| Show THE WAR PROSPECT the impulse of the federal fleet before charleston may justly be con considered the greatest defeat we have yet suffered in this war the result of the be attack was however just what we expected and it affords another damning proof of the incompetency of the administration and the improbability of its restoring the union by the only weapon it has left at its disposal the disproportion of strength between the attacking and repelling force left no hope of success on the part of or i the former and the rashness or madness or I 1 whatever else it may be called of the navy department or the officer in command of this thia u unfortunate fa dunate expedition amounts to nothing leis leas less t than ban a crime any sane man could have told in advance that thirty two cannon en on shipboard would fail to silence three hundred hemming an enfilading circle of fort sand strong earthworks earthworms earth works the concentrated fire from flom these in our opinion would have rendered useless all the attacking vessels if they had bad remained another half hour longer than the thirty minutes or less in which they were actually engaged we cannot but attribute a considerable share of the responsibility for this disaster to admiral du pont we have no reason to suppose that this man is a traitor but it not supposing him as we w do to have been the chief aider ar ard d abettor of the ai assault sault be he is little better than an imbecile to have given iv e n the orders he did on this thia occasion and i it t gu he e had been a traitor he could have done ro po worse injury to the union cause we are inclined to believe him a headstrong strip lil iii man who calculated upon doing what any of his lieutenants could have informed int ini ormed him he could not do but in any case be is 1 s employed to conduct future expeditions the better for tor the country charleston will never be taken by a navai force alone and if it ever is captured it will be bya by a combination of 0 f lind n isk and a nd naval aval n forces and for that we need not cot t 1 look 0 for fr a lon ton long iong time to come there tb ere is little litti e that is encouraging in the present aspect of the war apart from ou oan oar r failure before vicksburg and elsewhere we are threatened with the loss of our foothold on the shores of north carolina and there is no prospect of compensating success in oher other directions the army of the potomac is idle and if we may credit official whisperings it la iel likely to achieve little or nothing before next autumn which means that it will remain in a state of useless stagnation Alean meanwhile while the administration can do nothing better than send a mountebank member to add to its disgrace by making an imprudent and fanatical speech at a mass meeting in new now york and mr seward if it we may credit rumor is ig studying how bow to make matters pleasant for bib bis own w p arty party regardless of the interests of mio the union by writing dispatches calculated calculate 1 to 0 imperil our friendly r relations elat ions lons with great br britain I 1 ta in cur mur it is much to be deplored that at a momentous ous period like this we have not a more or able abie crew to guide the sa ship of state novt over ir thel the sto stormy amy sea of rebellion rebe lion ilon and an that the res restoration 1 0 n of the union is still a matter cf of uncertainty ai n t y what the country wants Is an honorable peace and reunion and for this we nei net need ed hardly hope while the present cabinet have control of the destinies of the country from the knickerbocker of imay blay |
