The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-03-15
mArrEns SETTLED, so FAR.

OpSucu tucEc was very kSucEot oLu u2SuISt
disposition at the North to attribute superior
skill to the rebel commanders, if not better fight
ing qualities to the rank and file of their armies.
And they were not at all modest in arrogsting
to themselves the largest military superiority in
every respect The boast that one southern
man was equal to any hslf-dozen Yankees was
not mere brsg the southerners believed it, and
it was this notion that gave them such conf.
dence of easy success in the rebellion. The war
has corrected these errors of opinion. The reb.
els no longer talk of the superiority of their gen.
erals, or the more soldieriy qualities of their
men. Indeed, they are very free to depreeiate
some of their ablest commanders and to dispar-
age the courage of their soldiers, since the re-
cent unexpected defeats.
1t needs no great amount Of military science
to see that in the matter Of strategy the south
ern leaders have been completely out -generaled.
Napoleons three conditions of success-to keep
our forces united, to leave no weak point un-
guarded. and to seize with rapidity on important
points-have been admirably adhered to on our
side, while the enemy has been most thoroughly
misled as to the general plan of the campaign,
and has been compelled by superior strategy to
abandon bis most important and best fortified
positions. We may search the records of the
most brilliant campaigns for q more admirable
military movement than that up the Tennessee
and Cumberland rivers, by which the evacuation
of Bowling Green, Nashville and Columbus BY the
rebel armies was compelled, simply by the reduc.
ton of the forts on these two rivers. And it was
genuine surprise to the rebel leaders, notwith.
standing their general success in ferreting out
the plans of the government. They believed
their western line impregnable, and the whole
country looked to see it broken only by direct
assault upon their stronghold With such an
astounding record of defeats and retreats in
single month, it is not strange that the southern
people begin to distrust the alleged superiority
of their military commanders.
Their conceit as to the better fighting Quail
ties of their men has collapsed with equal sud.
denness. Indeed the fighting at Bull Run and
Balls Bluff had opened their eyes with astonish.
ment as to the courage of northern soldiers
Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Roanoke Island
have settled that matter, and the secession pa.
pers now concede that we are at least their
equals in courage and endurance 1t is true that
at Fort Donelson some desperate fighting was
done by the rebels, but it was in the attempt to
break through our lines and escape, under the
Inspiration of Pillows lie that If they were can
tlred they would all be hung or shot. At Roam
oke Island the rebels did not fight we'll; thew
trusted wholly to the protection of their en-.
trenchments, and when these were assaulted they
fed as far as they could and then surrendered.
The southern papers justly reproach Wise's army
Will OVWuIuiCc DuL IL uhb DeeQ true eV6rv-
where that the rebels have relied on their strong
positions and defences rather than on the cour.
age OF their men, and when driven from their
strongholds they have nowhere yet made stand
and encountered the Yankees in fair and omen
fight
Another boast of the Southerners has been
that their armies were composed of gentlemen.
ana they really seemed to think themselves de.
graded by fighting with the 'northern mudsilIs p
we have seen something lately of the material
Of the rebel armies, and we find the officers
vastly inferior to our own in Intelligence and
gentlemanly qualities, and the common soldiers
for the most part ignorant and degraded to an
extent scarcely conceivable at the NORTH
Thanks to our common schools, such Ignorance
and brutality as is general among the rebel rank
and hle is impossible in the free States In this
ignorance lies the strength Of the rebellion
The conspirators have found these untaueht men
easy dupes; they have believed the false stories
told them OF the evil designs of the General |
Government and the Northern people. and their |
astonishment at the kind and generous treat.
ment they have received as prisoners is mani. |
testify sincere. The correction of the false pre.
JUDGES OF the Southern people by the presence of
our invading armies is one of the most important
gains OF the campaign, because It DESTROYS the |
animus OF the rebellion, so far as the Southern
people arc concerned, and prepares the way for
RADICAL restoration OF the Union II ia imnos |
slble that they shall not forever discard the
leaders who have deceived them to their hurt
just as coon as they come to understand the |
true state of the case. But the fact that the |
rebellion is fraud on the part of the leaders and
dslnson on the part of the Southern peo ME
does by no means preclude the necessity Of 6eht.
ing the thing out. On the contrary, that ia The |
only way to reach the evil and correct it. Il IL
impossible to undeceive the people of the South
by any other process than the defeat and de-. |
struction of the rebel armies and the re-estab- |
iishment of the authority of the government in |
every State. Successful fighting will dissipats
all errors and prejudices and settle all yexed
Questions. Talk about amnesty, Cancellation. !
compromise, or any indirect method Of adjust |
ment, Is only waste of time and strength.
The thing IS to he fought through; the disease |
is too radical to be cured in any other vay. and
when the last rebel army is dispersed. and the
last rebel conspirator hung or banished, il will
be time enough to take up the political problems
growing out Of the rebellionLand then we sh.ll |
probably find that the war itself has solved the |
most difficult and important Of them.-[Sprinp. |
field Republican.
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