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jaws of war-the rapid absorption by the war of capital withdrawn from investments-the additional liability of the North, in the event of Southern independence being maintained, for those portions of the war debt which the Government pretend to allocate to the seceded States, must give the governing, because the most numerous class, a motive terribly forcible for pressing on their delegates financial measures the most unscrupulous and most ruinous to their country.

Such are some of the elements of early difficulty which beset America; but for the present the question is one of war, and we proceed to consider how far the new Confederacy may be expected to maintain its position as a de facto Government, against the great armaments of the Federal Government. The Government has drawn without stint upon the national resources, and the newspapers are never tired of declaring that the country possesses a "magnificent" and overwhelming army, the onset of which we continue to await.

But we must not, like the Americans, in their sanguine anticipations, forget that of the rank and file of this grand army the chief part is little more experienced than it was at the battle of the 21st July-that its officers are taken from the same class as they were on that day, and elected in the same manner-and that of all the causes to which the rout of Manassas has been attributed, none is better proved than the incapacity of the regimental officers. The unfitness of the great mass of the general officers for their position is a necessity. Moreover, a large, and we believe the most trustworthy part of the Federal army is composed of foreigners; and although the Germans are valuable for their aptitude for drill, and the Irish for their courage, their services cannot be the offspring of a patriotic spirit, which might compensate for a defective discipline. They are just such troops as high pay will attract to any service in the world; but the

time essential to their military education has been wanting. Of the soldiers who can properly be called American, we believe that many joined their regiments from a belief that Washington was threatened with capture, and their native States with invasion. It is curious that in the North by many the awakening of the military spirit is ascribed to the ill-judged speech of Mr Walker, then Confederate Secretary of War, who promised to the seceding States that "their banner should wave over the Capitol ; while in the South, men who formerly, and up to a late date, were stout Unionists, declare that Mr Lincoln's proclamation, in which he called for war upon the South, alone alienated their loyalty. It is much to be doubted whether many of the American-born soldiers calculated on or desire the invasion of the Southern States.

It is evident too, that, though the confidence expressed by the Northern newspapers in the invincible character of the army is unabated, it is hardly shared by the commanders. Their measures within their lines on the right bank of the Potomac are rather calculated for defence, or for a secure retreat, than for the advance of an eager and "imposing army." Every road is commanded by powerful batteries and breastworks - every hillock crowned with a redoubt-every mile to which the retreating enemy encourages the advance of their outposts is marked by fresh fieldworks of the strongest description.

The Northern army may probably consist, according to the most circumstantial statements, of about 360,000 men, for the larger estimates evidently include, among those raised by the various States, the "three months' men," afterwards disbanded. Frequent complaints reach us as to the slackness of the recruiting in New York and other eastern States. Many of the 360,000 must be as yet very little drilled, and few have seen four months' service. There must be also a con

siderable daily diminution by casualties. A gentleman who professed to be well informed, but who was himself bound by no official reserve, stated that he had an exact account of the arrival of troops at Washing ton from the date of the battle of Manassas to the middle of October, and that their numbers did not exceed 60,000. It is likely, therefore, that Mr Russell's recent estimate of the "Army of the Potomac" at 100,000 is not much below the mark, including probably about 150 pieces of artillery. Yet, if the Federal general has such a force at his command on the line of the Potomac, we should fall into a grave mistake were we to conclude from experience of European or of any regular troops that he is in a position to advance far into a difficult and hostile country, held by a wary and resolute enemy.

We have seen it assumed by the Times in one of its speculative moments, that" without sending a man from the army destined to protect Washington and to advance into Virginia, the Federal Government can direct expeditions upon other points which they may judge assailable." It is true that, as they have just done, the Government can, with the command of the sea, direct expeditions to any point, and that they have in other quarters large forces in the field; but, besides having to leave some 30,000 men to maintain the quasi-Venetian occupation of Maryland, it must be remembered that their forces have as yet failed to gain one real success (in the European sense), if we except the capture of Cape Hatteras under the guns of men-of-war, and from thence they have failed to advance; that they have sustained several serious defeats, one of which resulted in a three months' suspension of hostilities at the most important point; that they helplessly see the navigation of the Potomac closed; that from Kentucky the most sanguine bulletin announces that "Louisville may now be considered safe;" that in

Missouri, Fremont was unable to prevent the capture of a town, important because held by a competent garrison, and containing large stores of arms, ammunition, and treasure; and that since he took the field he has been unable to prevent the junction of Price and M'Culloch. It may indeed happen that Kentucky and Missouri will be lost to the North. And if the statements of the generals, who almost uniformly report that they have been opposed by vastly superior forces, are to be relied on, the conclusion is irresistible that either the numbers of the Northern army are grossly exaggerated, or that its generals are woefully inferior to their enemy in the important art of bringing their troops to the points at which they are required.

