Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-02-06
Why tho War Should be Short.

L
! II is occasionally remarked that we should
prepare ourselves for long war, and that
il IL folly to think ofputting down the rebel.
lion by sharp and quick blow. Ten years,
1t is said, this struggle may last and we are
advised that IL is the Iart Of wisdom TO make
up our minds for duration Of hostilitics at
least as long as the War Of the Revolution.
We believe these ideas not only wrong
but mlschievous. There are many reasons
why the struggle should be made as short
as possible; and there Is no reason why it
should drag along for years to waste our
substance and divert our energies from the
wholesome channels Of peaceablc industry.
u Is mistake to judge Of the progress Of
the future by that of the past. In the last
fnine months we have had to organize war !;
we are now ready to make war. There was
q time for patient preparation; it is now
time for an energetic use of our immense
material. Certainly, lack of strength can
not be given as reason for a prolonged
struggle. We have probably 100000 more
men in the field that the enemy, and while
our forces can be increased at once and
without difficulty at any point, the enemy
Is unable to move his armies with anything
like thequickness he will need for successful
maneuvres.
Why, then, should the war last long p
| Why should it not be short and sharp, as
General Mcclellan has several times prom
ised? 1t is absurd to expect that we can
either starve out or weary out the rebels
nor would it be advisable to attempt this
were it possible The southern aristocrats
forced the war upon US, from the conviction
that the northern freemen were merely Cow
ardly mudsills," and their arrogance can be
| lie, L., az
OF the bayonet. Moreover, all history proves
that rebellion grows more robust with
every day it is permitted to exist. That
which a regiment of regalars could have
quelled a year ago without firing gun, six
hundred thousand men are now barely hold
ing in check. What force will be needed
to put it down in another yearp
| To delay vigorous measures is to strength
4 en- the rebels in several way Our defence
less condition has already reused the cupid
ity and ambition of European nations, and
nothing is more certain than that very few
months at farthest will, if we have not in
the meantime pushed the war forward to
some decisive successes, bring about an al
lance of some kind between our enemy and
England and France Again, the longer
the rebellious government is suffered to ex-
ist the more will it gather to itself the NOR
al support ofthe conservative sentiment in
the South. That large part of the popula-
tion which is constitutionally averse to
change, and which at first looked coldly up
on tho rebel movement, becomes daily more
reconcled to the existing state of things and
will presently regard the establishment of
Federal authority as another change from
an established order of affairs. Again,
many of the disabilities under which the
insurgents have labored they are getting the
better Of They can equip and Med an army
more easily next year than now. Their
manufactures are improving fast. Their
wheat crop will be vastly greater than the
last. In this regard, as in all others, they
can only gain by q prolongation of hostii-
ties
But there is reason more powerful than
any of these and that is the injury which
will be done to the national habits and tone
+ by long war. We are today the most
peaceful people on the face Of the earth
ten years, or even FIVE years of civil war
would materially, and we believe injuriousy.
effect the future of our people. 1t would
wean our young men from the love of peace
full industry and enterprise, and turn their
thoughts and hopes to deeds of arms. 1t
would so divert certain branches of industry
from their natural channels as to make it the
interest of large class to keep up warlike
establishment. 1t would deaden within us,
!, TO certain extent, that respect for law
, which De Tocqueville noticed as one of the
most remarkable characteristics of American
society, and which, as he says, enables us to
maintain law by the mere force Of public
opinion.
! 1t was by prompt and unintermitted blows
, that the Sepoy rebellion was put down.
From the day when the British were able to
; assume the offensive the adherents of Nena
Sahib were pressed increasingly and at all
points In that desperate struggle no bat
tie stands alone-no commander came home
with dispatches the fight to-day was but
: prelude to that of tomorrow. 1t was by
such swift succession of blows that the
! morale of the Sepoy movement was broken
Z Z down--and when that was done the rebel
. lion was virtually crushed. Can we afferd
: to do differently with our Sepoys? It is
true the British were not only prompt, but
savagely energetic They slew the enemy
without mercy. They gave peace and pro-
!, lection to all who aided them, and who re-
, mained quiet at home, but they spared not
either life or property of those who were in
9 arms against them; and the verdict of the
!. world was that they thereby saved great
q and p0puIOuS region from the most crue
g and wasteful bloodshed and destruction :
y y Had they stood dilydallying and discussing
the best way to put an end to the war with
ont seriously hurting the enemy or aliena
ting the affections fthe population, Neni
!. Sahib would have laid waste province aftel
!, province, just as Davis and his helpers have
u devastated Missouri, Virginia and parts o
:, n Kentucky, destroying important public i'm
! provements, robbing and numbering peacea
j bic citizens, and breaking up every brancl
of industry in the fated sections.
y But, it is said, VIC are not yet ready on
greatest army is but poorly trained the!
are not such soldiers as a general can trus
W to in an important action. Perhaps not
g but do they improve in the quiet ofthe Pc
T. tomsc? Most Of them have been longer un
!, der arms than the men who have gained
J, victories in Virginia, at Rich, Mountain
y Carnifex Ferry. Belmont, Mill Spring AM
d in dozen engagements in Missouri. Peo
:, pie wonder how the western men fight s.
IS well, but clearly, the reason is that the.
d have been trained in tho field and not in TIL
d camp. The army in Western Virginia hav
k become veterans in the same time that th
70 army of the Potomac. If we are to believ
o those who prophecy long war, has becom
IS little better than raw recruits ~