Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1862-09-26

| Monday morning the rebels commenced to
fire down upon the buildings. The quarter
master was away only two hours, and at his
return the whole of Harper's Ferry, and its
surrounding strongholds, had been disgrace
fully handed over to the enemy"
General Mitch ell at Port ROyaI-An EIO-
quent Speech at Fort Pulaski.
General O. NJ. MITCHELL who always does
the right thing at the right time, began to make
the acquaintance of his troops Immediately
after his arrival at Port Royalito assume COM
maud of the department of South Carolina.
On the second day he reviewed General Bran
mans troops at Beaufort, and on the third
went to Fort Pulaski, where he addressed the
garrison in the following eloquent speech,
which we find reported in the New South of
Port Royal:
''Soldiers of the forty-eighth: 1t gives me
great pleasure to meet you here inside of this
fortresS-a fortress recovered by your own
proves from the enemy; fortress you now
hold; fortress planned by the government
of the United States and built by it, but which
had been seized by the rebels Those rebels
you have dispossessed; those rebels you have
compelled to lower their flag before you, and
those rebels you have been instrumental in
defeating and capturing. l need not say to
misunderstanding the nature of this war
and all its obects-what you are expected to
do. You are too intelligent; you think too
much; you are volunteers, and, as volunteers,
you understand your duty and the response
bilities devolved upon you. L am here a
stranger to you; but l trust not entirely a
stranger in name, although this probably is
the first time you have had the opportunity of
looking upon my face and form. am here
to say that we have an immense work to per-
form.
[ am Just from the north, where, having
conversed and associated with the thinking
men Of the country, | am satisfied that the
work before us is the most stupendOus, the
most arduOus that has ever been attempted;
audit is work in which we never can be sue
cessful unless we enter upon it with firm
determination never to succumb. l believe
that we are fighting the battle of human lib
erty. not for this country alone, but for the
whole world. l believe that the despotiSmS
of the Old World would say, if this great
| public were rent in twain, that it an alb
solute fallacy to believe that man can govern
| himself, and that the interests of the govern
ing class and of the people were so radically
diverse as to render all attempts at republican
! government failures. If we permit the iron
heel Of the southern arstocracy to crush us,
l undertake to say before you all that the last
| Vi humanity Will ulC Oub lOIONCI. All
lovers of humanity are looking upon us with
anxiety. Responsibilities are devolving upon
us greater than have ever before devolved
upon any people on the earth. The response
bilties of the French revolution were nothing
| compared to those under which we labor.
That was contest against oppression, an up
| rising OF the people against tyranny. But
| this a contest for human freedom; contest
for the absolute supremacy of the people; it
is a contest in which is arrayed absolute lib
erty on the one hand and on the other the
most hateful and abominable aristocracy.
And now the grand question is this Are
we to meet with success or not? We cannot
meet with success unless the soldier enjoys
the confidence of his officers, and the officers
that of the soldier. Now l am an old officer;
so old that thirty years ago l was stationed in
the regular army at st. Augustine and
though at that time l had not the slightest
idea Of reaching the official rank | now hold,
yet am now the commanding officer of this
| department. | have been in the field, and l
understand it perfectly. l have fought the
enemy through four hundred miles of terrific
ry, and never knew what it was to be checked
or turned back. loud cheers and cries of
Good That's the talk, etc. will tell yeu
of another trait of my character. l am very
! restless. | don't know how to be still. If
| you were to confine me within a fortress or
| upon one of these islands l should feel as
though | were in a pententiary. | don't
| know what the object of the government was
| in sending me here; but it is the duty of q
! good soldier to obey orders, without waiting
for words of explanation, and as a good SOL
der | obeyed. | was toll that l would re-
ceive instructions ADMINISTRATIONS which
had been given my predecessor-and would
| tpr trui1nnpp I find that fbOcp an
structionS permit me to do pretty much as /
please; and shall endeaUor to do the best /
can. LGssure you Of this; that ViU omit no
opportunity Of qiving you actice employment.
! You shall hare no time for sighting and Ia
menting over your inactiyity If ne can find
anything to do. Be assured that if l can use
you no opportunity will escape for active duty
if you are ready for the field prolonged ap-
plause, with cries of Were ready &c.)
"Now perfect confidence between the Off
GERS and their commanding officer-between
the soldiers and their commanding general, is
necessary for success. L am delighted with
the appearance of this regiment, don't want
any better looking regiment. You all look
| like good soldiers-and a good soldier | love.
l could get off my horse and take him to my
arms. But mean soldier l contemn and
| deSpise. Now good soldier knows his duty,
and loves his duty, and performs his duty, be-
cause it is his duty He .obeys an order be-
cause it is given him. He treats his military
superior with Difference because it is his duty.
| He knows that as good soldier he must show
that military Difference to every officer. If
| this military Difference can be mingled with
personal respect for your superors, SO much
the better; but the two are not to be con-
founded, nor is one to be mistaken for the
other. A good soldier when he lies down at
night, conscious Of having performed his duty
perfectly, don't care whether he gets up alive
or dead. Cachinations along the line.
want you to understand that you have made a
free-will offering of yourselves to your coun-
| try, and to the great cause of human liberty.
Your lives are not your own. My life is not
my own. A good soldier should be ever
striving to better himself. A private should
struggle for place among the non-commis-
stoned officers. Having attained this-he
should never be satisfied till he is lieuten-
ant; and lieutenant is good for nothing I'M
less he strives to be a captain. Once made
captain he should aim to command a regiment,
and by faithful, earnest service to fit himself
for the position of brigadier Then let him
press steadily forward, until the whole coun-
try shall take him up and say Make that
man major-general and give him an army
corps But let him stop there We don't
need a commander-in-chief.
awe want many armies. A grand, magnif-