The New York Herald Newspaper, December 19, 1862, Page 4

a ee ene mn OO 4 NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GURDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. GPMOE XN. Ww. OF FULTON AND NASSAC STS, ‘TERMS cash in advance. Money sent by nasil will be at the risk of the sondor. None Dut Bauk bills curreat ia New York taken. THE DAILY HERALD, Tinsx conts per copy. THE WEXKLY HERALD, every Saturday, at Free ceats Per copy. Annual subscription price— Any larger number, addressed to names of Subscribers, $2 50 cach. An extra copy will be sent to every club of fea, Twenty copies, to one address, one year, $25, and any larger number at same price. An extra copy will be sont to clubs of twenty. These rates make the WEEKLY Himmaxn the cheapest publication in the country. ‘The Rurorsay Epiron, every Wodnesday, at Five cents per copy; $4 per annum to any part of Groat Britain, or @6 to any part of tho Continent, both to include Postage. The Cazvorma Enron, oa the lst, Lith and 2ist of each mouth, at Siz cents per copy, or @3 per annum. ADVERTISEMENTS, to @ limited number, will be inserted ia the Weeuy Hxnarp, and in the European and Cali- fornia Editions. AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. WALLACK’S THEATRE. WINTER GARDEN, Brosdway.—Ari. Hattow Eva— w rox Lipikg—[eise ASSURANCE aD Yanuze Mopgsty. LAURA KRENE'S THEATRE, Broadway.—Bionpares. NEW BOWERY THEA‘ TRE, Bowery.—Ipiot or riz Mouxtatx—Man Anovr Town—HARLEQUIX JAK SHEPPARD BOWERY THEATRE, Bow: Bowinson Crusox. GERMAN OPERA HOUSE. Broadway.—A Niort ow QGauxava. BARNUM'S AMERICAN MUSEUM, Broadway.—Drins- PAcu’s Paxronuinc Beans—Gtaxr GIRL, &c.. a all ROUFE, ama, COLLERBN Bown, at 8 and 73g o'clock P. M. -—CAMILLE—SNow Binp— BEYANTS' MINSTRELS’ Mechanics’ Hall. 473 Broad ny. memoria Sonas, Buntasques, Dances, 4c.—Hicu WOOD'S MINSTREL HALL, 514 B: r—BtE101 Goncs, Dances, £6.—Hind iveraess ind we PALACE OF MUSIO, Fourteenth street.—Caxrsx.i's Minetnzis—Soxos, Dances axp BURLEsquss. BROADWAY MEN; a IAGERIE, Broadway.—Livixg Wi AMERICAN MUSIO HALL. No. 444 Brosdway.—B. = el way. —BaL- ome, P Buniusques, &c. PAaRISIAN CABINET OF WONDE roadway. Open daily frome 1OA. MGW ID Pe Toma aT HOOLEY’S OPERA 10) B a ead rooklya. -BTRi0PI AN New York, Friday, December 19, 1862. THE SITUATION. There is nothing of importance to report from the army of Gen. Burnside to-day, except that a fiag of trace arrived from Gen. Lee yesterday; re- questing that we should send parties to bury our dead, which was immediately acceded to. It was reported that Gens. Lee and Longstreet had @n interesting interview with some of our officers p the flag of truce, and that a member of: Longstreet’s staff stated, in theffeourse of conversation, that, although our troops fought splendidly, there was no possible chance of taking the rebel defences; that an army of five hundred thousand men could not accom- Plish it. It is stated that our loss is somewhat re. duced by the number of stragglers coming in; but it appears that the enemy have taken about eight hundred of our men prisoners. ‘We learn from Harper's Ferry that as soon as General Sigel’s corps left that vicinity te join General Burnside, the rebels showed themselves in force, and menaced an attack upon the Ferry, on Poolesville and other points; but they were successfully met and their object thwarted by the forces remaining to protect that portion of the Upper Potomac. The news from North Carolina is important, but not encouraging. General Foster made an attack upon Kingston on Saturday last, and was repulsed by the rebels. According to a despatch sent to Richmond by General Evans, commanding the rebel forces, 15,000 of our troops were driven back, after ten hours’ fighting. It would seem that General Evans had been ordered to this point with a force of 40,000 men, with a view to resist the approach of the Banks expedition, which the rebel leaders supposed was destined for that region, and that the forces of General Foster cn- countered, in consequence, an army of a magni- tude for which it was entirely unprepared. The object of General Foster’s expedition would appear to be to take possession of Goldsboro, which is the junction of the railroads running to Richmond on the north; Raleigh on the north of west; Wilmington and Charleston on the south, and Newbern on the south of east. We give a map to-day of the vicinity of King- ston, with descriptions of Goldsboro and the Neuse river, which will enable our readers to com- prehend the object of the expedition. The rebels succeeded in destroying the town of Plymouth, N. C., on Wednesday last, by a bold dash, surprising the garrison and severely da- maging the United States gunboat Southfield, whtch lay in the river. The rebels numbered only 180, with some artillery. The Union troops consisted of one company of the Eighth Massa- chusetts, and one company of the First North Carolina. After a slight resistance they