A Free and Impartial Exposition of the Causes Which Led to the Failure of the Confederate States to Establish Their Independence by Robert Tansill
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Title:A free and impartial exposition of the causes which led to the failure of the Confederate States to establish their independence.

By Colonel Robert Tansill, of the late Confederate States army.

Author:Tansill, Robert.

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Print Source:A free and impartial exposition of the causes which led to the failure of the Confederate States to establish their independence. By Colonel Robert Tansill, of the late Confederate States army.

Tansill, Robert.

24 p. 22 cm.

Washington,

1865.

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I I ], - A FREE AND IMPARTIAL EXPOSITION OF THE OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES

TO ESTABLISH THEIR BY COLONEL ROBERT TANSILL, Of the late Confederate States Army. WASHINGTON: 1865. tse-g-; 4 (Causes.~t1i thI It t0 catutre I .,,9r

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I DEDICATE THIS SOUVENIR TO MY COMRADES WHO HAVE FALLEN IN DEFENCE OF THE

LATE CONFED ERATE STATES. THEIR NOBLE VIRTUES AND HEROIC DEEDS HAVE

IMMORTALIZED THE AGE IN WHICH THEY LIVED. FUTURE GENERATI(ONS WILL RENDER

HOMAGE TO THEIR GLORIOUS MEMORIES. R. T. OCTOBER 14, 1865. Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, by RoB0ERToTANsILL.

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EXPOSITION OF THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE tAl’lut of thr Toufrdrtatr State to (fitabt1ol THEI:R INDE3E3NDENCE. “Libertas est potestas faciendi id quod jure liceat.” The curtain has fallen oni the first act of the mighty drama, upon which it arose something over four years ago, and there can be no impropriety in taking a brief and impartial survey of the past, and frankly reviewing the causes which led to the overthrow of the Confederate States. The victors are satisfied with the result of the terrible conflict; whether they will always be so, the future alone can determine.

As for the vanquished, it is manifestly their duty as well as their interest to accept ” the situation” in which fate has placed them without murmuring, and to lend their aid to the good and wise of the North to prevent the disasters that are imminent through the machinations of ambitious and unscrupulous politicians. It is not possible for human wisdom or virtue to roll back the wheels of time and undo what has been done. No effort can recall to life the thousands who have fallen in this relentless strife, and bring back smiles of joy to the face of the widow and orphan, or the sunshine of peace and contentment to thousands of desolated hearths. But by wisdom, virtue, and energy the people may yet prevent the entire extinguishment of the light of liberty and the substitution of a dark and remorseless military despotism. To accomplish this great end, the people of the South have the power and opportunity to do much. The conservatives of the

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4 North in their heretofore unequal contest with their political adversaries have suddenly been powerfully strengthened by the development of the policy of President Johnson, and there can exist no reasonable doubt that if the patriotic of both sections will cordiallv and zealously support him in his efforts to restore Constitutional liberty, that triumphant success will follow, and the great drama that began in blood and the lurid flames of war, will end in the glorious light of restored freedom and happiness. The President appears determined that hostilities shall cease with the return of peace; and is anxious to be just and moderate, which is the strength and happiness of great nations, as well as the “wisdom of great statesmen.” I have been led to this digression of my purpose in writing this memoir, through my deep and abiding love for my people, and from a profound conviction that their welfare is involved in the re-establishment of our Constitutional system of Government. It is not my purpose to discuss the causes which led to the war. If I were disposed to do so, I am not vain enough to believe I could add anything new to what has already been said. The argument was exhausted before recourse was had to the “ultima ratio regum.” I shall therefore confine myself to the consideration of the causes that led to the overthrow of the Confederacy.