The conditions of the contest will appear still more altered if the state of the South be understood. That its army is inferior to that of the North in equipment, in military material, in the command of European supplies, has been correctly assumed. It is not uniformly clad; its train is less regular and splendid; its field artillery probably less numerous; and the supply of rifled ordnance and gunpowder must necessarily be difficult.

But the spirit which has created and maintained hitherto the Southern Confederacy, has also found means to supply many of its wants. Formerly neglectful of manufactures, even of the simplest kind, the blockade has called forth many which were before hardly known in the South. At Nashville a factory has been established, from which half a million of copper caps are turned out daily. The Navy Yard at Norfolk furnished numerous heavy guns, which are supplemented by factories at Richmond and elsewhere. It is worthy of note that the Federal officers failed to destroy the valuable machinery at Norfolk before they retreated, though they dealt fire and destruction upon the wooden sheds. The arms found in the Federal arsenals, or purchased

by the several States, amounted, by the report of the Secretary of War in July, to 707,000 stand; since which large quantities of the superior kinds of rifles have been introduced through Kentucky, or by running the blockade. The Bermuda alone, which arrived at Savannah about the end of September, brought, among other valuable stores, 25,000 rifles. And it must be remembered that in the South almost every man was possessed of arms, generally of a rifle-that skill as a marksman was highly esteemed --and that in a war wherein bayonets are never crossed, and a "battle" is a volley in the bush, such arms cannot be ignored in the enumeration of the national armament.

The New York papers credit the South with nearly 300,000 men in arms. Mr Yancey said, the other day, it had raised 250,000. American numbers seem fated to be vague, but in July last the report of the Confederate Secretary of War, already quoted, reported "190 regiments and 32 battalions" (the latter probably artillery) as having been accepted into the service, which implied that they were complete; so that, subject to the casualties of war, at least 200,000 of their troops have had the advantage of service since that time. The battle of Manassas took place on the 21st of July; and while a large portion of the Federal army was disbanded after that date, and of course but slowly replaced, the Confederate troops who fought there and at "Big Bethel" as raw recruits have been constantly drilled, have been performing all the duties of an army before the enemy, and are still animated by the memories of those victories. How raw some of them were at Manassas may be imagined from the fact that one battery which

was hotly engaged, and is said to have done good service, had never before fired ball, and that one battalion (of Louisiana) stood its ground for hours against repeated attacks, though it had only been a few days organised.

Further, the Southern force is possessed of elements of strength which might compensate for greater numerical disparity. It is commanded beyond all question by the most talented officers of the late United States army. Few without actual military experience hold the command even of brigades,—and very young 66 West Point officers" hold considerable commands which, but for the jealousy of the Southern public of civilian commanders, might have been given, as in the North, to influential politicians. While General M'Clellan himself, great as his abilities are admitted to be, never held a command, and had, before the separation of the States, retired to a civil appointment, at least twenty of the Confederate generals were brigadiers or field-officers of the little United States' army, and eight or ten others commanded brigades in the Mexican war. Hitherto their tactics have hardly been chargeable with a blunder, while in many instances their plans have been eminently well laid and successful.

Nothing is more conspicuous than the confidence displayed by the army in its generals. When every soldier is something of a politician, seems to understand the features of the Southern case, and to be acquainted with the geography and objects of the campaign, it is remarkable to find a universal belief in the prudence and foresight of the commanders. In all the great commands on the Potomac, where are Johnston as commander-in-chief, Beauregard* and

General Beauregard, formerly an engineer officer, seems to be the admiration and favourite of the army, while General Johnston's military qualifications and coolness under fire are acknowledged.

Buckner, within three weeks after the formation of the Confederate force in Kentucky, had all his departments thoroughly organised.

VOL. XC.-NO. DLIV.

3 F

destined for its supply were driven
into camp from no great distance.
The harvest has been plentiful; the
price of corn in Richmond is but
two-thirds of that of last year; and
the gifts of food which are sent to
soldiers from their friends are of-
ten so numerous as to exceed the
power of the railways to convey
them.

Smith at the head of corps d'armée
under him-in Kentucky, where
are another Johnston, Buckner, and
in another quarter Zollicoffer-at
Norfolk, where is Huger-at York-
town, where is M'Gruder-in Mis-
souri, where are Price and M'Culloch,
such a feeling is constantly express-
ed; and this confidence appears to
be mutual, the generals relying on
their men. There seems among
the superiors to be a calm assur-
ance, resting upon preparations
completed, on troops willing, order-
ly, and improving-on past suc-
cesses, and on what is believed to
be a patriotic cause.