retired on board the Southfield. The shots from the enemy’s guns did serious injury to the steamer, wounding several men badly. The arrival of the Cahawbe from New Orleans yesterday puts us in possession ef the recent pro- ceedings of General Buticr, which are of a most vigorous character. The details, which we give in another column, will be found highly interest- ing, particularly those in reference to the charges of ill treatment of subjects of Great Britain, which are proved upon the best of testimony to be en- tirely false. It appears that General Beauregard’s wife is now lying dangerously sick in New Or leans, and that General Butler bas sent to General Beauregard a kind invitation to visit ber, assuring him of every protection amd courtesy during his wmelagoholy errand of sorrow. CONGRESS. A large amount of business was transacted by Congress yesterday. In the Senate a resolution was adopted directing the Committee on the Con- duet of the War to inquire Benate the facta relative * reren attle at Fredericksburg, Va., & ‘ yo to nnd report to the wl vie ten tis : eller ase t gen ao Meee which was also for the delay which occurred in preparing to } meet the enemy. A resolution requesting the | President, if not incompatible with the public in- terests, to communicate to the Senate any inéor- mation he may have in his possession showing why Genera! Saxton was removed from his command at Hilton Head, S. C., was adopted. The bill toimprove the organization of the cavalry force was passed; | also the bill to facilitate the discharge of disabled | soldiers from the army and for the inspection of | | | convalescent camps and hospitals, Bills to facili- | tate proof for allowance of pensions; to extend the | Walla-Walla and Fort Benton military road to Fort Abercrombie; to protect overland emigrants, and to settle West Virginia war claims, were intro- duced and appropriately referred. ‘The Bankrupt bill was taken up, and Mr. Foster made an effec- tive speech in favor of its passage. A resolution direoting the Secretary of War to inform the Sen- Niagara and schooner Nymph were chartered for the Banks’ expedition, and by what agent or agents of the War Department they were char- tered, at what price and for what period of time, and also to report to the Senate what officers or agents examined said vessels as to their seawor” thiness, wag adopted. The Senate then adjourned, In the House of Representatives, the Army Ap- Ppropriation bill, containing in’ the aggregate ep- propriations to the amount of $731,000,000 for the maintenance of the army for'thé'year ending Juner 1864, was passed by a vote of 107 to3. An amend, ment to the bill was offered: by Mr. Mallory, of Kentucky, but rejected by the House, to the effect that none of the appropriations should be used for the benefit of runaway slaves, or for emancipating or colonizing them. The Naval Committee were instructed to report at an early day whether letters of marque ought not to be issued for the purpose of capturing or destroying the pirate vessel known as the ‘‘No. 290,"' or the Alabama, and other vessela of like character, now fitting out in the ports of Great Britain for the purpose of preying upon our merchantmen engaged in lawful commerce, and what further legislation, if any, is necessary for that purpose. The Judiciary Committee reported back the bill extending relief to loyal citizens for slaves wrong. fally taken or abstracted, with the recommenda- tion that it do not pass. After considerable debate the bill was laid on the table by a vote of 86 against 45. The remainder of the scasion was 00- cupied with speeches and political topics. MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. The United States revenue cutter Miami, Captain Jno. Faunce, arrived last night from the ship Margaret Evans, ashore on Little Rockaway shoals, and brought from her twenty-two passengers. The Miami hed a haweer hitched to her, and towed about an hour on her, but which bad no effect. Captain Merritt, the underwriters’ agent, had ar- rived there with lighters, to take out her cargo. She lies almost high and dry, there being but nine feet of water at low tide. The wind (southeast) is very unfavorable te her, and should it increase, the probability is that she will go to picces. The Board of Aldermen met last evening, Presi- aent John T. Henry, Eeq., in the chair. Alderman Boole presented an ordinance creating the offices of Clerk and Deputy Clerk of West Washington market, at salaries of $1,500 and $1,000 per an- num, respectively. Laid over. The sum of $3,000 ‘was donated to the Union Home and School for the Children of the Volunteers. The resolution toap” propriate $5,000 for the relief of the sick and wounded soldiers at Fredericksburg was laid over. The Board adjourned to this evening at five o'clock. Ata regular meeting of the Board of Council. men last evening, @ message was received from the Mayor vetoing the resolution