, 1863-04-08

CONCLUSION OF THE COMMIT
TEES REPORT.


WHAT TIE WAR HAS ACCOMPLISHED.
Yonr Committee win, however, briefly call !
.;tcution to the fact thai, from the coinmence- !
Eent u active military aud naval operations
il the winter and spring CT lS:o, almost unin-
ttrlnltcd sEcccss for e1.!1 months a'teuLe1 !:
ali onE operations, resui1lg in rat copqntsts. !
Tie t1itImt ls Of fle navy ut Hat'cEas Purt !
Regal and Fort Henry were foiis'S:d by tho !;
victories and coEgEests Of the lrlGy 1t Mill ;
sIrins, Fort Dhlelson aud Roanoke lsllnd. !
Missouri WAS wrenched tom the scbsl grasp, |
and the rebel armies driven i3to Arkansas, !
w1:esc they were d.feated in 81 pitched battle !
at Pea R!cgc.
Bv 1he capture Of Fort Donelson. Kcntucky !
WAS pes.Aa,len ntls redeemed, the capital Of one
Of Tie largest feyoittl States seized, her great
rivers laid open to our ftrtiilas, and the war
carrlctt to tlIc borders cf the Gulf States The
rebel strongltlds IN the Mississippi, Colum-
bus, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, together with
Memphis, the most important Commercial
city Of the State, fell into our LANDS.
Tie autumn Of 1861 had Witnessed the i'm
ror.al,t cs1lure Of iIattcras and Port Ruytl
r; TIE .ayy- Thee s;.ccesscs were followed
through the combined operations Of the array
ard navy, in thg winter an9 spring Of 1H2. BY
til. capture of Roanoke Island anil Ncwbern,
Beaufort aid Tort M4con, and by til" reduc-
ticn # the important fort. Pulaski. control
ling the entrance to the Savannah River: of
Fort Ciinch, controlling the harl,or and rail
road t;cpot Of rcrn,ndina; Of Fort Marion,
| tlors We acquired control Of the spacious in
| land waters of North Carolina (Albeuiarie anu
| pa1nliCo Sounds}, and their adjacent shores,
| ard If che If her two important scaports-
| Beaufort. By The last we made ourselves
1n.sterE Of tie rich sea islands aud important
harbors extending along the coast from
| Charleston to ST. John Il; leaving in the pos
| sctsicn ii the rel,els, on the Atlantic coast
| BIZ. two Earhors. Charleston and Wilmington.
But the brilliant triu:nphs of our army and
navy elsewhere were surpassed by tile capture
If tie great city Of the Calf the depot Of the
| IN achievement Which, estimated l'y The i'm
| port.nce If tic conquest end the noble daring
IT its execution, is scarcely surpassed in his.
tory. BY this important conquest VIC OBJ
and accomplished Tie most Important and
difficult siep toward ott!ai"in. the entire con
troll Of tic Mississippi River, aud ca,t=ed the
| surrender Of Tic l.rhor Of Pensacola, with the
forts yet held hy thu rebels.
In these hastily skctchcd military and naval
operations, extending in the West through
Tic States Of Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee,
and Kentucky, and on the Atlau1ic scaboard
frum Hlttcras to Florida, and on the Gulf
from Pensacola 10 the mouths Of the Miz+is-
sippi, we really made couques:s as vast as it
ot.tu falls to tile lot If the most powerful and
war1ike nations 10 make in Eo short n period
ottimc. We pushed our conquest; By land
| through Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee
to tho very boundaries Of tho Gulf States :;
obtained control Of the Mississippi River, cy-
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia
IL large portion Of Loui>isua seized every
| i1tporlant fort and harbor In the rebel terri
tory, save three Wilmington, Charleston mid
MolIi'e,) reducing to corresponding extent
the labors Of the blockading squadron; cal,-
among Hhicl, were the largest on the Southern
roast, such as Pulaski, Barraucas, &lcRae,
jackson, and St Philip. Following these
conquests was the reduction of Yorktown and
the evacuation ofNo,folk, by wllicl, the waters
of.t1c James and orl Rivers were laid oprn
TO our fleets, aud the rebels deprived Of the
Facilities Furnished by great navy yard, and
compel1td to destroy th':lr only means ol
lnc1l:lcing our fleets in Hampton Roads-the
, | Mcrri1nac.
= WHAT MIGHT HAVE HEgs.
