Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1862-07-31

Our army in the field Is small. Inere "Fe Aos
$4,000 effective soldiers now in the Federal
camps. Excluding men in garrison, ON furlough,
&c., probably three hundred Thousand fighting
men is large estimate. Small as this army is,
it is wasting with sickness and other causes fast
or than it can be recruited. Our Connecticut
Regiments already in the field, do not now av-
erags more than half Of the men with whom they
originally started. Enough men have not been
enlisted in this State for the last six months to
fill the vacancies in those regiments alone
And If this be true Of the quotas from other
states, the Federal army now, as compared with
what it was six months ago, is only half the size
decreasing in numbers, deficient in enthusiasm
and distrustful of its Generals. ..ae
On the other hand, the South has collected By
tremendous eforsts, an army of at least GOO, 00(
men. These are well disciplined and led by the
best officers on the continent, They fight on
their own soil, with desperate rage and unscru-
pulous cunning. They are nearly unanimous in
| their resolve to carry on the war, and are under
the best social organization possible for this
purpose popular despotism. They have the
inner line Of operations, and are thus enabled
to throw their immense host to any point with
celebrity. They have great allies in their slaves
in their climate, and the nature of their country
Add to all these advantages that they confident
~ expect foreign assistance if they can hold out
| few months longer, and who shall say that the
| future does not look dark indeed? e
Neverfha1aaa wa would MT dar,o;r I,
North realized this state of things, and were
aroused to the necessity of instant and vigorous
action. Alas, this is. not the case! We have
deluded ourselves with figures and with self
fattery. We have computed that twenty mill
ions could subdue eight millions, and concluded
our strongest energies must be irresistible, and
have therefore forborne to exert them.
| But the time has come when we can no longer
thus deceive ourselves without the grossest un.
reason. candid study of the situation mus
excite in any reasonable mind, grave apprehen
sions for the safety not only of our armies in the
South, but Of the cities which fringe the border
and offer tempting prey to Confederate rapac.
ity. Their leaders have long desired and threat
ened to take the offensive; and what, if Pope
should suddenly be overwhelmed and defeated
would save Washington and Baltimore? And
what possibility of hope can thye be, as things
look now, of our crushing the rebellion before
foreign fleets and armies intervene to render tht
attempt hopeless? .-
We call upon all who are sanguine or listles.
| to awake from their delu sivo authorizations Tb.
interests at stake in this conflict are inconceiv
ably great, our dangers are terribly real. 1t is
not too late to- retrieve our cause now. A month
hence it may be. In the present lull the Con
federacy is gathering its utmost strength TO,
one great blow in some unexpected quarter
Are we doing likewise We are not Recruit
ing is slow but there is no draft Generals
blunder, but ore not removed. Slaves feed
clothe, and entrench the rebels, but are not freed
and permitted to fight for US. Scoundrels talk
treason in our midst and are not punished.
| The people are not to blame. They are 70,
ahead Of their rulers. They have devoted pa
triotism enough to go, eUery man of Thorn, !;
needed. But while our Governors do not see the
need of instant action enough to draft, men will
not realize the necessity for their own persona
services. They will hang back and offer boun
ties, and urge others to 60. But let draft b,
made and they will'respond. Conscription viii
operate hardly in some cases, but it will be hard
er to see our armies cut to pieces and our caus,
ruined.
By all means then let us have draft ut once
Every day Of delay renders it more necessar ,
and OIL less final effect. Let Governor Bucking
ham set the example. And let the prominen
men who may be drafted in Connecticut sho,
their devotion by going Themselves instead Q
lproeuring substitutes. l'9'1 's