of the Board appointing Thaddeus B. Wakeman and one hun. dred and sixty-one others as commissioners of deeds. A resolution asking for a donation o¢ $3,000 for the Hawkins Zouaves, was referred to the Committee on National Affairs. After trans” acting some routine business, the Board adjourned until this evening at four o’clock. The Councilmanic Committee on Railroads had the case of the Sixth Avenue road again before them yesterday. The Secretary of the road, Mr. Bailey Myers, addressed the committee at length, arguing that the improvements made, and which are now complained of as being illegally done, were for the public benefit. He said that the cars run without licenses were not regular ones, but only supplied the places of those taken off in case of an’ emergency. The committee, after hearing the arguments pro and con., adjourned with the understanding that they would report on the matter at a future day. In the Court of General Sessions yesterday George Wilkes, the reputed editor and proprietor of Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times, was arraigned for a libel, alleged to have been contained in that paper on the 20th of September last. The room was crowded with sporting characters, among whom the celebrated William ‘Mulligan, Esq., figured rather conspicuously. The case is ex- citing great interest, and will be resumed thi# morning at eleven o'clock. Vhe Excise Commissioners held their fiftieth and last meeting for the year, in the Court of Common Pleas, yesterday. Thirty-eight licenses were granted, making a total for the year of 1,150. The income from these licenses is therefore $34,500. The work of repairing the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is progressing very rapidly, and it is expected that by. the commencement of the new year the whole route will be again opened. The rebels destroyed portions of the road most effectually. For about twenty miles along the route almost every tie and rail was totally or partially destroyed. They tore up the ties and built log cabins of them, upon which they jaid crossways the irou rails. They then set the cabins on fire, and when the rails became red hot in the middle they were bent around trees and thrown aside. Soldiers in Virginia, along the Southern coast, and in the Southwest, are complaining that they have not been paid a cent in five months. We hear of no similar complaints from the army contrac- tors. According to # census just completed, the city of Chicago contains 137,030 inhabitante—en in- crease since the United States census in 1860 of 27,768. ‘The draft in Massachusetts, which was to have taken place on the 18th inst., has been, for the fifth time, postponed to the 8th of January. The Washington correspondent of the Boston Traveller says that Secretary Stanton has deter- | mined to prohibit the transmission of newspaper despatches by telegraph. ‘The stock market was dull yesterday, with the excep. tion of Pacific Mail and one or two of the railway shares, which are kept active by speculaters. Prices did not vary much from Wednesday. Gold sold down to 132%, rallied on account of the North Carolina disaster, and @ioned 132% bid. Money was worth 6 per cent on call. Exchango cloned at 1451 « 146. Cotton closed heavy yesterday, at 66c. for middlings, with sales of 460 haics, Tho receipts of breadstuffs were large for the season, and the sales light. Prices of fleur partially fell off Sc. per bbi.; wheat and corn were like- wise cheaper, while oats advanced 10. Pork was steady | at $13 87 a $14 12 for mess, and 1.260 bbis. were sold. Veof wus dull, Lard heavy, Bacon quite active. Sales of suger, molasses, tem and coffee were very limited, Je ® good buainess wae reported in hope and tat yhere were ue movements of importance in metals, fo jw! Quy exieoug advantage, ate of whom the transport vessels Thaines and. made upoa the enemy's works; end | The Heate of the Nation—Is It tobe Saved or Lest? The frightful and unavailing sacrifice of the ten thousand heroic Union soldiers cut down in front of the rebel redoubts, masked batteries, intrenchments, stone walls and rifle pits along the heights of Fredericksburg is universally re- garded as the most dreadful and ominous dis- aster of the war. It has shocked the public mind of the North to a state of disappoint_ ment, anguish, despair and indignation which will not be satisied with explanations or apolo- gies. It looks to President Lincoln for redress, in a eweeping work of reform and reeonstruc- tion. A great crime has been committed in thi® Fredericksburg butchery, and a great blunder worse than the crime, for which « vigilant and intelligent people cannot be mistaken in fixing be bat the principal item of s series of misad- ventures attending this new “anaconda” cam- paign of the War Office. On the very day on the rebel works on the hills of Fredericksburg a federal column (according to a despatoh from the rebel Genera): Evans