New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-08-12

q Surely it is of the Lords merees that you are
| not consumed.n An unseen hand turned off these
instruments of death from you. In view OF your
miraculous rescue in the hour Of danger how be.
eoming%are thankfulness and praise to-day If
| Samuel, after the conquest of the Philistnes BY
/ the children of Israeli set up commemorative
stone and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying,
| " Hitherto hath the Lord helped u.s." where are
our monumental pillars, written all over win what
| God has done for our safety and happiness -
| there one before me whose heart does not swell
with the liveliest emotions OF gratitude! is there
one who has not an Offering to present to GOD Tor
his merciful interposition?
s hss 4s a4 has hs nS ot st a IN Him
If you are thankful, my hearers, let not your
lips merely but your actions express it. Let it be
interviewer with the very fbres of your heart, and
color the whole texture of your being. Let the
future bear testimony to the ardor and sincerity of
4 YOUR gratitude Nothing has impressed me more
4 deeply than the almost universal Acknowledgement
of our officers and soldiers that it is God who has
given us the victory How, then, can you have
1 the disposition or the hardihood to protane the
| name, and desecrate the Sabbath, and trample on
| the authority of that awful Being, who can turn
| the tide of battle, who can send dismay into the
ranks of the best appointed army, and scatter it
| like chat before the whirlwind-that great Being
| before whose bar you must all shortly appear.
| ' Bow to the Son lest he be angry, and We perish
from the way, when his wrath is kindled but lit
| tle.'
| Our second cause of gratitude is Gods care of
US as a regiment Standing the emjnence of
! the present, and looking back the fiery ordeal
| through which syou have so recently passed it is
hard to believe that your ranks are not fearful!y
| thnned. As gaze upon your imposing numbers
and appearance to-day, however, tits hard to real
| iZe that any are missing. But it is So 1t is too
| true that some have fallen. Brave and noble men,
| they have offered up their lives on the altar of
| their Country's safety. But only five have fallen
| on the high places of the field fourteen suffer
| ing from wounds they received in the conflict.
/ They have our heartfelt sympathies and prayers.
| The regiment is almost entirely unbroken How
! r. " o
| body of men went into the encounters of the 18Th
and the 2lst'of July-daYs that will be forever me-
morable in our National annals for the severity Of
| the contest and the completeness OF our success:
| none were more necessarily exposed te the mur-
| derous fires aud the bristling bayonets of the
| my; none charged with ercer determination or
| louder shouts of anticipated yictory-shouts that
struck terror to the hearts OF our 'assallans and
| impelled them TO precpitate fredericksburg and
charges that constrained them to denominate us
/ g the bloody Louisiana Seventh Yet, n0tWith
/ standing all this imminent exposure, only five
| killed, only fourteen are wounded. What explana-
| ton can we give Of this miraculous deliverance?
| Is there any reason that can be assigned for it?
| 0, yes Had it not been the Lord who was or
our side, now may Israel say, had it not been the
Lord who was on our side, then would our enemies
have swallowed US up quickly" No power, short
of that which stretched out the armament and
kindled the stars, could have gained for us SO COM
plete and glorious a triumph.
Suppose it had been otherwise with us suppose
the same disasters had overtaken us that have
fallen, with such crushing effect, upon the regi
ments of the foe, or even upon some of our own
regiments; how different would have been the
scene to-day! How small and dispirited would be
our ranks How many friend, whose hand we
| have clasped this morning in friendship, would be
missed How many homes would be draped with
mourning that now filed with joy How many
wives would be heart broken! How many mathers
would be weeping, like Rachel, over their children
and refuse to be comtorted because they are not
What a wall of anguish would have gone up from
thousands of hearts that are now thrilled with
rapture. Let us, as regiment, then, offer up,
with one heart, aspirations of praise to God this
morning Let us dedicate to his service the best
affections of hearts and the noblest offerings of
our hands!
We know not what is yet before us. We know
not what untold horrors this war in its further
prosecution, may assume. We know not to what
terrible dangers we may hereafter be exposed.
But, it we fail to acknowledge Gods mercitul in
terposito8 in the past, how can We expect that he
my hearers, remember beseech you, your past
deliveranees and your past guidance; give to your
mercies an imper!shable character; would have
you engrave them, not on the marble, not on the
brass, but on the tablets of your minds and
would have you watch the sculpture that not
solitary letter be obterated. If could only see
this entire regiment on their knees before God to
thank him for his past undeSerVed kindness, it |
would be enough. would ask more. |
Our third cause of gratitude to God is his care of
us as an army The most brilliant victory Of mod |
ern times was achieved on the very spot where we
now stand. And when consider the compare |
tive number and equipment of the forces on either
side, the success OF our arms can be viewed as !
nothing less than miraculous display of Divine |
power. The leading papers of the North were |
filled for days with the most glowing and gorgeous |
descriptions of their Grand Army as it marched
from Washington to the conquest ofthe South. 1t |
was the most thoroughly furnished army the world |
has ever SEEN Not one in all their ranks doubted
that its progress would be interrupted to Rich |
mond Members of Congress and gentlemen of |
leisure followed in its train to celebrate its con-
tnuous triumph. 1t numbered at least s. 600 men, |
Our Spartan band of heroes, composed of less than
20 900 men, met them at Stone Bridge, the Their
mopyle of the South, and routed them with ire
mendous slaughter. They fled, panic stricken, back
The conquest was complete The right arm of |
fanaticism was shivered, and by one decisive blow
our independence and recognition are secured.
But was it our wisdom and prowess that secured
these astounding results? | Know we have as
brave and gallant officers as the world has ever
seen. know we have determined aud courageous
soldiers. But neither the skill and bravery of our
officers, nor the daring and endurance of our sol
dlers alone gained this magnificent victory. The |
angel Of the Lord spread his wings on the blast, !
and smote the Invader with sword of celestial
temper. What thanks, then, ought we to ascrbe |
to God this morning that he drove back the North
ern army from our borders. Had its leaders car
RED out their atrOcious plans and pursued their
victorious march, this beautiful State, the garden
OF Eden before them, would have been left desc
late wilderness behind them The thirty thousand
that they might be marched, as breastwOrk, in
the front of the eXultant troops Every possible
indignity would have been heaped upon our heads
Our people would have been dspirited and dis
couraged. And the glorious South, the richest and
the loveest land the sun ever shone upon would
have been given up to barrenness and lesolution
THAT such is not the case is owing to a power
higher than ourselves 1t was God who sent terror
into the ranks Of the enemy. It was God who |
covered our heads in the day of battle. II was
God in the forefront Of army, that led it OF to
victory.
And this same God, il we are faithful to his SER
vice aud grateful for his blessings will watch over
US in the future he has done in the past. Ny
is in him. He has made the decree
that the Southern Confeleracy shall emerge from
this struggle like the moon from the stortn clouds
that euVeop her, and take its place among the
family OF nations. Already sc see behind Us
the bow Of promise on the retiring darkness, and
before Us are the streaming lights Of opening and
glory. Lot us, then, with glowing
hearts, thank the hand that has done such great
things for is. Let the pealing organ in all parts
OF our Confectionery pour forth its loudest and rich
est notes oil praise Letthe ministers of the gospel
everywhere discourse, in earnest and eloquent
strains, on Gods wondrous mercy to our nation
Let all, the peOplerin voice like the sound of
many waters, say" Sing ye to the Lord for he
halh tnumphed gioriousiy: the horse and his rider
hath he cast into the sea-
fourth cause Of gratitude to God is found in
the fact that he has enabled us to sever the last e