Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-09-21
From
INACTIVITY OF THE NAvY-AFFAIRs IN KAN
sAs-WHArW WILL BE DONE IN CONGRESS.
Special Correspondence Of the Chicago Timesl
" AsHISerox. September 10.

- w HAT WILL BE DONE IN CONGRESS.
Especial Correspondence of the Chicago Times.1
WAsHIseroS, September 10.
Charleston is not yet taken, and the Confeder-
ate flag still waves over Fort Sumter. The last
dispatches from Charleston, received here yester-
day, state that on the 7th inst Admiral Dahlgren
demanded of Gen. Beauregard the surrender Of
Fort Sumter. Does not this seem to your read
ers ridiculous? Let it be remembered that this
demand was made tto Ueeks after the official
announcement had been made that Fort Sumter
had been reduced to a heap of ruins" and after
Gen. Gilmore's Chief of Ordnance had reported
that any further firing upon it would be a waste
of ammunition, and a week after the furious
bombardment made upon it on the 3lst of Au-
gust. No wonder that Gen Beauregard replied
to the demand that Admiral Dahlgren can have
the fort when he takes it and holds it, and that
till then his demands are puerile and unbecom-
ing" Indeed, the country has a right to ask,
why is it that the navy has not taken possession
Of Fort SUMTER" 1t is now twenty days since
that fort was reduced TO a heap OF ruins not
by the navy, but BY Gen. Gilmore's twelve bat
teries on shore; and the furious bombardment of
August 80 was also performed by the land force.
If Fort Sumter was on the land, doubtless before
this it would have been approached and carried
by the troops, as Fort Wagner and Fort Gregg
have been. And vet the naval forces still keep
at a most respectful distance from is, although
thew have their six or eight impenetrable IRON
clads in which to reach it. What is there abort
Fort Sumter that has such a magical influence in
r~epeIliHg the advance of the navy? The country
begins to believe, however, that the cause lies
with the naval commander, or else with the
means which the Administrator has placed at
his disposal. In fact, | am strongly inclined to
think that the song of the honest Irish soldier
hits the nail exactly on the head, as witness a
few lines:
''Ochi Admiral D~ullgreen, tits aisy to be seen,
That ashore so lone you've been, you can never toe the
Our gallant Gilmore stands.
Holding hard his threatened lines, pushing far his works
while YOU. KNOWN mis- designs, sit with folded hands.
Give us back the brave Dupont; Ammon, grim but
always kind;
Aye, and Worden, though half blind. Give us these
once morei'
That il il, exactly. In removing Admiral Du-
pont the Administration committed the same
kind of a blunder that 1t made in removing Nc
Clellan. Admiral Dalhgren is an admirable Off
Ger in many respects, but he is out of place in
command of a fleet of iron clad vessels in action.
That work requires a man of iron frame and of
herculean powers. Admiral Dalhgren broke
down under the work long ago, and. but that he
hoped to recover daily, would have long since
asked to be relieved. And vet the Administra-
ton organs here have the duplicity TO deny that
he is sick at ALL ] have the testimony of gentle
men direct from the feet that bis health is in a
very delicate condition.: that he is rapidly break
ing down, as much from the close and sitting air
of the iron clads lin which, in spite of all state
ments to the contrary, he spent a grea. deal of
his time,) as from the enervating effects of the
climate. The surgeons say that he must 60
North for a season, or else entirely break down.
On the 7th inst, after Beauregard's reply, as
above. had been received, another furious bonn
bardment was made upon the ruins of Fort Sum-
ter; but as to what effect that great waste of am
munition" had. we are not Informed.
Fort Wagner has been taken at last. But
the operations against it have required much
time, and have cost a terrible loss of life on our
part. The taking of Charleston, at that rate,
will prove a costly undertaking.
] have never heard so much swearing since /
have been in Washington. or such lawful" hard
swearing. as the radical Republicans and Adolf
tionists of the Charles Sumner and Horace Gree
lev school INDUCED in yesterday, when il became
known that General Schofeld, at ST. Louis, had
issued a positive order to Jim Lane and his Kan
sas ~rufians. commanding them to keep on their
own territory, and not to invade the State of
Missouri. / am sorry to say that | believe Mr.
Lincoln would have rejoiced il the bloodthirsty
intentions of Jim Lane had been carried out, and
if he had indeed invaded Missouri with his gang
of cut-throats; and carried murder and deyasta-
ton through the whole western tier of counties
in that State. I know that the President was
importuned by the men to whom i allude, not
only to permit this to be done, but to send ex-
press orders to Lane to see that it was done. If
the President had followed ont his own inclina-
lions, he would have done so; but, to speak
plainly, he did not dare to. He did not forbid it,
however. 1t is said that Gen. Schofeld's order
of September A, originated with Gen Halleck,
and was telegraphed hence on the ID or Sd And
/ make this statement the more cheerfully be
cause I have occasion to condemn as iniudicious
80 many of the official acts Of Gen. Halleck.
In this instance be has done an act which both
history and his conscience will approve.
Since writing the above. the rumor has pre-
vailed here among military men that Gen. Hun
ter is to be sent to command the Department of
the Missouri. from which Gen. Schofeld is to be
removed. IL is to be hoped that the rumor is
not well founded, for Gen. Schofeld has adminis-
tered the affairs of that department with marked
ability, and is, to all appearance, just the man
for the place. If it should prove true. however,
il will only be another illustration of the weak
and vacillating character of Abraham Lincoln.
1t will be a compromise which he will make.
between his own sense of duty and right on the
the one hand, and the demands OF the radical
politicians on the other. Gen. Hunters former
brief administration in Missouri, at the time he
superseded Fremont, was marked BY wisdom and
ability. and, as he is no stranger to Jim Lane. he
will probably, in case he is sent to Missouri, give
no more aid and comfort to the radicals than
Gen. Scao6eId does. At all events. he will be
pretty certain TO keep the bloodthirsty Senator
within proper bounds.
The next session of Congress will be far the
most important that has ever assembled. IL will
be distinguished by the presence of some real
statesmen. and by the absence of many men who
/ l..~-.>o &Lo national rounr,l cha uhoro in tho
last Congress. With such men as Reverdy John
son, Of Maryland. and Mr.. Richardson, of ILL
nois. in the Senate, and Fernando Wood, of New
York, and Mr.. VOORHEES,. of Indiana. in the
House, the country may look with confidence for
a very different tone from that which has pre-
vailed in Congress for two years past. The otter
failure Of the Administrator will be exposed and
denounced The road to honorable peace. and
through peace to ultimate reunion and national
power and prosperity, win be clearly pointed ont
Nor will this be all. The conservative element
in the House of Representatives will probably be
strong enough to control its legislation. If they
are not strong enough to stop the war entirely.
ii is probable they will at least be strong enough
to change its character; to divest it of those fea-
lures of ferocity which will forever disgrace us
in the eyes OF p~osteriiy, and 20 cause it to be con
Quoted on humane and Christian principles. To
the shame of Mr.. Lincoln and his Administra-
ton. history will record that the war has been
conducted as If by savages, and as If against a
foreign nation. When really those whom we are
lighting against are our own brethren and
kinsfolks. K
a. An unsophisticated genius down east,
who don't know Old Abe 90 we'll as we Spring.
field people do. innocently asks IL there Is not a
mistake in the signature Of the celebrated letter
to the Springfield convention. He thinks IL
should be A. Ward instead of A.. Lincoln.