to Richmond, which we published yesterday) of 15,000 men, under |’ General Foster, was repulsed at ‘Kinston, N- C., and driven back to the shelter of the nine supporting gunboats. To the northward a federal column from Suffolk a few days ago, moving towards Petersburg, ten thousand strong, was repulsed at the Blackwater river. These expeditions were intended to cut certain important rebel railroad arteries in connection with General Burnside’s advance, and, like it, they appear to have been arrested in the very first encounter with the enemy. To make the matter still worse, it appears that the promise of Jeff. Davis, om his recent visit to Tennessee—that he intended to recover that State—was no idle bit of bravado, but a promise which he will make a bold effort to re- deem. His plan, as we understand it, is: firat, to ascertain if fifty thousand men can be spared for a month or two from the rebel army of Vir- ginia; and, if they can be so spared, his purpose is to send them to General Jo. Johnston, to advance upon Nashville, with the hope % defeating the army of General Rosecrans, and of capturing the important city he is guarding and its immense stores of munitions of war and other army supplies. Let General Burnside go into winter quarters, and we may next hear of the loss of Nashville; let him continue in front of Fredericksburg, and Lee may still consider himself, behind his protecting intrenchments, strong enough to spare fifty thousand men for Tennessee. What, then, is the obvious line of policy sug- gested to the government? Is it the policy of sending little two-penny exploring expeditions here and there by way of military diversions, which only excite the contempt of the enemy, while we are attempting the very thing which they most desire in advancing upon Riehmond by way of Fredericksburg? Evidently this programme will not do. Is General Burnside, then, to go into winter quarters and allow the rebels to appropriate two or three months in strengthening their barricades along every line ofapproach? We hope not. What, then, are we todo? Advance upon Riehmond by way of the James river. Suppose it is fortified on both banks, for the whole twenty-five miles from the city down to Harrison’s Landing. We command the river to that point by our gun- boats, and against rebel forts we can throw up Union earthworks, aud bring twenty pieces of artillery to bear against every gun of the ene- my in our front. Have the rebels an inex- haustible supply of gunpowder? Has that question never been suggested to the wise heads of the War Office? We think it has become abundantly mani- fest, however, that we have nothing to expect from the present radical and blundering managers of this war in the Cabinet and in Congress; nothing better than great disasters and exhausting defeats in exchange for smal successes in unimportant localities. A eon- centration of the forces of Banks, Foster and Dix on the James river, with an accompanying fleet of gunboats as a diversion in support of General Burnside, would surely have prevent- ed this late terrible disaster to the finest army ever mustered en this continent. As it is, the country has lost all hope of a successful issue to this war under the disorganizing and de- moralizing influences which have brought only disaster and disgrace upon every effort made to reach the rebel capital. Is the nation to be saved or lost? That is the question which is now thrust upon Presi- dent Lincola from every side. If he would revive the hopes of the people in the success of their great cause, and their confidence in his administration, he has only one course to pur- sue. He must reconstruct his Cabinet, reor- ganize his whole system of military operations, discard the destructive abolition malignants that surround him, and, abandoning ites unim. portant extremities for a season, strike at “the heart of the rebellion.” Secretary Cask AND THE Army.—We see it stated that the arrears of pay due by the government to the Seventeenth Connecticut regiment—$13,000 in the aggregate—were last week advanced to the paymaster by one of its members—a private. This is putting the cli- max to the national humiliation brought abou by radical mismanagement. If Secretary Chase had interfered less with the plans and operations of our generals, and attended more to his own business, our brave soldiers would not be beholden to the chance aid of individuals Cowan Fre NEE Mais, Laila § far He money whieh They have earned at the | cost of so many sufferings gad hardships. wa% 4 ANU y undertake to fight battles by telegraph Gfty or a hundred miles distant, is the terrible disaster at Fredericksburg on Saturday, and the consequent humiliating retreat across the Rappahannock on Monday night in the darkness and storm. For this blunder our fine army bas paid the penalty by the loss of many thousands of lives, The route by Fredericksburg was chosen against the best military