The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-10-07

aho tht htbaClty, tcclulnblyg 10 ioiBcl
the pettiest personal injuries
During the fall Of 1861 he estranged
still further the already alienated sym
pathies Of the Carolinians, by his obsti-
nate persecution Of one OF their fayOrite
officers, Col Ripley, their "hero Of Fort
MOultrie," and he gave marked offence 10
Georgia by his insensibiiity to the claims
Of one Of her most conspicuous sons. Gen.
w. II. w. Walker. Col. Ripley, at the
time Of Mr.. Davis's disgraceful attack as
Secretary Of War Of the United States,
upon Gen. Scott, had sided with the Cen
eral, and written an article rejecting &C.
verely upon the course Of the Secretary.
For this old offence, Mr.. Davis become
President Of The Southern Confederacy,
resolved 70 punish Col Ripley, who was
accordingly overslaughed six times In
the promotions 10 the rank Of brigadier-
general, nor were his claims acknowledge
ed In Richmond till upon a rumor Of his
intended resignation, the Charleston
newspapers began TO muiter ominOusly
against the Confederate Government.
In the case Of Ripley, Mr.. Dayis's OBJ
stinacy had very serious consequences.
Instead of trusting the coast defences Of
South Carolina to Ripley, with rank
prOporiiOned 10 the Importance of the
post, Mr.. Davis cOnflded the question Of
the Carolinian defences to Gen. Gonzalez,
a well known Cuban adyenturer, who
came on from Charleston 20 Richmond,
and reported Hilton Head "impregnable"
Just about six weeks before il was cap
tured. The offence offered TO Gen. Walk
er, which brought on the resignation of
that officer from the Confederate army,
and his appointment TO the rank Of Major
General in the army of Georgia, seems
20 have followed from a systematic at
tempt on the part Of the rebel President
to create staff of Generals independ-
ent of State Influences, and dependent
upon himself alone, as a means of cOun-
tervailing the growing popularity and
State strength of such men as Price in
| the West, Beauregard in the South, and
Johnston in Virginia. With this object
| II was that Gustavus w. Smith, Mans
field Lowell and Henry Heth, were raised
10 high rank and detailed to important
commands over the heads Of Southern
officers much their superiors in service
and in ability.
The final results of the presidential
policy belong TO my next letter. Suffice
it now to say, that before left my first
prison | had obtained ample evidence
TO show that the Confederate Govern
ment was sinking rapidly in the estima-
ton of the Southern people, and in con-
sequence of its unpOpularity and inca
pacity, the military condition of the
South was becoming far from satisfactory
TO the best informed Southern men,
Early in October heard from a distin
guished officer at Manassas, who wrote
"The men are dying like dogs, and are
buried worse than dogs. The army is dis
pirited, demoralized, disappointed. We
are robbed at every turn by cOmmissa-
ries and quartermasters--an in the
ext.battle il is my beliehhat we shall be
terribly whipped" The effective force
of Gen. Johnston had then fallen below
10000 men. Disease had enyaded the
camps and constant futile alarms harass.
ed the men. How often the signal q
two, three, or five rockets reused tn,
men from their rest in those weary
months, Southern officers writing To,
history Of that strange season will on,
day, perhps, have the candOr TO tell
Al New Orleans Major General Loyel
found a half-armed force of $4,000 men
and a half completed steam ram, the con
tractors for which, Northern men anu
connections Of Secretary Mallory, wcr,
I plodding away with ten hours a day o
work as calmly as if no distant nationa
thunders were gathering below the omi
, nous silence of the horizon Gen. Alber
Johnston, in like manner, found himsel
! called upon TO hold Columbus aud Bowl
ing Green, and to keep Tennessee and con
I. troll Kentucky with but little more than
division of men. Over the whole Ian,
broodcd the spirit Of the new War Sec
retary's openly avoWed belief that Ia
war which ought to have ended in Sep
tembcr, must infallibly end in January
What our own Government was doin
= during all these months Of golden oppor
= tmnity, You, sir, know better than l.
But while the Southern Government
: was thus dissipating itself in dream
u "fooPs paradise" the people of the Soui
were preparing the means for that ster
r and strong uprising which has astOunde
y us All uutluB 'hc present year lhey WI
n planting corn In the stead of cotton; the
q were developing Industries which nc
d thing but the war could ever have cAlle
a into being upon their soil; they wei
g driving brisk trans blockade commerC
l. with the West Indies and with Europe
% they were learning a lesson of indeper
Y dence and self-coniidence which it wi
II be no light task for us 10 force them
II unlcarn.
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