THE WWW SOUTH.
PORT ROYAL, SATURDAY, AIT;. 30. 1802.
We li^vc many 4 articles ready for tliis I
number, but our want of space compels their,
omisssion. There is at present no remedy, ;vs our
press will not admit of a larger sheet.
Evacuation of the Peninsula.
Tin* most important news received l?y the
list mail is contained in the fact, previously
foreshadowed, that (ten, McC'lcllan's aruiy has
withdrawn from the Peninsula. The campaign ;
in Virginia is now to be conducted from a new
base of one rations, and while the great object
of advancing upon liiclunond is still before the
army, it is to be attempted on a different plan.
It is certainly a bitter pill for the nation to
s wallow, and a great disappointment to all its
hopes, that a position where we have fought
so many battles and suffered so much, both
from the climate and the enemy, should be thus
abandoned. But for some time the step has
seemed to be inevitable and it is a confession
on our part that the campaign there has l>een almost
a failure. Of the cause of this failure it
would be useless now to speak, but there is a
lesson taught by it which should not be lost to
the nation. We had been accustomed, through
the language of the press ami of the people, to
think that our army under Gen, McClellan was
invincible, and to speak of the successful accomplishment
of its object as a foregone conclusion.
We now see plainly enough that our boastfulness
was ill-timed and unbecoming, and that
our overweening confidence should be replaced
by a stern determination to wage this war for
the preservation of our country- and its free institutions,
in a wiser and more sober spirit, which
will not anticipate success while ignorant of
the means by which it is to be secured.
t The army of Gen. MeClellan, though thinned
^ in battle and having lost large numbers by disease
and the hardships incident to a long campaign,
is still the most thoroughly drilled and
disciplined of any in the field, and is yet capable
of achieving great results. Because it was
unsuccessful before Richmond, it is not to be
supposed that it will fail at every other point.?
A nft hA/Mtn?p flen. MeCJlellan raav have failed to
meet the expectations of the country in one instance,
it is not fair to assume him incapable of
? any great achievement. One success does not
establish a General's fame, nor should a single
failure ruin a reputation which has been once
established.
We are glad that the Yorktown Peninsula
has been evacuated. The amy while there
was a source of solicitude to the whole country ;
and, from the nature of the case, was perfectly
useless. Now, in co-operation with the other
large forces in Virginia, it can be hurled with
united front upon the very centre of the rebellion.
Our forces, before scattered along the
Shenandoah, on the Rappahannock, and in the
Peninsula, have been able to accomplish little of
lasting good; but now, massed in a single army,
- and setting out on a new and more practicable
route for the rebel capital, we may reasonably
expect that its day of victory has dawned.
Our files also bring us the cheering information
that the gloom which clouded the public
mind after our reverses before Richmond is fast
being dispelled. The great levies which have
been called for by the Government are rapidly
filling up, and there was no doubt that at the end
of this month an additional army of 300,000 men
raised by voluntary enlistments would be
ready to join that already in the field.?
The proposition to raise another 300,000 men by
#
drafting. 1ms also been received with hearty
approval by the loyal masses, who?fully realizing
that unless this rebellion shall he erushed ami
the I'nion restored, the nation will be forever
ruined?are determined uj>on making every sac
rilice, both in men and "sinews of war," to attain
their patriotic pnrpo.se. We have, so far in the
conduct of the war, only put forth a tithe of
our power with no other than the natural and unsatisfactory
result. Xgw that we are to tight no
longer with one arm bound helpless behind us,
and our real strength is to be called into action,
we may hope that this horrible vontest is fast
approaching its end.
Dispensing with Bands.
Congress towards the close of its last session
set itself briskly to playing tunes on the economies,
and turning the key of retrenchment,
wherever there was opportunity for staving off
army ex]>enditures. Among other methods of
barring the public money chest and stopping the
holes through which it was becoming empty, a
ban was placed upon regimentM bands. Without
casting any slur upon the usefulness of musicians,
we cannot but endorse the action of our
M. C's. The minimum estimate of the sum devoted
to payment of regimental bands last year
exceeded$4,000,000 ; and in view of the vast
increase of the army, had the old system continued
in force, the money expended would swell
that sum to an extent altogether disproportionate
to the benefit which music confers. Thus it
-- ?11 lm* * omiiili* a /if
>>111 UC M'l'li mai 11 ? jiui 9iui|;n a vivwu\,v vi
Congress to take note of this matter. None of
us can help regretting that the necessity for dispensing
with the hands has arisen, and every
soldier in the field who has been cheered on the
march and inspirited in the camp by the thrilling
strains of good music will be apt to look upon
the deprivation at first with a degree of dissatisfaction.
But consider for a moment that this gigantic
war?conducted upon the most economical
plan?requires an enormous expenditure which
in time would prey upon the vitals of any nation
not excepting so sturdy and sinewy a one as ours
and then ask if it is not the hour for a cheerful
sacrifice of every comfort and every pleasure
which cause a drain upon the treasury and are
not of absolute necessity to the arniy. We are
not, however, to be deprived of music entirely.
Each brigade is allowed to have a band of sixteen
musicians, which is sufficient for the real
needs of the service.
Major General II. G. Wright.?The promotion
of Brigadier-General H. G. Wright to the
rank of Major General is announced, to date from
the 19th instant. On the same day a new military
department, composed of the states of Ohio,
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky,
east of the Tennessee River, including Cumberland
Gap,and the troops operating in its vicinity,
was created, and the command thereof assigned to
Gen. Wright. lie has thus been called to one of
the most active and useful positions at the disposal
of the Government.