judgment of the country, and the bat tle of Saturday is said to have been fought against the opinion of all or nearly all the Union generals who participated in it. The orders from the lawyers at Washington were imperative, and the impregnable hilla must be stormed at any sacrifice of life. The tremen- dous advantages of the énémy may be estimated from his comparatively emall loss, stated by General Lee, in his despatoa from the battle field noxt day, to be only 3,000 killed and wounded; and probably it would not have exceeded 1,000,‘but that the rebel right wimg, tn the beginning of the fight, came down.boldly to, the plain to attack the Union teft, under Franklin. Where the enemy kept to his de- fences -his- loss was very trivial, The vast dis- parity in, the numbers of our killed and wounded, amounting to ten or twelve thousand, -tells the whole tale, considering that, on a fair field, the Union troops always fight better than the insurgents, and that their small arms, can- non and ammunition are entirely superior to those of the enemy. The folly of the assault on Fredericksburg is thus demonstrated to the meanest understanding. McClellan always insisted that the James river was the true basis for operations against the rebel capital. The recent events at Frede- ricksburg prove he was right, and corroborate with fearful effect the testimony in the case of the court of inquiry into the conduct of Mc- Dowell. The official despatches between the government, MoClellan and McDowell, have put the saddle upon the right horse. It appears from the evidence that McDowell, whom many supposed to be responsible for the failure to reinforce McClellan, is entirely guilt. leas in the whole transaction. The campaign was controlled directly from Washington. Tt seems that a cowardly fear for themselves haunted the authorities at the capital, and that they deemed the security of their persons of greater importance than the safety of the army and the safety of the Union itself. Sup- pose Washington were captured fer the mo- ment, that would be of no account, compared with the destruction of the rebel army, which would have inevitably resulted in the recapture of the capital and the restoration of all the Tebellious States of the South. But General McClellan's testimony shows that “the troops actually left in Washington and in front of it disposable for its defence were rather more than double the garrison fixed by the engineer and artillery officers, and considerably more than the largest number recommended by any of the corps commanders to be left in the vi- cinity of Washington.” In truth there was as little real danger of Washington being taken as there was of London or St. Petersburg. The peril consisted in meddling with the plan of the campaign, and wilfully and deliberately pre- venting the junction of a corps essential to the success of the movement against Richmond up the peninsula. As General McClellan said in his despatch to General Halleck, the true place to defend Washington was on the banks of the James river; and bad McClellan’s army been captured, as it narrowly escaped being, in con- sequence of the co-operation of Mc- Dowell’s army being prevented, the gov- ernment at Washington would have found out their error when it would have been too late; for in that event neither McDowell nor all the reserves at the federal capital could have averted the catastrophe. The first fatal blunder was the separation of McDowell’s corps from the Army of the Poto- mac, contrary to the distinct understanding of McClellan when he left for the battle field. The next blunder committed was in the manner of rectifying the first. The War Department found out its egregious mistake; but, instead of sending McDowell’s corps to the army from which it was so foolishly separated, it sent it half way. It was sent to Fredericks- burg. General Halleck—a San Francisco law- yer—in his report admits the blunder; but he did nothing to remedy it, being either com- pletely under the control of the War Depart” ment, and yielding up his judgment to another military affairs than himself, or not knowing enough of his other profession to see the danger which McClellan so earnestly and so eloquently pointed out. Instead of applying the proper remedy, he made matters worse, and played once more into the hands of the rebels by the defeat of another army, which was ultimately saved from complete destruction, and with it the capital of the nation, by the man who has been ostracised to a New Jersey village. Jackson, in the Shenandoah valley, with a comparatively small force, so worked upon the fears of the authorities at Washington that he paralyzed 80,000 men—40,000 in front of the capital and 40,000 under McDowell. The wily rebel general laid a trap, and the War Depart- ment walked into it. McDowell was sent to the assistance of Fremont and Banks entirely teo late. The result was that Jackson appeared on the battle