CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 523, 7 December 1861, Page 2

CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

The events of the postal month in the Dis- '■ united States exhibit a most perplexing complexity. In the earlier portion of it, the ndviinJtngt' appeared to be increasingly on the side ot the Confederates ; but tlit intelligence which has 1 arrived by the latest mails show that the tide of igoud fortune is turning in favor of the national party. The latter ar>± rapidly retrieving their disasters, recovering their spirit, and organising "j several important expeditions. No fresli b.ittle ' on a formidable scale lias been fought between the main armies of the belligerents encamped in the neighbourhood of Washington. The military and naval armaments of the North are assuming colossal dimensions, and are animated by a better spirit. Tue Federal army on the Potomac is' said to number 15 ,000 men, while th^ Coni'ede rate host is estimated to equal, if it docs not exceed it, in strength. North Carolina is slipping from the grasp ot' the Secessionists by the capture of the forts at Cape Ilutteras. A tremendous sensation lus been created by General Fremont's proelam ition of the emancipation ot'slavesi in Missouri, which, if endorsed by the Government, will altogether change the aspects of the struggle A letter of sympathy ami counsel from the Emperor of Russia to the Federal Government — an invitation to Garib.ildi to assume the command of the Federal army — and the reported, but unauthentieated, death of President Davis— are among the leading incidents of the month. None of the numerous reports and rumours of the death of Joffersou Davis give sufficiently conclusive proof of the fact to set all doubts at rest. The Federal Government had no information on the subject, and the report was not credited in Washington. Jefferson Davis had been seriously ill, and llags at half-mast had been seen at the Confederate quarters, but positive proof of his death bad certainly not been received. Another skirmish appears to have taken place on the 20th ult , between the lltlt Ohio Regiment and a force of 40 0 rebes, at Hawk's Nest, a village eight miles from Ganley, in the Kanawha Valley, in which fifty Secessionists are said to have bean killed, and a large number wounded and taken prisoners. Towards the close of August it transpired that a combined naval and military expedition was secretly despatched from Fortress Monroe, under the joint command of General Butler and Commodore ingham, the latter being the senior officer of the United states squudrou on tho West Indian station. The domination, al-j

fiough of course concealed us much as much as j)os«ihk\ was understood to be the Atlantic Coast of Notth Carolina, which abounds with an in- .. tricate network of passages, creels, and inland waters, c: mimunicating wirlt railroads and towns I reaching far into the lute ior of tlie country.] t He.c lurk the privateers, which fly out thro'dglij . menings in the belts of reefs and sandbanks, andj prey upon the passing traders ; and here thej coasting vessels have been plying up and down in undisturbed security. One hundred and flty 1 small vessels, laden with stones, intended to block up the few passages by which these ships can enter, were convoyed by the United States squadron ; while the men-of-war were ordered to destroy the forts and defences which the rebels occupied along the const. The expedition was speedily and coni|>letely successful. The forts were destroyed, and the garrisons had to surrender. The battle of Springfield may be considered a diawn one, inasmuch as neither party pursued the other, nor retained possession of the battlefield. Assuming it to be drawn, the advantage wns much j on the side of the Unionists, who had only 5.'?00l engaged, against 20,000 of the Secessionists. Tinloss of the Federalists is stated at 223 killed, and ( 721 wounded. The Confederate loss is f-tatcd to bo much larger. General Lyon, who was in com- ■ tnand of the Unionists, was forced to give battle or make a precipitate retreat, as the Federalist?were endeavouring to surround him. His troops, ' after several hours' fighting, cut through the Southern army, and made good their retreat, but ; their brave leader wn,s shot. One of his regiments - having its colonel killed, he led it on himself, amll' while cheering his men on, was shot down. His- ; loss is universally moumi.il by the North. Great fears are cntertiiued for the safety of ( Washington. Since the battle of Munassas, the Southerners for several weeks advanced towards it \ step by step. Of late they have fallen back from '■ one position to another, but whether from mere 1 strategy, or as part of toma connected movement, 1 is not ascertained. I The Secessionists of Missouri have been guilty ' lot a diabolical act. They destroyed a railroad ' bridge on the Hannibal and St Joseph Railroad, over PLitt River, nine- miles east of St Joseph, by i which a whole passenger train, containing nearh ] 1 00 inoffensive people — men, women, and children * — was precipitated into the river, and seventeen ' killed, and others horribly mangled. Jt appear* I that the timber supports of the bridge had been c nearly burnt through, and the fise then extin- '• g'lished, thus leaving no Mispicious appearance ' I above tlie structure, so that when the trivia entered jtiic bridge at night the whole track gave way. resulting in the fearful con-se piences above stated. The old quarrel between Ktighiml and America has broken out afresh. Mr. HussclPs graphic picture of the never-to-be-forgotten {.tampedc from j Bull's Run, t)gether-,v'th the criticisms and refiec- f tions of the British press, have, as was to have f been expected, stirred auaiu the smouldering em- ' bcrs ot Amciican ill-will into a flame. The gieat c . word-painter has had to run the gauntlet of every * sort of attack and menace from the more unpriii- i cipled portion of American journalism. Indeed, r from some quarters the indignation has been so v strong and so vehemently expressed, that he i.s ; evidently not a little in fear for his personal safety, j