I

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5 BEGINNLING OF SECESSION-SENTIMENTS OF THE PEOPLE. The Southern people were involved from the very commencement of the contest in those unfortunate emnbarrassments which always invite and precede a fall. The tardiness with which some of the States seceded, others not at all, and the divisions among the people in regard to secession, inspired the United States Government with the hope and belief that they would offer but a feeble resistance. This, doubtless, more than anything else, induced the North to prosecute the war. Such were the state of affairs in the South when President Lincoln issued his Proclamation, calling for seventy-five thousand troops. This Proclamation produced great excitement and indignation among the people, and decided them at once in favor of secession. All classes were animated with great zeal and enthusiasm in their cause. No people were then ever more united. It was indeed a sublime spectacle, to behold a brave and generous people arming and rushing to the field in defence of their menaced liberty, and all that honorable men hold dearest upon earth. And had their heroic bravery, geneius sacrifices, and noble patriotism been directed by a wise and just policy, a competent and magnanimous government, they would have come out of the struggle triumphant. But it was for some wise purpose decreed otherwise. And although defeat has made “all their sacred things profane,” still they have preserved their honor as an inheritance for their posterity. This indeed is a glorious and priceless legacy, and is all-all they have preserved from the mighty wreck. But, by manly and Christian-like patience under long suf fering, they will ultimately regain more than they have lost. All’ the ills of this life are only blessings in disguise. I proceed to notice what I regard as the principal causes which led to the failure of the Confederate States to maintain their Independence. I. They committed a great mistake in not seceding before the 4th of March, S1861.

brad all the St,tes seceded before that period, formed a government, and organized a strong and well-disciplined

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6 army, with good officers, which they could readily have done, it is more than probable that the war and its terrible consequences would have been averted, and the Independence of the Confederacy established without shedding a drop of blood. But be this as it may, had the South been thus prepared for the contest, it is certain that the war would have had a different termination, and the Southern people spared the great and almost unparalleled misfortunes and humiliations to which they have been subjected. II.-FOREIGN RECOGNITION AND AID. Both the Confederate Government and people placed too much reliance upon foreign recognition and succors instead of relying entirely upon their own resources, and making preparations commensurate with the great interests involved, and the magnitude of the war when hostilities first commenced., This was a great error, and injuriously affected their cause throughout the whole period of the war.%They ought to have known that, while monarchical governments would be lavish in expressions of sympathy for their cause, because it was weakest and as a matter of courtesy, yet they could not but be averse to the principles for which they were contending, inasmuch as they struck at the very foundation of their own governments, and view with inward satisfaction convulsions which tended every moment to strengthen and cement their own system of government and authority. The foreign policy of these governments is directed more by ambition, selfishness arl revenge, than any love they have for liberty or justice. Those who deny this know but little of mankind. France did not assist our forefathers in their struggle for independence for love of justice or liberty. Not at all. Her aid was given in order to humble the pride and reduce the power of Great Britain, her great maritime rival, and an ardent desire to recover the losses which she had recently sustained, and to restore the glory of her arms, (so dear to Frenchmen,) which had been tar

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7 nished by defeats in her late war with England. What interest or motives could England have to interpose in the internal quarrels of a people who had caused her such humiliation, and cost her so much blood and treasure, and torn from her crown its fairest jewels. Had England joined France in her proposed overtures of peace to the belligerents, and a war with the United States had grown out of them, which was more than likely, it would, in all probability, in the ever changing feelings and interests of nations, have terminated in an alliance between France and the United States, by which France, with the aid of steam and her great military power, might have thrown three or four hundred thousand troops into England to efface the unpleasant recollections of Waterloo and St. Helena, and some French marshal might now be enjoying the distinguished honor of having conquered the great British Empire. Such things were by no means impossible. But the English government is conducted by statesmen, and not politicians, who, well knowing that alliances and compacts, however ju st or solemn, offer but a slender bar to cupidity and ambition, and that there is but a single day between an alliance and war, wisely determined to avoid all such contingencies by abstaining from all interference in a contest in which she had all to lose and nothing to gain. France, however, could have recognized the Confederate States and aided them with her arms, without the slightest danger to her national existence, and thereby have acquired great commercial advantages. But both of these nations preferred to permit the parties at war to continue to prolong the struggle until they exhausted themselves, and by the manner in which it was prosecuted to destroy the charm of Republics in the eyes of the world, in which they have too well succeeded. Governments, like all corporations, have no souls, and, as I have before observed, are, in their conduct towards other nations, controlled by the cold principle of selfishness and ambition;.which fact the history of the world fully demonstrates.

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8 III.-CURRENCY. Early in the first year of the war Congress created a paper currency without imposing taxes to prevent its depreciation, nor were any assessed, proportionate to the expenses of the war, until 1863.

