The battle at Corinth.
It will be seen, by the telegraphic dispatch in another column, that after his discomfiture on Friday, the enemy, largely reinforced, renewed the engagement at
Corinth on Saturday, and that after a furious engagement, lasting throughout Saturday and Sunday,
General Van Dorn was forced to retreat, with heavy loss.
This news is the more painful that we had been led to anticipate a complete victory
Corinth; but it should by no means discourage us. We have of late had a succession of good fortune almost unprecedented, and we cannot expect, in such a war as this, to be always victorious.
There is no cause even for despondency, far less despair.
The army we are told is safe, and that is come comfort, though we had much rather have hoard that it was victorious.
Before
Van Dorn's telegram we had heard that the enemy at
Corinth were 40,000 strong, and strongly fortified.
Our own force the
Yankees had rated at 25,000 men. We thought it an extraordinary achievement to capture so strong a place (so strongly defended) by assault.
The enigmatical character of the telegram led the public to think that the battle had not been decisive, and we now see the result.
The
Yankees will raise a yell of triumph over this victory, so unusual a thing has it been for them not to be beaten of late.
Lincoln will order a day of thanksgiving.
New York will burn all the tar barrels it has left.
Bennett will tell ten thousand lies, and the ‘"little villain"’ will to them all. The world will be told that this single battle more than imbalances the deflate of the
Yankees.
We shall bear, no doubt, that fifty thousand prisoners and a thousand guns were taken.
But patience; our time will come next, and we will pay all back with interest.
We are not so badly off as we were after the capture of
Fort Donelson, and we have greatly more than retrieved that disaster.
This reverse will only act as a stimulant to our public men. It will show the people the necessity of greater exertion, and, thus far, will be a positive benefit.
