Council Bluffs bugle. [volume] (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1860-1868, 1862-12-24

i natural sel4-eoR6dsnee, that could scarce
4 Ely fail 10 &ssuma, abe density of salf cor
hdenes, thai esald scarcely fall 10 assua,
shs deasity ef self eoncsss. w
u PaFdoaahla i'm our experiense at ths bs
lginning, Is wpald bs wholly insxeusabl
il We could eheRisA such prajudioes, an
lsarn nothing By ahs issus Of events.
Ii ID vsry ssstaaa that the North shoai
be made 60 see thas, % far, sine has faiia
IN this conflict Sha hss failed 10 pro
duce moral Impression, either At hoss
or abroad, In favor of free institutions
nor has she shown that free institution
breed shlaE men shaa siaxs institutions
Should q yerdioi be Eaksn, at the pressn
stage OF affairs, there can hardly be
doubt that judgment woald 20 agains
aa. There is no gain in deceiying our
selves. Ii we are betrayiag the cause o
Liberty By cur efRGaaI imbesilisy, il is bss
| that We look the faet in the face. -
| /. We have nething to boast over tn,
South, in putting armies into the field
Our population was at lsa#t khrss siasi
grsassg than that df sha Ssath. Ii VA
aensex. Theirs is scattered sparaely
through vast spaces of territory. Oar
for the moss part, is concentrated il
shickly settled districts, sasy of access
Their means Of gathering, ooncentra-
ting, and transporting troops, aEe far lsss
than ours. Let any one look upon q rail.
road map, and he viii be strnok with the
difference. We had possession of the
chief important riyazs-the Upper Mis-
sippi, the Ohio, the Potomac, and the
whole seaboard. Is may be said that the
whole shipping, and d Eass majority oi
OF steamboats, were in our hAads.
Our superiority in means Of equipping
army was iacoRtsssible- The North has
been the national manufacturer. We had
the machinery, the raw material, the
skilled labor, and the capital for manu-
featuring purposes Clothes, shoes, bar
ness, wagons, artillery, swords, rides,
seRts, and the Whale iameass psraphax-
MALTA of war, eoald be ma 10 more rapid
ly, chsaply and abundanrly in the North,
than anywhsrs perhaps in the world.
Both sides, however, were obliged to
send abroad for part Of their supplies.
The North could DO it without binder
auee- All her harbors we're open. She
had her ministers in every capital, her
agents and ships in every port. There
were no risks in her voyages.
The South, on she other hand, has been
undera rigorous blockade. Her agents
could with difficulty reach Europe
Her purchases then ran the gaundst
across the ocean. She had 10 elude
swazms OF cruisers on her coast, and
watching for STORMS or accidents to run
in her cargoes through every inpediment.
Under all these circumstances it would
have been no particular credit TO the
North had she put more armies into the
field and With better organization and is
q shorter time, than did the South. In
fact, however, the South has contrived to
have more men, ia the right place, at an
earlier period, than we. And If they
have been poorly furnished, they have for
tho most part Eenedied that by cut
ting off our wagon trains, or defeating
and taking our mems arms. Out Of
weakness they waxed strong. Out of
strength We are waxing weak.
2. We have failed TO produce q convie-
ton that Aorthera men are better soldiers
than Southern. Both have proved good.
In battle, both have fought 6ravsly; and
the varying results have been determined
by relative skill of leadership, rather
than by difference Of lighting quality IN
men.
But, in patient endurance of hardship,
The South is an example to the North
Their soldiers have been poorly clad and
shod; they have been fed upon the eoars-
est fare, and almost without variety
while our men have been abundantly
slothed; aad their ratious, in quantity
and variety, are better than any army in
the world. Undsr all their sufsrings,
there seems to have been little complaint
among Southern soldiers. They have
exhibited patience and fortisude. We
believe that foreign nations will have
learned much of the noble quality Of
American soldiers. But We doubt if il
ian be saids from anything that has hap
pened yet, that better men grow up amid
free institutions than among slave. Wei
irnly believe that il is so. But it has
1ot been made to appear.
1. After more than sixteen months of
war, it may be said thai We aro apparent
y no noarer to cur end than at the be- |
ginning.
The success of our armies in the West |
are frittered away and lost. Kentucky |
sas never so maeh unsettled as now
Tennessee gwaruas with guerrillas. Our |
ssmy there seems like great man in a |
summer night fighting of musqitoes, that |
{ may be permitted 10 rest. We have
.ailed TO open the Mississippi. Vicks-
aurg ties knot in that stream which vie
'anDot unite. To hold the upper waters
md the lower 10 Of little use, If we can
lot pass from one to the other. New |
orleans is dead. Our little army sits in |
be door Of sepulchre watching The
last amd bones Of past properties. We
ave Q ledgEncns upo0 tha coast &C |
Beaufort and at Nswbern, but they |
lave about the same relative import |
nee 10 the Southern territory that O |
sssp's nest On 8 castle does to the whole |
oFtress. II. |
Wa have still, less In Virginia to be /
,foud Of. We have made many attempts /
o penetrate that State We have been /
driven back from khe ap- /
lroaph by james River. We hare been
ven with greater clerity, driven back /
rom Central Virginia We have boen |
Irivep hut of the Shenandoah Valley
from Fortress Monroe to the Alleghaniss, |
be Spathern army hold or may without |
lindrsBee take the whole line, of the PEI
omac, with the exception Of Columbia.
And now, sftag year and . bali of war,
! high. spirited and pround people are
every morning to read the
Ipesaistions end probabilities OF the
Iafesy of Washingtoni At this rase,
low long will it bs before Richmond is
a danger. /
4. We have been unfortunate In Cur
zensEaiship a. in all the rest. Our ar
nies have been under the control of mes,
doubtless, OF teehniehai military knovl- |
sdga. Bat, aith afsw honorable excsr- |
ions. fhay haKa hsssss ysssss1 swssfsexzA sasn