The enormous amount of paper money issued by the Government, from 1861 to 1863, without levying taxes commensurate with its expenditures, caused, as was natural, a rapid depreciation in the currency. So great had been the depreciation that, in the month of December, 1862, one dollar in gold would bring eight dollars in paper; December, 1863, one dollar in gold would buy eighteen dollars ill paper; December, 1864, one dollar in gold was worth thirty-four dollars in paper; February, 1865, one dollar in gold commanded sixty-five dollars in paper: and, after the surrender of General Lee’s army in April, one dollar in gold was worth from five hundred to one thousand dollars in paper, which was next to worthless. I When it is remembered that money is one of the principal sinews of war, it seems strange that the Government did not adopt timely measures to sustain its credit, whereas the failure to do so had a considerable share in its destruction. They unwisely assumed that “Cotton was King,” and proposed to make this King coerce Foreign Intervention. Fatal error! If they had only justly measured the proportions of the coming struggle, and had placed their cotton in England to the credit of the Confederate Government-enthroned there, he would have been King indeed. It would have been the magic source of a stream of gold that would have barished even the apprehension of want from the land, and formed the basis of a financial system that would have maintained the credit of the Government at home and abroad. Verily Cotton would have been King of Might, if he had been crowned in the right place. As all who assisted by their conduct in bringing about a catastrophe which has caused so much misery and humiliation, should bear their just share, it is but proper to observe that Congress

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9 passed a law providing for the reduction of the currency in circulation by funding it in Confederate bonds; but the people were seized with such a mania for money-making, that they desired more to use the funds in speculations than invest them in these bonds; thus preferring their private interests to the public good, by which they lost all; a melancholy evidence of the inconsistency and weakness of poor human nature. And although such obliquity of judgment does not detract from the merit or grandeur of the cause itself, yet it cannot but inspire the most painful regret. But in all wars, no matter how just or sacred the cause, there will be found individuals who prefer their personal interest to their duty, and the profitable to the honest. IV.-CONSCRIPTION LAW-ITS PER<CIOUS

EFFECTS. Nearly all the Confederate Army having been unwisely enlisted but for one year, the most of the soldiers’ term of service would expire in the spring of 1862; and, as but a few would voluntarily re-enlist, Congress found it necessary to pass a conscription law in the winter of that year to prevent the dissolution of the army, thus at once bringing about the ruin of their cause. Although this law was required and justified by the public good, it contained a provision permitting the soldiers to furnish substitutes, which was both impolitic and unjust, and had, as ought to have been anticipated, a pernicious effect upon the army, as it enabled all those who could raise sufficient funds to purchase sub-, stitutes to escape the hardships and dangers of the field, and those who were unable to do so had, of course, to remain in the army. I c * I I ,.

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10 V.-SHORT ENLISTMENTS-EVIL EFFECTS THEREOF. It was a capital oversight in the Confederate and State Governments in failing to enlist their troops for the whole period of the war, when it first commenced; for, as is usual at the beginning of all political revolutions, great unanimity and patriotic zeal prevailed amongst the people throughout the country, which rendered that measure both feasible and easy. But lost opportunities seldom return, and are often fatal, especially in war. This important measure, so easy at the outset of the war, was quite impossible in its advanced stages, as the ardor of the people is always cooled or abated by the hardships and vicissitudes inseparable from a state of hostility. This fact suggests painful reflections, one of which is, that although the alntages and blessings of freedom are so numerous and precious, no people have yet successfillly maintained it without first establishing a despotism for themselves. VI.-MILITARY ELECTIONS DETRIMENTAL TO

DISCIPLINE. Congress, with the view of rendering tile conscription law as acceptable as possible to the army, inserted a clause in that act authorizing the companies to elect their officers, and the company officers to elect the field officers, a policy subversive of good order, military discipline, and efficiency. Thus one wrong neaily always induces another. By these elections many officers of real merit, who had served with honor and distinction, were lost to the army, and their places filled, with few exceptions, by incompetent ones, which seriously impaired the strength and efficiency of the army, from which it never entirely recovered, and is one of the many influences which led to its final overthrow. Not a few of the newly elected officers could either command respect or obedience,

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consequently, as is usual in all armies not restrained by rigid discipline, the soldiers abandoned themselves tq their disreputable propensity for pillage, which was carried to such a disgraceful extent as to become a disastrous scourge upon the citizens whom they were formed to protect. These outrages unfortunately tended to abate, to some extent, the devotion of the people for a cause so just, and which they loved so well.