fielg of the Chickahominy, while neither Fremont, Banks nor McDowell was forthcoming. It was but a repetition of the first battle of Bull run. Thus was McClellan sacrificed; and were it not for his prudence and consummate skill his whole army would have been lost, and Jeff. Davis, in less than a month, would have been in occupation of the White House at Washington. But had McDowell been permitted to reinforce McClellan with his whole corps, what would have been the result? Mc- Clelian solemnly swears :—“I have no doubt— for it has ever been my opinion—that the Army of the Potomac would .have taken Richmond had not the corps of General McDowell been separated from it. It is also my opinion that, had the command of General McDowell joined the Army of the Potomac in the month of May, by way of Hanover Court House from Frede- ricksburg, we would have had Richmond in a weok after the junction. I do not hold General McDowell responsible for a failure to join with me on any occasion.” What could be expected from such folly but humiliating defeat? That it was not worse i, owing to the skill of tho general dismissed, and | recalled at the eleventh hour to save Washing- California lawyer, who understood less of | ton from the inane course of the managers at the capital. When, by the battle of Antiotam, he caused the retreat of the enemy from Mary- land, and insured the safety of Washington, his pursuit of Lee was prevented by the delay of the necessary eupplies. When he was again stripped of the command, and Burnside was ap- pointed his euccessor, the latter was served in the same way. The base was suddenly changed by the War Department; but the railroad from Aquia creek was not repaired to forward sup- plies, the army and the horses were in actual want of food, and the promised pontoons to eross the Rappahannock had not come, The Fesult was that Lee had time to make the heights beyond Fredericksburg stronger than Sebasto- pol. It was madness to attack him in front in uch @ position. Yet the inexorable order came from Washington to advance, and Burnside had No option but to resign. The consequence is the greatest and most calamitous disaster of the war. That it has not been utter destruction is owing not to the War Department and Gencral Halleck, but to the pradence of Burnside, and Lee’s want of vigilance and foresight in allow: ing him to escape from the trap. “ . Never .before, perhaps, im the history of “War, was such ignorance, vacillation and irm- becility exhibited by men at the head of ® great nation, and carrying on a life and death struggte in its name, with resources.in troops and money and materials of war without a pa- rallol in the ansals of any other country of encient or modern times. How long is such incompetence to abuse the patience of the peo- ple, and to be endured by the President, who, as their Chief Magistrate, has the power to dis- charge all incapable, blundering officials, and replace them by able and patriotic men, who would be proud to serve the republic in this great crisis of ita peril. Tax Rerorrap Rervrse or Gen. Fosrsr 1 Norra Carozma.—lIt is a common proverb that misfortunes never come singly. It is reported through rebel sources, by way of Nashville, that General Foster, on Saturday last, the day of the battte at Fredericksburg, attacked, with fifteen thousand men and nine gunboats, the rebel General Evans, at Kinston, N. C., strongly in. trenched, and the result was that after ten hours’ hard fighting he was repulsed. This was evidently one of the combinations of the War Bureau, intended to cut off the communication of the rebels in their rear, while Burnside assailed them in front. If we believe the rebel despatch from General Evans, the movement has failed. The object of this move- ment of General Foster was apparently to cap- ture Goldsboro, in order to cut the coast rail- road at that point, being a junction where seve- ral roads meet, and very important to be held. Kinston, being on the way to Goldsboro, must be passed, and there the enemy erected his earthworks to stop Foster, and was successful in doing 80. This is the second mis- fortune in that region. The affair at Zani, on the railroad, near Suffolk, Virginia, in which General Ferry was driven back from the Black- . water, is fresh in the recollection of our readers. Now, these disasters have arisen not only from mismanagement at Washington, but from the conduct of the radical journals, who falsely announced that the expedition of General Banks was destined to North Carolina, in order to effect a junction with the federal forces al- ready in that State, so as to march upon Peters- burg, and thence attack Richmond from the south bank of the James, while Burnside was keeping the rebels amused at Fredericksburg. The rebel authorities took the alarm and sent forty thousand men to resist Banks. The result was that Ferry and Foster have been repulsed; whereas it is probable that, but for the mischie_ vous canard of the radical press, these generals would have had a smaller force to contend with, and, if they had not surprised the enemy, would at least have whipped him, and accom- plished the objects of their expeditions. It is hard to say whether the imbeciles at Washing- ton or the radical journals are doing the greater injury to the army and the country. More Sie Winn Arracxs ox McChELian.