The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-08-23

:. ed conscripts TO submit to the rebel author
lty, to avoid personal violence and the con
fiscation Of their property. The folly Of ou
: own Government and commanding general
in the field has exercised no small share Q
influence in producing this RESULT We hav
!. carefully protected the property of rebels il
both loyal and disloyal States, and hav
\ spurned the assistance Of the loyal portion
Of communities under the civil control of reb
]. el leaders. The object Of this bill is to inau
gurate different policy to secure the or
ganization Of the loyal people in the disloy
al districts, lpdsnthe flag ofstlle Union, ant
make il, the interest Of a.l loyal people to aic
in establishing thesupremacy of the Consti
tuition aud the laws; thus adopting in prac
tice the adagese'divide and conquer;'s uset
iin its highest and most honorable sense !.
"a This policy IS demanded by the highes
and most sacred considerations of humanity
It would shorter the struggle, and conse
iquently save hundreds of millions of treasurs
and tens Of thousands Of valuable Iives.-
What could be greater folly than to fight the
whole population of the rebel districts, when
only about two severths are your real en-.
temies. What but madness or real disloyalty
at heart could induce any commanding gen
eral to compel the five sevenths, or less, as
the case may be, to acquiesce in and indi-
rectly support the rebellions Is it not a
duty that we owe to ourselves, as well as to
them, to avail ourselves Of this profFered aid
We have seen, when examin ed in the light
Of history, no sane man could reasonably
doubt the ability of the twenty loyal
States to crush the rebellion in ten States, if
the people Of the ten were acting as unit |;
we'haye seen also that nothing but the most
stupid blindness, if not criminality on our
part, can secure unanimity in the rebel, dis
tricts; hence, that we can crush the rebellion
speedily if we act wisely. Ifany one doubts
the correctness Of this conclusion, let us
judge Of our ability in the future by, what
we have achieved during the past year It
is but few. days more than year since the
war was commenced by the rebels at Fort
Sumter, near Charleston. Since then polit-
ical animosities in all the free States, on
which the leaders of the rebellion counted so
largely for succor, have been substantially
buried; and although we commenced almost
without an army and without a navy, what
ever there was Of rebelliouss feeling in Della
ware has been suppressed whatever rebel
lion existed in Maryland has been destroy.
ed; the rebellion in one third of Virginia, the
western part of Virginia, has been entirely
put down, so that believe there is hardly
q guerrilla left to annoy the peaceful inhabi.
tants; the rebellion in Kentucky has been
crushed out, the rebel armies within her linn
its have melted away into guerrilla bands,
and these are rapidly disappearing. Tennes-
see is under the control of the old flag. The
rebellion has been crushed in Missouri AL
though overwhelmed from Arkansas to Iowa
but few months since with rebel armies.
which controlled the whole country, now
her own home guards are able to furnish
ample protection to the peaceful pursuits Of
life. Whatever of rebellion existed in the
Territories has been suppressed; large rebel
armies have been driven out of New Mexi-
co. The Mississippi river has been opened
from Cairo to its mouth; nearly every forti-
fication on either. bank has been captured
and is now garrisoued by loyal troops. All
the great cities Of the South threatened or
controlled by the rebellion have been cap
tured and are in your possession. st. Louis,
Baltimore, Alexandria, Wheeling, Norfolk.
Lexington, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans
and q host Of towns of minor importance,
are all in your possession. Two cities of
some political consequence and Of less com /,
mereial importance, Richmond and Charles
ton, only remain in the possession of the
rebels. The entire coast from the Rio Gran.
de to the Potomac, and all its defenses, are
in your possession, and are defended by
strong garrisons. The rebel fleets have been
swept from the sea. Not rebel ship, be.
lieve, remains afloat to excite. the cupidity of
sailor or marine. Every armed rebel boat
has been captured, sunk, or destroyed. The.
rebels, | believe, have not one gun or man
aaoat on river, harbor, lake or ocean. While
your gallant Navy has thus effectually de-
stroyed every .vestige Of rebellion within
reach of its guns, yonri Army has not been
idle, sis demonstrated in the general re-
suits mentioned Not to particularize hum,
ereds Of great successes, yet of minor im-
portance, ] might mention the capture of two
large rebel armies, with all their guns, sup
plies. and equipmcnts-one at Fort Henry,
the other at Donelson. They have crushed.
routed, aud dispersed another at Pea Ridges,
50 that what remains of the rebel forces west
of the Mississippi is a greater curse to their
own friends, than annoyance to the Union
troops. They have crushed and scattered
another, far more gigantic in its proportions,
at, Coripth, SO that nothing much superior
to, o guerrilla warfare is now carried on in
either Louisiana or Mississippi. Your troops
have secured firm lodgnent within the
limits of every one Of the rebel States. Aud
even in srontof Richmond. where the enemy
have concentrated all their forces, apparent
ly for a!last desperate effort and where
doubt not, on account Of this concentration,
they Qutnumhered our own gallant army