Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1862-09-17
Practical Thoughts for the Day

From the Commercial Advertiser.l
II Is always best To look misfortune
frankly and boldly in the face. Let ii
therefore be admitted that our Generals
have been bafiled and our armies defeat
/ ed in their great effort TO crush the front
of this rebellion and to capture the capi-
tai OF the insurgent States. 4 year has
been spent in preparation millions of
money and tens OF thousands of human
| lives have been sacrificed for this one OBJ
jeot, but sacrificed in vain. Gloss it over
and apologize tor il as we may. on the
/ Peninsula and AT Manassas our army has
| been whipped. 1t has been driven from
from Richmond: it has been hurled back
/ from Manassas. In other words. the reb-
els have proved themselves to be. for one
reason or another, stronger in the field
than we are The fact must be confessed,
however men may differ rs 10 the cause.
/ They may have better Generals, they may
outnumber US, they may be betterhghters,
(which, however, we deny,t the advan-
tage OF fighting surrounded by sympa-
/ thizing population may have, and doubt
less has, largely contributed to their sue
cess, or feeling of desperation may have
made them irresistible. Or all these
causes combined may have brought victo-
~ to their arms. On these points there
may be different opinions. We must all
recognize the palpable, unpalatable fact
that disaster and defeat have attended
the whole campaign of the Union forces
in Virginia Though we deem it right to
put this truth plainly before the reader,
we shave no desire TO parade our mis-
fortune or dwell upon its painful details.
With the defeat in Virginia naturally
came other misfortunes, in the way of
evacuation ofcaptured places and retreats
4 from untenable positions But these are
minor ealamities. to be easily recovered
! from, when the grand army has retrieved
I its misfortunes.
And yet, with all this to mourn over
neither the Government nor the loyal
people of the North are dismayed. There
is a q raae. -dsep. inner feeling in the pub
! lie mind that the abandonment Uf-tfTc
Peninsula and the retreat from Bull Run
and Centreville, do not in the least de-
gree peril our final victory over this wick
ell rebellion We way not have gone the
best way TO work-possibly neither the
/ Government, nor the people, nor our gen
erals, may have risen TO the magnitude of
I the Occasion-but no one doubts that the
cause Of the Union can and viii finally
triumph. and all stand ready TO correct
4 past errors and 10 make fresh start with
the advantage that bitter experience gives
u.s. Looking at the resources OF the loyal
States, and the readiness of the people to
place those resources at the disposal of
the Government, no thinking man can
doubt of our ultimate success. In sober
truth, the loyal States have scarcely be-
gun 10 put forth their giant strength,
while the rebels have little, ifany, remain
ing resources upon which to draw against
/ the continual drain which their immense
army must make upon their treasury and
upon their population. We are not to Le
understood as Understanding their csi-
ipabilities in either respect But neither
do W. desire to fall into The opposite er-
ror. What they have accomplished in
the furnishing of men and money has
| been done by fifteen months of sacrifice
tand self denial which we Of the North
I have not begun 20 make or even seriously
to think Of Bat those sacrifices are in
their. very nature exhausting and cannot
/ be repeated.
The resources of the North have suffer-
( ed no depletion. The people stand ready
: 10 meet every llldO SONClu-
ment NAV deem it necessary TO make
upon them. in the way either of men or
money. We are in fact constantly aceu-
mulating strength. while their strength
1 has eliminated and must in the nature
/ of the case decrease. Our forces, both by
I land and sea, are constantly increasing
The might as well as the right IS with Us,
and when we have learned how to exer.
else it slxillfully and energetically, the re-
suit cannot be doubtful. The Northern
heart does not quail at the work before
! it, All that is needed is for the people
to see, and not simply be required to be-
lieye. that the government and our gener-
ais are determined that the war shall
from this day be waged with all the Yigor
and deeisiyeness that the urgency of the
case demands, and they win in countless
hosts march up to the work of utterly ov-
erthrowing the serried hosts who are in
arms against their country and its insti-
I tutions.