— The radieal organs, afraid that the last stu- pendous blunder at Fredericksburg will raise an irresistible clamor thgoughout the country for the recall of McClellan, are endeavoring to defeat it by the same indirect and dastardly calumnies with which they have all along sought to blast his reputation. In the Tribune of yester- day, for example, are given extracts from despatches alleged to have been sent over the wires by General Porter during Pope’s brief campaign in Virginia, and which are relied upon as evidences of hostility to that officer, his supe- rior in command, and of eontempt for his plan of operations. The phrases which are thus construed are these:—‘I hope Mack is at work to get us out of this,” and “I hope McClellan is satisfied with what we have done.” Con- sidering that to the Army of the Potomac General Pope owed his not having been cut to pieces in his memorable retreat upon Washing- ton, we find nothing out of the way in these expressions. It has ever been McClellan’s earnest injunction to those who have served under him to transfer to his successors the zeal and devotion to the cause of the country which they had exhibited while acting with him. General Porter, conscious that he had done 80, sought to elicit from his former chief and friend such a testimony of approval as would show that he had satisfied his wishes. In all this there is nothing derogatory to Gene- ral Pope, nothing to show that General Porter forgot, in his attachment to his old commander, the respect due to his then superior and to the rales of discipline. The object in bringing for- ward matter so puerile is not to injure Porter, for it can bave no weight in the pending inqui- ry, but to damage McClellan, by suggesting the inference that the latter controlled unfairly the actions of his former subordinates after they had passed under another’s command. Fortu- nately there is evidence on record to show that such influence as he did possess over them was exercised exclusively for the good of the coun- try, and the despatches to which the THbune refers will confirm, instead of weaken, the gene- ral conviction of the fact. Tux Homaxrries ann Amenities or War.— From the letter of our New Orleans corres- pondent, published in another column this morning, we learn that Mrs. Beauregard is now lying at the point of death in that city, and that General Butler has sent a polite note to General Beauregard, of the rebel army, inviting him to visit his dying wite, and promising him respectful treatment and « safe passage through our lines and back to his command. We hope that General Beauregard will accept this invi- tation in the same spirit as that jn which it is tendered. A single noble act of courtesy ke this emooths the rude front of frowning war, and relieves even the dreadful horrors of s civil confifot. It may surprise the European critics of Gem, Butler and his administratioa to find so muck true chivalry iu one whom they have denounced a8 & monstrous combination of the worst vices of a Caligula, a Nero and a Bomba. Euro- peans should remember that he invited Mra, Beauregard to remain in New O:leans whea the city was captured by our forces, and ‘that, in spite of her connection with the rebel leaders and sympathy with the rebel cause, General Butler has eo well protected his enemy's wife that even the rebel newspapers have had ne complaints, real or pretended, to utter upon the subject. Coming, as the present incidess does, amid the resounding clash of arms, it wil attract general attention both in this country and abroad; and we trust that it may do some- thing to modify the unjust estimate of General Butler’s character and cancel some of the hareh epithets which bave been wrongfully inéaped upon him. Mere Radical Overtures from (he Rebels. We predicted, a long while ago, that the radicals would be the first t open negotiations for peace with the rebels. The old proverb thatextremes meet seldom fails to come true, Having hitherto greatly assisted the rebels in their attempts to divide the Union, it is not ot all strange that the radicals should now try te stab the nation in the back by arranging 8 com- promise with Jeff. Davis, by whieh all the elave- holding States shall be allowed to secede, and the Northern republic be left with no slave within its borders. The radicals have nothing to gain and everything to lose by a recon- struction of the Union. If the South secedes, slavery secedes with it, and the radicals remain masters of the situation and of the government. If