These disorders also weakened the attachment of the citizens for the Government to whom they are ever willing to impute their misfortunes, even when brought on by themselves. Military history clearly-proves that an army to be equal to a prolonged contest, must be under severe discipline and competent officers, without which it is incapable of any great enterprise, and must, in the end, be vanquished. The many evils and dangers experienced during our war of Independence with England, from military elections and short enlistments, which brought the Colonists several times to the brink of ruin, and from which they were only saved at last by the assistance of the French, should, it would seem, have warned the Government from adopting a policy ever fraught with so many difficulties and dangers. But neither nations or individuals learn much from experience. If they did, the world would not so often be afflicted with that most terrible of all calamities-war. 11 VII.-SLAVERY. Although Slavery was physically an element of strength to tho South, yet it had, morally, a prejudicial influence upon her cause. A very large portion of the world affected or found it convenient to condemn an institution which they had been entirely instrumental in introducing into the South, and refused to recognize or succor a people in their heroic struggle for freedom who deserved their admiration and cordial support.

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9 12 VIII.-POLITICAL DISSENSIONS. As I have already remarked, the war commenced with remarkable unity and fervor, among all classes of the people. Still old political feuds and animosities lurked in the bosoms of many, only waiting for an opportunity for development. Even as early as the second year of the war, as its hardships began to be more sensibly felt, and success not appearing so certain, a factious spirit was manifested towards the Government in different parts of the country, particularly in North Carolina and Georgia. The ardor of the people was already greatly abated, and President Davis had lost much of his popularity. In all political convulsions there are always to be found individuals, who, governed by ambition, self-interest, and revenge, prove faithless to their cause. The Confederacy experienced no little detriment and embarrassment through such defection, and it is indeed the chief cause of its final ruin. This faction originated in the belief that the South would fail, and its members determined to seek their own advantage by accelerating its fall. They did everything in their power to discourage the citizens, and to bring defeat upon the Confederate arms. Its increase in numbers and boldness was in proportion to the misfortunes of the country-a melancholy example of human depravity. In 1863-‘4, this party had so increased by desertions from the army and accessions from the citizens, that it was really formidable. In North Carolina, they adopted the name of “Conservatives,” which meant destruction, as their subsequent conduct too well attests. They denounced the Confederacy as a despotism, and proclaimed in their newspapers that it was a “rich mnan’s war and a poor man’s fight.” They were actuated by no other motive than the destruction of the country for their own benefit, and many of these men had been the most zealous advocates of secession. Thus it is seen that the most ultra professors of devo

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13 tion to a cause, are not always the most constant in their opinions and conduct. Liberty is never so much endangered as by the disputations of unprincipled and ambitious politicians. ” They were not born for their country, but themselves.” But the retribution of Providence is certain, and it sometimes falls upon the guilty even in this world. No man should be blamed for his opinions, for he cannot help them. We can only deal with acts. But no man should espouse a cause that he does not believe right and just, and when he does, he should prove faithful to the last. But enough.

To me this is a disagreeable subject. I have referred to it with reluctance-I dismiss it with impatience. IX.-SUFFERING OF THE ARMY-THE

CAUSE THEREOF, AND ITS EFFECTS. It is indeed impossible, at least for me, to describe,as they existed the hardships and misery of the army during the last year and a half of the war; often from the severity of the weather, and always from want of proper clothing and provisions. During all this extended period the soldiers subsisted principally upon a third of a pound of meat, frequently of an inferior quality, and a pound of coarse corn meal or flour. Vegetables could rarely be procured, and some days they were entirely without provisions of any kind. General Lee’s army, for as many as five days at a time, were without any meat. Sometimes a quarter of a pound of lard was served out in lieu of meat. Had it not been for the scanty additions of provisions and clothing, which the love of relatives and friends occasionally sent them, they would have been compelled to disband or perish in their camps. With such reduced rations many were often exposed with thin and tattered clothes to the freezing winter storms, without tents, overcoats, blankets, or shoes. Such was the distressing and appalling condition of the army, yet the troops maintained an unshaken constancy, and would have con

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14 tinued firm and true to the end had it not been for the evil teachings and influence of the faction heretofore mentioned. Hundreds of this noble band perished from exposure and sheer want, but their last prayers were for the liberty of their country and their loved ones at home. What a glorious death! Noble heroes! Exalted patriots! Their fame is immortal!