T A*, n _ Tir.'Ai At ?1. At. - 1 _ _A
liorauo uaines n rtgm, muugu me uisi .uajorGencral
appointed, is among the first in the order
of military accomplishments, and his promotion,
we trust, will be as satisfactory to the country as
it is gratifying to his friends in the army.
Gen. "Wright is a native of Connecticut, and entered
the Military Academy at West Point as a
cadet from that state in 1837. graduating in June,
1841. The following month he was appointed
second lieutenant in the corps of engineers. He
was detailed as acting assistant professor of engineering
in the Military Academy from January,
1842, to August, 1843, and assistant professor to
July, 1844. He was appointed first lieutenant in
February, 1848, Major August 6, 1801, and Brigadier-General
of Volunteers. September 3, 1861.
At the fitting out of the expedition to this Port,
General Wright commanded the second brigade of
Sherman's division. Prior to the sailing of the
expedition from Annapolis, he devoted his whole
time in getting his command in a state of efficiency, I
displaying a zeal ami knowledge of military affairs
that created confidence among his ullieers and an
esprit tlu corps among the rank and tile. He commanded
the military jkortion of the expedition t<?
Fernandina and on the occupancy of the place
was placed in eommand of a military district, hav1
ing his headquarters in that city. His great executive
ability, rigidity of discipline and his gentlei
manly accomplishments, won tor him the esteem
' of all with whom his official position brought him
; in contact. Subsequently he was in command at
Kdisto ; and in the occupation of James Island he
led the first division. When that point was evacuated,
he asked for ;i position of activity, and at
his ow'n request was relieved from duty here to
join McClcllan. The confidence of the Government
has been wisely bestowed in his recent pro
motion, and we predict lor the new Major-Uenerai
a brilliant career in the widely-extended department
which he has been called to command.
LOCAL NEWS.
Escaped from Savaknah.?Capt. Van Brunt,
Provost Marshal of the Post, has three men in
| custody who escaped from Savannah last week
j and came down to Pulaski. The prisoners arc
i Northern men,?giving the names ef William Hurt,
| of Philadelphia, James Williams, of Rhode Island
I and William Peck, of Chicago?who were com1
pelled in the early stage of the rebellion to join the
army. But their hearts were not in the service,
and they took the earliest opportunity of escaping
to our lines, bringing their rides with them. They
described the condition of the troops at Savannah
as being disagreeable in the extreme. Their clo- .
thing is worn to tatters, their rations are scant and
of the poorest kiud,?consisting of five ounces of
dour per day and a half ration of bacon or fresh
beef tw ice a week; but there is an abundance of
corn meal which alone keeps them from starving.
Sickness?principally remittent fevers?prevails
to a great extent, and medicines being scarce, in
consequence of the rigidness of the blockade, there
is much suffering which otherwise might be alleviated.
These hardships have naturally resulted in
making the troops despondent and disgusted with
the rebellion which they fervently desire to see
crushed out. One of the prisoners professes to
have seen the ram Fingal, a few days before he
escaped, and in his opiniou she will not be ready
for operation before two mouths,?as the work of
mailing her has not yet been linished, nor has her
armament been put on board. The doating battery
Georgia, of which we have often heard, has proved"?
a total tailure, and her guns have been taken out
of her. The steamer Nashville, according to the
statement of the prisoners, succeeded in running
the blockade at Wassaw bound, aooui six weens
since, landing a cargo of arms, dry goods and medical
stores within seven miles of the city, and then
loading with cotton, with which she expects some
dark night to escape. The steamer Emma,?one
of Tatnall's musquito fleet, which figured here,
just before the forts were taken?is also laden
with cotton in the Savannah River, Mid hopes for
a chance to run by Fort Pulaski and make her
way to Havana or Nassau. The boat which occasionally
runs down the river in sight of Fort Pulaski,
is the steamer St. John's, plying to and from
the salt works below the City. Whether the reports
of these prisoners may be accepted as true,
is a matter upon which we can give no opinion.
The Medical Examining Board.?This board
which commenced its sessions on the 9th of July
last, has adjourned sine die. Since its organization
311 cases have been brought before it, all of
which had been recommended for discharge by
regimental surgeons. Of these cases about 100
were of sham diseases, and the tricksters were returned
in disgrace to their regiments. The re
mainder were soldiers entitled to discharges for
permanent disability or to furloughs for temporary
ailments. The sessions of the board developed
the existence of hernia among the troops to a remarkable
extent, and the certificates of disability
were granted mainly for this cause. Hereafter,
the business of the Board will be conducted by
Dr. Crane, the Medical Director, in person, and
soldiers making application for discharges must
present themselves to him for examination. The
members of the Examining Board have been asilnti
na fnllnil'll . Til* PrflVOIl
OlgllVU IV VlUtJ ao IVIIVIIO I A/11 V?m? V.IJ AVAX/VAS'WM.
Purveyor of the Department; Dr. Crispcll, Health
officer of the Port; Dr. Dalrymple, Surgeon of the
Post.
Since the above was written a second Medical
Board has been organized, by command of Gen.
Hunter, composed of the following named surgeons:?Dr.
Craven, U. S. V., Dr. Everhart, 97 th
Penn., and Dr. Stickney of the 3d Rhode Island
Regiment. These gentlemen are to examine such
cases of disability as may be brought before them.
The Board commenced its daily sessions at the
office of the Medical Purveyor yesterday forenoon
and will remain in session from day to day until
legally dissolved.