the South returns, slavery returns also, and with it the conservative voters of the slave States; and, consequently, the radicals will not only be defeated upon the slavery question, but will also be incontinently kicked out and kept out of office. What, then, do the radicals care for the Union? Why should they be foolish enough to fight and labor for their own de- struction? When itis their interest to disrupt the Union, how can they be expected to restore it? As their very existence as a party depends upon the success of a Southern confederacy, why should they not labor to secure such o success? For these reasons, therefore, we have not been surprised at the course of the radicals during this war, and we are not eur- prised now that we find them offering dieunion resolutions in Congress, through the Rev. Mr. Conway, of Kansas, sending embassadore to Richmond, and industriously endeavoring to -the minds of our loyal people for the reception of the ides of a cecogaition of Jeff, Davis’ republic. A few days ago we exposed the trick of the Tribune in regard to peace propositions said to have been brought from Richmond by the Che- valier Barney. This morning we republish from the Tribune a.singular story in regard to over- tures of peace transmitted from Jeff. Davis to President Lincoln through the agency of the Chevalier J. Wesley Greene. We call the at- tention of our readers to the fact that both these peace proposals have reached the public through the radical Tribune and its accessories among the radical papers, and that the radical editors and leaders are always the first to be apprised of this kind of news. These radicale have always been in favor of what Greeley calls “the new Union,’ and are endeavoring to secure it by destroying the old Union. Greene’s embassy is a means to this end. Comr ing, as this tale does, from the very headquar- ters of the Northern disunionists, we cannot, of course, have the slightest doubt of its authen- ticity. According to his own story, and the remarks of ex-Chief of Police Matsell in the Police Gazette, Greene is just the sort of mam for a radical embassador. - Matsell says that Greene is “one of the most plausible and arrant impostors now outside of State prisom ;”” that he is “on the confidence lay ;” that he came to this city some eight years ago and “ia- troduced himself among the Methodist brethren as the Rev. Benjamin Greer ;” that he turned this introduction to account by obtaining goods under false pretences; that for this offence he was convicted, on confession, and sent to State prison, at hard labor, for three years; and that, previously and for another similar offence, he had been imprisoned for two years in Pennsylvania, A few days ago, and shortly after the publication of his peace romance, Greene was again arrested, at Chicago, for swindling. Greene says of himself that he is an ornamental japanner and worker in sheet iron, brass and copper, and that he did his friend Jeff. Davis a personal, private service during the Mexican war. A confidence man, a worker in brass and a friend of Jeff. Davis was the very individual for a radical agent; for in all these respects he was an admirable representative of his employers. Mr. Greene was therefore sought out in a mysterious way and sent off to Richmond. He says that on the 22d of October a man whom he did not know—and who may have beep Greeley himself—ealled upon him, asked bite about bis intimacy with Jeff. Davis, told him that Davis had sent for him, and urged him to go to Richmond. A taunt in regard to his cou- rage decided Greene—es he tells us—and to Richmond he went. This smacks too strongly of the romantic to be believed upon the aff- davit of anybody but the Chevalier Greene. Arrived at Richmond, the Chevalier Greene had an interview with Jeff. Davis, who received him cordially and assured him that he had been selected out of “over one hundred persons’ because he was “a plain man, unknown to fame ase politician and unaccustomed to dealing with statesmen on questions of State’—except questions of State prisons—to carry peace pro- positions to President Lincoln. Jeff. Davis then stated his proposels, which include a general amnesty, the restoration of fugitive slaves, and an agreement that each party shall pay its own debt, The Chevalier’s impressions of Jeff. Davis are favorable. He thinks that the chief of the rebels is only conducting the re- bellion in order to bring the South baok into the Union. Mr. Davis “deprecated either intervention or mediation from broad,” and “rather casually remarked” that the emancipation proclamation “would play hell with us.” On the whole, the Chevalier Greene thinks that Jeff. Davis is “a man who this day needs, and I maysay deserves, the sympathy of humanity in a pre-eminent degree.” With this idea and the peace proposals tho Chere lier left Richmond and reached his homo af Pitteburg on the 2d of Nevembor. On the 100g ) | | \ |