Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-03-06

nothing struck him so much as General
Washington's attacking and giving battle
to General Howe's army; that to bring an
army raised within year to this promised
everything" But after all, the most bril-
liant period Of his military life was that Of
his campaign in New Jersey. With an
army ill fed, i'll clothed, i'll equipped, and
greatly inferior in numbers, he not only
absolutely barred the march of the superior
British force from New York to Philadel-
phia, but at time when, according to all
the rules Of war, he had right to expect
humiliation, by series Of brilliant surpri-
ses and actions, he swept their detachments
in rear, beat up their outposts and forced
them to abandon the State.
Indeed it may be said that during the
whole Of the war ~ 50 used his scanty
means, and Inadequate Isrces, as to hold the
main body of the British army in state Of
siege 1t did nothing worthy of its pres
tige, or its strength It efiectsd nothing cx-
cept the occupation Of Two or tIsrec cities
which il he!d mainly Nv Means Is the BRIT
ISL naval superiority. and the var which il
lnaintainel was chiefly for the means Of sub
.sisting itself in those places. And yet Of
ten during this period the regular forces Of
Washington did not reach but one half the
rambler Of it's enemies In short, he enter
ed upon this war with means so inadequate
as to render the chances OF success appar-
emily hopeless. His army consisted Of new
levies, which according to the earlier usages
of war, were disbanded against his ear
nest remonstrances almost as soon as they
could be trained and disciplined. Ill-equip-
ped and disappointed they were inferior even
in number to the veterans whom they en-
countered. Out Of such materials he had
to create everything commissariat, a
quartermaster's department., and the entire
military organization, and to maintain the
army for many years by system which was
little better than one Of voluntary contribu-
ton.
The civil organization to which he must
look for support was still more defective for
the purposes Of long and difficult war; A
loose confederacy Of States was governed by
a congress Of deputies which acted upon the
States themselves, and whose laws had lit
tie more force than mere request. 1t had
neither money nor such a recognised posi-
ton in the great family Of nations as to en-
able it to command credit abroad, whilst its
means Of collecting such scanty supplies as
the people could furnish at home were only
persuasive. Behind all this he had to look
| to the public opinion of the country for the
only power which could sustain him through
the long and wearisomc years Of such a
struggle. It was he, and he only, who
could command it-who could animate its
fading hopes, rally its falling energies, nerve
its determinations, purify its aspirations, and
reason With its maynard moods. Tie himself
became the point Of union; in his wisdom
and justice, in his patriotism end fortitudc,
all trusted-to him they looked for counsel,
and by his faith they measured their hopes.
It was he only who could mediate in the
dangerous disputes which sometimes arose
between suffering army and q destitute
government, or quiet the irritations Of sec
tional jealousy The States raised, as far
as they could, their quotas Of men and mo-
ney in the confidence, which was never dis
appointed, that the common means would be
justly administered by him for the common
/ benefit
|
X X \ 4 X +
| IF it be true that it is to Washington
more than any man that VIC owe the exist
tence of this government, it is still more
undoubted fact that to him chiefly is due the
credit Of its successful commencement and
the foundation of our great principles of
public policy. Who else could have steer
ed the ship Of State SO consistently ard 50
successfully amidst the division who SO
able or resolute to take issue with popular
prejudice when the public good required it :?
and who else wac capable, through The in
huence of his character, Of calming down
the fury Of the people when an evil spirit
possessed it? CT al the public men Q: the
| day, he alone had moral influence enough to
rule in such a crisis, and by a rare coinci
dence, if not by Providential direction Of
events, his, Of all the characters known to
history, was best adapted and most admira-
bly, constituted to encounter successfully the
difficulties over which he trinmphed. But
to do this, although more seductive by ma
ture than most men, he sacrificed all his
sensibilities upon the altar Of his countrys
good. For their sakes he submitted like a
man of iron. to the Bullets of those he loved,
and memorable to all but the calls Of duty
and patriotism, he moved like some minister
Of fate, in all the patient fortitude Of a
mighty spirit, tosthc accomplishment Of his
own high purposes, which he fulfilled by
laying broad and deep the foundations Of
fabric combining more Of social strength
and human happiness than any which had
been conceived before. Oh, rare spectacle,
Oh, most wonderful man. Who before,
through long career Of unparalleled dif6cul-
ties and trials, has ever presented SO sub
lime or 50 constant an example Of patient
| fortitude and imperturbable magnanimity !!
Superior to all misfortune and 9uailirg I'M
der no reverse, he was the master of every
occasion. The very constitution Of bis cab
met gave evidence Of his peculiar genius
and his own consciousness Of power He
sought no unit cabinet, according to the set
phrase of succeeding times. He asked no
suppression Of sentiment, no concealnent of
opinion exhibited no mean jealousy Of
high talent in others, seeking for inferior
instruments because such only he could ex-
pect to command. But he gathered around
J him the greatest public men Of their day,
and some Of them ranked with the greatest
men of any day He did not leave .Jener-
son and Hamilton without the cabinet, to