But human endurance has its limits, and even virtue, with too many, and the heart of most men yields to despair when, by noble efforts, they might save themselves. Provisions were very scarce all through the country even in the winter of 1863, so much so as to excite fears of a famine, and the people also suffered greatly for want of food. Many families who had been reared in affluence and luxury were reduced to absolute want, and in need of the common necessaries of life. Young, delicate ladies often had to perform menial offices, such as cooking and washing for their families, having lost their servants by the war. Their cheerful and patient fortitude under such hardships was really beautiful to behold, and inspired the hearts of the soldiers with new resolution and courage.

Matchless woman! Language is too poor indeed to render full justice to their noble character and sublime patriotism-they are theibest and fairest portion of God’s divine work. I The political faction just alluded to seized upon this unfortunate state of things to further their treasonable designs. They kept up a correspondence with miany of the soldiers, in which they artfully represented that it was impossible for the Confederacy to succeedthat it was useless for them to sacrifice their lives for a cause so utterly hopeless, and urged that a return to the Union would be a speedy and sure relief from all their present suffering, and restore them to their former prosperous and happy state. These infamous machinations answered their selfish purpose but too ull. The soldiers commenced deserting, and, as vice is contagious, they gradually increased in numbers. Towards the close of the year 1864 frequently twenty or thirty would leave in a body from the different armies, under cover of the night; some going to the enemy, and others to their homes; and, as then their personal safety depended more upon the success of the enemy than the triumph of the Confederates, they joined at once this faction.

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15 Under such disheartening circumstances many real patriots abandoned their cause, and others began to think of re-union with less aversion.

Indeed a great number were so confiding and credulous as to believe that the Confiscation laws were only made to frighten them, and that, in the event of a re-union, the Emancipation Proclamation of Mr. Lincoln would not be carried out, or at least be so modified as to make it gradual, and thus rendered less injurious and oppressive. They also thought it quite impossible for a people who were always preaching freedom, and appeared so enamored with it, to proscribe so great a boon merely for a difference of opinion. The desertions from the army were so great that on the 1st of April, 1865, General Lee’s immediate command only amounted to about 30,000
effective soldiers, and that of General Johnston to 13,000. The united armies of Generals Grant and Sherman were probably not less than 200,000.

The condition, position, and strength of the armies of Generals Lee and Johnston, rendered a continuation of the struggle uselessescape impossible; hence these great Generals yielded to a painful necessity, and surrendered to overwhelming numbers in order to save the further effusion of blood and devastation of the country. Thus terminated this terrible war; the baleful effkects of which upon future generations are easily seen. ,O

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16 X.-EFFORTS TO AUGMENT THE ARMY. In 1864 the numerical strength of the army had become so much reduced by desertions, details, and the casualties of war, that Congress, in the hope of adding to its strength, repealed the clause in the conscription law of 1862 allowing substitutes. This, however, added but few soldiers to the thinned ranks of the army, as many of those who had furnished substitutes had taken the precaution to leave the country, others hid or skulked from place to place to escape the conscription officers, in which they were often but too successful, while those who remained bitterly complained of bad faith on the part of the Government; all of which tended to impair the strength of a cause already rapidly approaching its end by mismanagement. But in repealing the law authorizing substitutes, Congress unfortunately provided for another class of exemptions still more obnoxious. They exempted from military service all farmers who worked or employed fifteen slave hands, as well as all farmers who would give a bond to furnish a certain amount of provisions at prescribed prices. These exemptions were denounced by the disaffected as partial and unjust, which prompted the declaration before quoted, that it was a ” rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.” This exposes more than anything else the horrible character of this faction. It is the meanest act of the lowest politician to attempt to arouse the prejudices of the poor against the wealthy. Such demagogues are the bane of society, and should be’frowned upon by all as they are the common enemies of mankind.

