the ctocodes and tho Conede
rates. The task or ssyphus was light
aud feasible compared with the work which the lede
rails engaged 50 long the heart and mind ~
women and children aong than thousand miles ot
the Mississippi remain what they now
MORTALITY sTATisTCs LossEs AND
RIGHTEOUS CuSscRrToH
An estimate made bv the competent authority In
the confederacy hss been laid before me- which NOS
without interest at this moment. rats the and
all hs Soffe1nfe ds1M oad disabling
icounds al beccen setsntg thousand and eighty hosand
psn yer phic e 10 Mose armies logs
'oho attain the ioa'n0 ogs rated at from irtpre hou
sand 10 fosfg thousand dn,uD,. The whole lighting
population Of the South NJ the OF this war
dbov, million Of hoa ss ihan hundred hos
sand hars perished ~ bcsp d,sabd chs seuv owsdwd
wunp hare bern dddei 10 ne fighting Jsralotson.
II VIII be then, that supply tho Southern armies
IN the field there population Of about n,no hundred
thousand men. of whom not than four hundred
thousand a. this ment serving the Confederate
army and navy: There remain about haf milton q
who have bought substitutes serving civil
offices, who, FOR some cause or other, have OBJ
tanned exemptions, or have shirked the conscrption.
Bsre frn9 d1ire' otsr NE Uhoe Of thts large body
of mn the conscrpton wtu. II necessary be rigorous
" erfovcod, without moments thought or apprehen
sion OF suon riots as New York has recently wit
messed the southern States wives and mothers
husbands and sons much bnt they prize their
tfy's independence more Again. after reorganizing Tor
another weary winter The tive sections will hud them
selves face with each other TO resume their old
struggle, marked by the same inability 10 s<tain definite
results. and 10 revolve IN the same monoonous circle
until Manassas Frcdcrcksburg Culpcpper Court House
and Winchester become names familiar tho students
of military history a. oace the cities Of Belgium
when the Low Countries the cockpit Of Europe.
War Debts or the Union.
From the London Post government organ) August IS
the North should be succcssful and the
Uuion restored then the debts OF two
he consolidated, ", on the other hand ID most
probable, the present separation nna then future gov