The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1862-07-19
The ROSe-Water War.

devils that We are-bcen RECALLED By the
newspapers week after week with long,
windy, and apparently learned disquisitions
Oh . strategy" We have risen from the
pcrusal Of these pleasant essays with evident
satisfaction, fancying ourselves instructed in
the most improved modes of warfare. But
by the fruit yc shall judge of the tree and
, what has been the fraH of these most club-
crate g strategies?' Why, bitter disap-
pointmcnt in the loss of time, expenditure
of military stores, and more than ALL the
| loss Of thousands of brave men by hard
labor in digging trenches, while idle negroes
loafed round the camps, doing nothing
, And when those earth-worhs have been
built and trenches dug. which have con.
sumed the time, sickened and worn out so
many thousands of brave, fighting men, what
purpose have they ever served? Have they
protected a single regiment? When battle
has been fought, has it not been fought on
the open field at last?
History proves that great success in war
is attained by pushing forward, and fighting.
Our men have always shown themselves
anxious and able to cope successfully with
the enemy when they have found him. Our
armies have been strong enough to vanquish
him, if they had been led against him W the
most advantageous and direct roads. And
why were they not? Simply because our
Generals did not know the topography of
the country, and the rose water policy by
| which the war has been conducted, has dis
carded the only guides that are convcrsant
with the dcnscly wooded country of the
South. Those fellows know every coon and
fox path in the whole country.
The rebels make use of them in every
department of labor, and why has not our
army made use of them too? 1t has got to
be done. The people demand it. They
demand that our soldiers be screened as
much as possible from drudgcry as the
rebels protect their men. The object Of the
war is to put down the rebellion by killing
the traitors in arms against the government
and where is the difference, either to the
telon or the exccutionecr, who draws the
trigger that blows his brains out The
Administration has been fooling with Border
State politicians and traitor apologists, and
they have actually kept it completely under
COW, by crying out: " You wouldn't employ
negroes in the army? You don't suppose
that white men would fight if negro was to
be seen shooting rebel or pointing out the
best road to the enemy's hiding places 2"
The idea appears to have got abroad that
southern niggcrs are sacred beings. They
mustn't be touched.
This rosewatcr policy has been forced
upon the country in the very face of the
glarng fact, that the southern people not
only make use Of their negroes in the battle
field and to perform all mental duties of the
camp, but in every department of private
life. The young lady has her colored file
de chom6re-her lady naid-the child has
its black nurse-Madam has her sable coach.
man-the aristocratic secessionists table is
served by black waitcrs-the estates of the
nabob planter, from which he draws all his
subsistence, is cultivated by negroes-he
intrusts the minor parts of his business
almost entirely to his slaves, while he or his
agent has general supervision Of the whole
In word, everything in the domestic and
| social sphere of southern life is associated
with negroes. They are the sole element of
the rebellion : strength-the bread of its
life, the sole means from which it derives
all Its power to wage war against the govern
mrnt, which the rebels swear is intended to
be mortal. AS they used their negroes for
every other purpose, so have they used them
in this war. The planters Of South Carolina
sent gangs of slaves to work on the batteries
that beleagured Fort Sumter. Where is the
difference between erecting works and
mounting cannon to fire at our troops, and
touching off the gun after it has been placed
i'll position The difference only consists
! i'll the amount of labor required in the
separate acts.
But the longcared Administration at
Washington has listened to the intolcrablc,
senseless gable of half hearted Union
men about the monstrous outrage of making
use Of the power of the rebels-in fact, the
only power they possess, and which they
have made use of before our very eyes every
day from the commencement of the war to
overthrow the government. What does
common sense teach when you are in O
death struggle with an enemy? Why, sim
ply to use every means to conquer him. II
he uses deadly weapon, wrench it from him
and brain him with it. This is the mode
the secessionists have pursued from the
beginning, and is 1t not the dictate of wis
dom? We, on the other hand, have had
fixed rules, like fighter in the prize ring
Never striking but with bare knuckles
never below the belt--lest it be termed foul
always allowing our antagonist a certain
length Of time to recover from the blow, and
receive nourishment from his sable allies
before VIC shit him again" We have en-
ployed set Of generals who style themscl
YES conservative ~ which term rendered
into plain english signifies ctrmid IF Niger.
And tho long ears of the Administration
have been inclined towards these /" conscr
vatives." Has any one heard such a WORD
in rebel circles? No: the southern conspi
rators are not afraid of negroes They know
their whole strength lies concealed in them
and they use them like sensible men. They
make them provide bread for their armies
they make them do all the digging and drLdy