The Congress also, in 1864, enacted a law placing all persons in the army between the ages of seventeen and eighteen as well as those between forty-five and fifty. These troops were designated in the law as junior and senior reserves, and were not, at first, required to serve beyond the limits of their respective States. All persons between the ages of eighteen and forty-five composed I

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17 the main, or what was called, the regular army. The reserve corps elected their own officers, which resulted. like all military elections, in elevating many persons to high official positions, the important duties of which they were unable to perform. The condition of the reserve force was, like that of the regular army, a hard one. Often suddenly called from their homes to the camp without warning, with but a single suit of clothes, sometimes without tents, overcoats, or blankets, with less than half rations; they were subjected to the same hardships as the other troops, which fact caused much sickness and many deaths, as they had not yet learned the art of taking care of themselves in camp. Their miserable condition was calculated to daunt the stoutest heart, more especially those who are only able to judge of the condition and merits of a cause by its effects upon themselves. Their letters to their kindred and friends were filled with melancholy descriptions of their terrible suffering, which assisted to excite a feeling throughout the country against the war.

Desertions were numerous, and almost daily. Such were the evil influences against which the Confederacy had to contend, and had such a great share in its downfall. XI.-EMPLOYMIENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. The last law of Congress for augmenting the army was passed ill March, 1865, which provided for the employment of negroes as soldiers. This law caused prejudicial dissensions, which contributed to the overthrow of the Confederacy. Under no circum; stances could the South have employed negroes as soldiers with advantage. Had they been put into the army two years earlier, and had the Confederates succeeded in maintaining their Independence, they would have presented the contemptible spectacle to the world of enjoying freedom conferred upon them by slaves, and the disasters that such a state of things would ultimately have brought upon them are too shocking to contemplate. But admitting, for the sake of argument, that Congress had the

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constitutional right to enact the law in question, which is by no means certain, and that the negroes would have made good soldiers, yet the law, considering the time it was passed, and the then existing circumstances, was useless, as there were not 5,000 spare arms in the Confederacy to arm them, nor could any more be procured. Soldiers without arms are as useless as a general without an army; and as the negroes were not made free, there can be but little doubt that they would have availed themselves of every opportunity to desert to the enemy with their arms, as they would then not only have been free, but relieved from the hardships and dangers of the service. Moreover, it was perfectly manifest to any one acquainted with the condition of the army and country at the time of the passage of this law, with a moderate share of military knowledge, that if the enemy continued to prosecute the war as he had done, it would be virtually over in three months, during which period it was impossible to drill and prepare any considerable number of negroes, so as to be fit for the field.

Nor could the country, in its exhausted state, half feed and clothe the few soldiers left in the ranks. Hence, under all possible circumstances, the negroes could but add to the painful embarrassments already existing.

The policy of the Government in this, as well as nearly all its measures, was lamentably weak and short-sighted. To suppose that it could accomplish with negro soldiers what it had totally failed to do with the white, who had a much greater interest in the issue, was supremely absurd. Besides, by the introduction of the negro element into the war, the South was imitating the worst example of the abolitionists, and was justly liable to the charge of inconsistency, always injurious to those guilty of it. A great struggle like this required a vigorous, wise, just, and magnanimous policy. Nations, like the life of man, ar$ often destroyed by not applying in time the proper remedies. 18

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19 XII.-CON FEDERATE ARMY-UNSUITABLE APPOINTMENTS OF GEN ERAL OFFICERS-ITS

LAX DISCIPLINE-CAUSES AND EVILS THEREOF. The distinguishing merit of the Confederate soldiers was their great bravery and noble endurance. And if this patient endurance had been sustained by rigid discipline, good military instrirction, competent and well-appointed officers, their heroic efforts would have been crowned with brilliant success instead of defeat and humiliation. I do not refer to the inefficient officers of the army as a reproach-far from it; I only refer to it as a historical fact, too important to be omitted, and as one of the many causes which led to such a lamentable catastrophe. A vast number of the officers were without military education, and had no experience whatever in war before hostilities commenced. This was a misfortune and greatly impaired the efficiency of the army, but it is no cause of reproach to the,officers themselves. Many of this class were gentlemen of finished education, rapidly improving in military knowledge, and frequently, by their zeal, intelligence, and rare intrepidity, they acquired high rank, and were justly admired by their comrades in arms and the whole country. The most able and distinguished among these was, doubtless, Lieutenant General WVade Hampton, of South Carolina. As a cavalry officer, he probably had no superior in the army. He proved him)self equal to all the many trying emergencies in which he was placed during the war. Major General Gordon, of Ala, bama, was also an officer of great merit and heroic bravery. Had these officers possessed the advantages which a professional education always give, they would have been great generals. Generals R. E. Lee, J.