The army itself, to be understood, must be seen and inspected. Roughly, irregularly, often quaintly clothed, not unlike a certain British army whose clothing was a little long delayed, but with something like a soldierly appearance with bright and generally well-carried arms, alert on duty, very rapid on the march-they do not look like men to be readily subdued. The cavalry consists of men accustomed to constant horsemanship; they generally bring their own horses into the service, and their aptitude is proved by the rapidity and accuracy of the movements of strong squadrons quite lately formed. Even Northerners admit the superior discipline of the Confederates, as shown in respecting the property near which they are quartered. We ourselves saw how the country in the neighbourhood of their camps bore no mark of spoliation; and some instances, we are sorry to say, in which, when it fell into the hands of the other side, the most wanton and cruel destruction ensued.

The army certainly in Virginia, and, we believe, everywhere, is plentifully fed; the difficulties of provisioning reported by Northern papers are visionary. Two counties of Virginia alone have meat enough to supply the armies for two years; and even during October, when it had occupied the same district for four months, the animals

Inaction is the bête noir of the Confederate soldier, who has come very often from the far south and west with the idea of an early conflict with the invader. He welcomes the comparative excitement of the three days' outpost duty, performed in turn by regiments detailed one from each of a certain number of brigades, and petitions are often made to have the period extended. Their inaction has caused much sickness, chiefly measles, which attacked especially men accustomed to wholesome country life-the mauvais sujets of New Orleans being the healthiest. These attacks usually left the convalescent weak, and predisposed to low and sometimes typhoid fevers. During the early autumn the Confederate hospitals were crowded; but now the epidemics have ceased, and every report of an expected engagement brings hundreds of convalescents to the front. As the probability of renewed fighting becomes greater, even the sick go reluctantly to the rear by the railway.

The moveability of the army deserves notice. Each brigade can strike its camp and pack its baggage on its carts in twenty minutes; change of camp by some of the brigades is often made so that, concealed by the partially-cleared forest, its enemy knows not from day to day how far its flanks extend. Though less numerous probably than the Federal army opposed to it, the Confederate commanders, as we have already remarked, have the faculty of directing certainly a sufficient, or, as the Federals say, a superior force to every point attacked.

But the most interesting feature

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in this army is its composition. In the first place, it is composed almost entirely of Americans. In its ranks, as subalterns and even as privates, are to be found many men of wealth and good social position serving from a sense of the necessity for united national exertion, and cheerfully performing every duty. A rough-looking sentry, or an orderly with an officer's horse, often proves to be a man with land and property of his own, whom you might have met a few months since in the ball-room or opera.

There are many companies, troops, and batteries, in whose ranks stand the men at whose expense they have been formed, and horsed, and armed-free gifts to the State-men of great wealth, whose life has been of ease, accepting the lowest posts in the service of their State. Mothers sending every son whose age enables him to bear arms, to the war, without regret or a pang-whole families side by side. A mother at Richmond, whose son had gone west for employment, had never ceased to lament his absence; but when the war broke out, and he returned to enlist in the Virginian Contingent, she saw him go without a tear. Almost every one has a son at least, or a brother in the army, but one does not hear of anxieties or fears: it is, "if the enemy beat them we must go too." There was a battery covering the railway bridge at Mumfordsville, Kentucky, in which the captain is the poorest man, and many of the cannoniers wealthy planters. They have mounted their battery with eight rifled guns, horsed it, and serve without cost to the State. Similar is the origin of the "Washington" battalion (four batteries) of artillery, forming part of the "Army of the Potomac." So W of New Orleans raised one in which he serves as a private. Major Y of Louisiana raised a company at his own expense, and is major in the regiment into which it was mustered. He owns six plantations, and near 1000 negroes, and leaves them all. These

are not thought extraordinary instances here. Men subscribe 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 dollars to the State loan. General C- of the Confederate army, reputed to be worth 2,500,000 dollars, and to possess 1500 slaves, has handed over his whole income to the service of the Confederacy, retaining but a modest subsistence for himself. And it must be remembered that in the case of the conquest of the South, not only is the loan worthless, but the South are made liable, by the laws of the U. S. Congress, for a share in the Northern debt-the cost of their own defeat.

Again, the clothing of the army causes but a slight drain upon the treasury. States, counties, cities, associations, individuals, clothe their own brigades, regiments, and companies. Everywhere ladies are working in the common cause. Those who last year were crowding the Northern watering-places and scattering their gold broadcast, have this summer and autumn been working in vast establishments, spinning thread, weaving cloth, cutting out and fashioning rough soldiers' clothing, organising hospitals, and tending the sick and wounded.

As to money matters, there is more gold in the treasury and in the banks than when the struggle commenced; the latter are within their issues of paper, although cash payments are suspended, as this year no money is going abroad. Though in all transactions payment is made in paper, all are agreed to take "Confederate notes" at par. When life, home, and property are at stake, to take on trust the value of the currency is but a slight addition. So far from there being any anxiety for the sale of the cotton crop, its export is prohibited by the States, or by the order of the governors, with the entire approval of the public.

We have seen an attempt to throw doubt on this statement, on the ground that some cotton has found its way to Europe, and more was known to be in the ports; but

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