The affair at Corinth.
We are happy to perceive that our late repulse has had very little effect upon the public mind, of a disheartening character, in this part of the country at least. Our exchanges speak of it as a disaster of course, but not such a disaster as does not admit of remedy. The people are well aware that in such a struggle as this in which we are now engaged there must necessarily be altercations of good and evil fortune, and they have accordingly made up their minds to endure both extremities with equanimity. As they were not shaken by the misfortunes of the last spring, so they were not unduly exalted by the victories of the summer, although the series was the most splendid of which history gives any account. Beating or beaten, the people of the Confederate States preserve the same composure, rejoicing of course in their success, but with a temperate joy; deploring their defeat, but always with a hopeful mind.Of the extent of the disaster to which our arms have been subjected, we are as yet unable to form an adequate conception. With their usual propensity to frantic exultation, the Yankees are already mad with joy, as we may judge from the specimen which we published from the New York Herald yesterday. It is long, however, since we placed any faith in anything coming from that quarter. The very fact that any statement appears first in its columns is sufficient to render it doubtful. The telegram itself, however, is sufficient to show that we have met with a considerable misfortune. To have our chain of victories broken, is indeed, of itself, a sufficient misfortune, although the broken link be immediately restored. But still we are all aware of the proneness of the telegraph to present the case at first in the worst aspect it is capable of wearing. We have very great hopes that when sufficient time shall have elapsed to gather together all our different corps, it will be found that our losses are greatly exaggerated, both by the Yankees and ourselves. It was so after Fort Donelson, when the Yankees said we had lost 15,000 prisoners, and when it turned out that the exact number taken was 5,000, exclusive of prisoners. So it has been in every instance. They always make out our losses at least three times as great as they actually are, and set down their own at about half. The arithmetic of Pope and McClellan is even more liberal. These gentlemen mingle the creations of their own fancy, with the calculations of the exact sums, in a manner which it is quite edifying to behold.--They have an aptitude for invention which is altogether unrivalled, and it is quite a misfortune to the lovers of fiction that neither of them commanded at Corinth. We should then have had a narrative not so entertaining perhaps, but quite as veridical as those of the Arabian Nights. In their absence, however, their places will be abundantly supplied by Grant and the letter writers, who will give us stories of the fee, faw, fum order, until the Yankees themselves will cry, hold! enough!
It is not by lying newspapers, however, or romancing correspondents, that countries can be conquered, or the fruits of victory gathered. As far as we are able to see, we have been defeated, but not conquered. Our army still exists, and still has the power of resistance. The enemy himself has been so badly crippled by the bloody three days battle of Corinth, that he can be in no condition to follow up his victory. Every moment of delay is a gain for us. There can be no doubt, from the character of our Generals, that the most strenuous exertions will be made to reorganize our forces and to restore our affairs. That these exertions will be successful, there is every reason to hope. The whole State of Mississippi is on foot. Guerrillas swarm from one end of it to the other, and they will never let the war die out. Defeat will but stimulate exertion, for submission were worse than death. It will not be thought of for a moment. We may, therefore, regard this blow as a mere postponement of the liberation of Mississippi.
We cannot close this article without warning the public against hasty judgments. Gen. Van-Dorn has been unsuccessful on this occasion; but we know nothing, or next to nothing, of the circumstances. Ill success on a particular occasion ought surely not to condemn any man, since the greatest Generals are liable to it. Let us hear everything he has to say, before we pass judgment. Let us not make another Sydney Johnston blunder.
