Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Iowa) 1861-1864, 1862-12-25
Charles City, Iowa, Dec. 25, 1862
No Cause for Disbursement.

Ever since the first reverse of our
arms, there has been a. class of men
who have seen nothing but discour-
agement in the position of our nation
al affairs. Like most other loyal
men they looked upon the rebellion as
a creature of the day, which would be
crushed out at the first fierce encoun.
ter, or appeascd by the political con-
cessions of aspiring men in the loyal
states. But when forts and arsenals
fell into traitor hands when the great
cities and the navigable rivers of the
West were seized by the Confederates
after the sacrifice at Big Bethel, the
rebuff at Vienna, the terrible defeat at
Bull Run and the danger that threat
ened Washington, they discovered
the strength of the rebellion, and be-
gan at once to yield all hope Of peace
except 10y compromise.
True they have seen brilliant sue
cesscs, which for the time, encouraged
the hope of permanent victory. But
they have been followed so rapidly by
revcrses we have been compelled to
abandon SO many points once gained;
have sacrificed so many millions of
dollars and thousands of lives, it
leads them to the conviction that
peace will never come through bloody
contests. Aside from the discourage
ments which this class Of men see in
repulses and defeats, in slow move
ments and the defence of Washington,
in the wasting of life and trsasure,
they arc depressed by the course
which other nations have taken, by
threats of Intervention and fear of
aid they may render the rebels. But
taking full survey of the field in
which our forces have been engaged,
and considering the gigantic power
against which they have contcnded,
the results should Gil all hearts with !
Joy, and kindlc new aud brighter
hopes for the future. A review of the |
war now wagcd for nearly two years,
will reveal the fact that the rebels do
not possess one rod of territory out
side of the so-callcd Confederacy
they have never gained and held a
single point beyond the limits which
they claim as their own soil while on
the other hand, they have never yet
held possession of all Virginia and
Kentucky they haye been forced out
Of Maryland; they have been conquer
ed in Missouri, in Kentucky and West.
ern Tennessee T; they have been beat
en- in Arkansas, and the territories ad-
jacent I; they have never dared to
make stand in Texas they have
been driven from the Atlantic coast,
and from large portion of the South
ern border; they have evacuated most
of the Islands and forts on the coast
from Virginia to Florida, and yielded
them up to our quiet possession. We
have wrested from them much Of the
territory of Louisiana, Mississippi and
North Carolina, and forced them step
by step, from the banks Of the Poto-
mac. We now hold one-third Of the
territory which is included in the rebel
Confederacy. We have in our pos
session the principle cities in the Con-
fcderate States, and raised the Stars
and Stripes over million of people
who one year ago were held in re-
straint by rebel tyranny, while now
our armies are marching on to new
and greater triumphs, which will rcas-
sure all hearts of the vitality of the
Government, and its ability to restore
the Union, and re-establish its inhu-
ence among the nations of the earth.