E. Johnston, and A. S. Johnston, of the regular army, are an honor to their country and mankind. I will not separate or presume to compare them.

They stand pre-eminent and alone in their greatness and imperishable glory.

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20 And there too was the great and good Stonewall Jackson, whose masterly strategical movements in the Valley of Virginia, Christian purity, and almost matchless bravery has filled the world with a deathless renown, and enshrined his memory in the hearts of his countrymen. There is also Beauregard, not so intellectual perhaps as Lee and the Johnstons, but possessing in an eminent degree all those good and rare qualities which will enroll his name forever in the ranks of great generals anid noble patriots. And there is yet another, Major General W. H. C. Whiting. I knew. him well. His intellectual endowments were of the highest order; in fact, he was a genius. As a scholar, he had no superior in America. He possessed a natural turn of mind and aptitude for war, and had he been placed in a position suitable to his great talents would, doubtless, have proved himself one of the greatest generals of the age. As it was, his heroic defence of Fort Fisher, where he lost his life, will be remembered and admired by his country as long as patriotism, valor, and nobleness of heart are esteemed virtues. But, to resume; the discipline of the army was never properly enforced from the beginning of the war: the causes of which are numerous. I will state some of them. Many of the officers not knowing their duties were incapable of teaching or enforcing discipline in their commands. Others (lid not desire to do so because they were looking to some future political office, which they hoped to obtain by the suffrages of their men, hence they allowed them to act almost as they wished. Nor was the army well drilled, from the inability of many of the officers to properly instruct tile troops, and from the few opportunities they had to do so. The army was so incessantly marching or employed in other necessary duties, that it was impossible to bstow that attention and time to military instruction so necessary to the efficiency of an army. Besides, not a few of the officers and soldiers had a dislike to drilling, and avoided doing so whenever they could, little supposing in that way they were inviting defeat for their arms and the overthrow of their country.

Moreover, an opintlion pervaded the army that drilling was unnecessary.

They believed, or pretended to believe, that officers and soldiers were

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born, and not made, and that bravery alone would gain battles. In the early part of the war these naturally created soldiers started the military dogma that generals were also born and not made. This was to justify the policy of seeking and obtaining commissions as generals, without the slightest qualifications for such important positions. It may, I think, be safely asserted, that not one half of the generals in the army were capable of performing the duties pertaining to their rank, and some had not sufficient military intelligence to qualify them for the first sergeant of a company of a regular army. The President in making such appointments doubtless believed that he was doing right. So do the Hindoo women, who sacrifice their lives in the flames after the death of their husbands, believe they are also doing right; but this does not prevent those not blinded by such strange hallucinations from seeing the barbarity of the one and the great evil and absurdity of the other. And, strange to say, that while such appointments were made the country was filled with young men of military education, mental ability, and experience; many of whom were graduates of West Point, and had sacrificed their commissions for the South, but were retained in subordinate or nominal situations. -

In consequence of this unpromising state of things, the military instruction of the army was so imperfect that all the advantages to be derived from grand tactical manceuvers in battles, from which such signal success is often obtained, were entirely lost to the army, as it was incapable of making such essays with the least prospect of success, and without the risk of total ruin. The battles, therefore, had to be fought in parallel lines, which is the absence of all tactics, and where the greatest number is almost sure to prevail. Time, accuracy, and celerity of movements, are more certain pledges of victory than mere bravery. A victory gained with the parallel order of battle is without any decisive results. It is merely changing positions, with nearly equal losses, as this and all other wars clearly prove. The following remarks in reference to this subject are from General Jomini’s “Art of War,” who, having had twenty-five years experience in actual warfare, renders him a good judge in such matters: “‘I’he art of war is composed of six distinct parts 21

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22 “The first is the philosophy of war. “‘The second is strategy, or the art of properly directing masses upon the theatre of war, whether for the invasion of a country or the defence of one’s own. “The third is the grand tactics of battles or combats. “The fourth is logistics, or the practical application of the art of moving armies. “The fifth is the art of the engineer, the attack and defence of places. “The sixth is elementary tactics. “In order to be a good infantry, cavalry, and artillery officer, it is useful to know all these branches equally well; bnt, to become a general, or a distinguished staff officer, this knowledge is indispensable. Fortunate are those who possess it, and the governments which know how to put them in their place. Experience has proved that a multitude of brave men, armed to the teeth, does not still constitute a good army, nor a national defence.” It is thus seen that I do not place too high an estimate upon military intelligence. To understand all the branches of the military profession well requires a military education; and, to be a general, one must not only possess a natural genius for war but a great character. It may be well to observe that I am not a graduate of any military institution, but I have been a soldier for thirtythree years, yet I have too often been made sensible of my own deficiences in professional learning not to know its great importance, and appreciate it in others.

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23 XIII.-CAMPAIGNS OF MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA. The campaign to Maryland in 1862, and that to Pennsylvania in 1863, had also a most pernicious effect upon the army and the country. I shall refrain from discussing the strategy or policy of these operations, as I should have to make reflections in which I have no disposition to indulge.‘I’hey were doubtless undertaken with the best intentions, but they were great faults.

Nothing but the consummate ability of General Lee, and the intrepid valor of his troops, saved the army from utter destruction. The relief of General Johnston at Atlanta in 1864, from the command of the Army of Tennessee, was a national calamity. Before that event the preservation of the Independence of the Confederacy was possible, but afterwards impossible. I cannot trust myself to comment upon a matter so painful.

Such, in my opinion, are the chief causes of the fall of the Con federate States. I saw the baleful effects of these causes myself, and was an eye witness to nearly all I have written. The long period of the terrible and frightful sufferings of the army and people of the Confederate States has no parallel in the history of the world, and their noble fortitude in pain and in death has no example. But the Southlern people did not embark in this contest without due deliberation. They were well aware that they were weak in resources and population in comparison with their enemies, but they also knew that they had a generous and righteous cause, and hoped, by the smiles of Heaven, to supply all deficiencies by valor and genius, and nobly preferred the chance of ruin to certain dishonor. The vicissitudes, miseries, and changes in human affairs are lessons that may always be studied with advantage. The pages of history disclose the melancholy fact that the human race have been preying upon each other ever since their creation, and it is now a deplorable reflection that the refinements of civilized society

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24 and the influence of a pure religion, instead of “bringing us any nearer to the perfection of the social state,” seems to have improved us in acts of barbarity, and carried us nearly back to the dark ages. The two great questions of slavery and secession, upon which the people have been divided from the foundation of the Government, have been finally decided.

The Republic has now commenced a new career, and I trust its future may be as prosperous and happy as its past, prior to 1860, was glorious. In writing this memoir I have tried to present the subject in a way that it may be seen as it really is, and so that it may be viewed just as it deserves. It will be observed that I have, for obvious reasons, studiously refrained from animiadverting upon the manner in which the United States conducted the war. While there is much which all just men must heartily condemn, yet they cannot but admire their perseverance in its prosecution, and in reading the history of these events, the mind will find some relief in contemplating the many brilliant feats of bravery performed by the officers and soldiers of the Federal Army, which often commanded the admiration of the Confederates. To detest individuals is admissible, somnetimes a duty, but to hate or condemn a whole nation is unmanly, as there are good and bad men to be found everywhere. Besides, to ascribe all virtues to ourselves, and impute all guilt to our adversaries, would be like “painting a battle between the angels and demons.” The great power which the country has exhibited in this deplorable contest, has astonished themselves and the world. And if justice, peace, and friendship are now permitted to embrace each other, and the Government should hereafter be administered upon the great democratic principle of justice to all and injury to none, as its noble founders designed, the Republic will ultimately attain a degree of power and grandeur which no other nation ever achieved.

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