Had The success Of the army Of the Poto
: mac during this period corresponlcd will
, the success Of our arms in other parts Of tht
| country, there is reason to believe that th'
termination of the CAMPAIGN OF 1859 would
have seen the rebellion we'll nigh, u not en-
| tirely, orcrthroWn.
: Hid Norfolk been captured during tht
. winter Of 1sGl-G2, and Tie Merri'nac takci
possession Of or destroyed, the way to Rich
inund, by mca1ls Of the Jsl1ncs River, woult
have Gecn open, and the fatal delays Of tl'
| Peninsula avoided; or Lad the enemy, whcl
at Manassas, some time during the autum1
Of 1861 or winter Of lst'l-Ge, have been com
, | pc1led to have conc out from his cntrcncll
Incnts aud give lis battle, as he might hay
a been, hy threatening or actually interrnptin
- his communication between Richmond All
i; Manassas, on which he wholly depended +,
IS supplies linz so long and difficult to malt
IS tain that we did not dev.n it ,rs.cticabIe fu
70 us-we could harc met him with an arm
:, greater linn it WAS ever proposed to TAX
= against Richmond. and eilicrhaye opened til
n1n
q ssry to 60 there.
IS In military movements delay is general
IS bal-indecision is almost always fatal. l
:. our movements VIC fcem to have too oftc
10 forgotten that momentum Is lnadc uI
~ weight aud velocity; that the fOrcc Of tt
t. blow may depend as much upon the ccleri1
J.. Of The movement as upon the weight Of Il
Is body moved. Tie worlds history shows TIL
+ the successful General has met his enemy II
day before he was expectcd-uot the week
month after. Some Of our poiuts of attas
49, hare been go clearly indicated to the cnca
- beforehand, and our movements made with
* much delay and hesitation, that he has be-
81 able not only to fortity lis positions and co
ia cc,tratc lis forces, bnt even to call Into t
Is teld new armies to meet us. At such poii
5B we kayc filled.
Aia It is particularly worthy Of note that, in t
- rcycrnes which followed the failure Of I
"a Peninsula campaign, at the time when
;i9 army Of tho rebels had reached Its great.
Ds9 strength, and its highest state Of cnthusias
$50 they did not permanently regain any terrific
or rccapture mud hold any Of the imports
10 or controlling points before held By us on n
cl soil. Their marches upon Nashingt'
Maryland. and also Louisville, were. lit
J. more tlIan raids, from which they were
n,~ ligcd to retire before our opposing tore
~, va This fact clearly shows that while it Is imp
list siblc for ns to constantly retain military p
er- session Of al the vast rebel territory o
which We may be called upon to pass in
operations against their armies, still the
ri1ory once held or occupied By rs cannot
permanently regafncd By thcm-a sure il
cation of our ul innate success.
The past, not withstauding its errors and
70 .scs, Is full Of encouragement, and Ei
full assurance of final success. No great
|cSn was ever conducted By any people or Cow
ment without great n1istakcs-giving to
critics Of the time and those Of succeed
generations wide and ample field for t
laboFs. No people on Garth were ever ca
suddenly into great war moro totally IN
pared thar! were the loyal people Of this {
erDmcnt. We felt so well assured OF our
si,ion among the powers Of tue world thai
had almost Concluded We had fought our
battle, and our army and navy had come t
regarded by many as useless aprcndagc
= - the government. We had concluded thai
T. d. ing Justice 10 The nations Of the world
:. should receive justice in return and the l
re. portion Of the people we're deTottng all
nm energies and powers 10 the arts Of peace,
poa advancement Of civilization, the devclopr
1ea' Of the rich and varied resources Of our
q of and great country; and in these every
,n1d found full occupation for his talents, nj
wide field for his ambit1on--no man
aam- dreaming that the parricIdal arm would
the be raised against Government SO mild
tor sway, 20 benignant in Its influence over a
~ subjects.
lc at crossed, suddenly and almost without y
ID to 'ng, 10 turn Its attention to war. The X
rw,s believed us to be SO entirely devoted to
~. pursuits Of peace that VIC should Yic1
Y nen their demands rather than be diverted
cided them; and hence their ncf:lrious attoml
thus overthrow this fair Government, and ere
m ia its ruins that horrid dcformity, 4 free Go,
mcnt with human slavery for It's corners
NOUS How terribly they hare bern mistaken
past has already shown; and yet the enc
,rters | ind powers and resources Of the loya. p'
dark nrrssinn ~ thc rebellion. Thev mnst ,as
;s the and contend in battle with that strength
dings power and intelligence which has built
s'e' covered the ocean with ships, md tltle
lc the markets Of the world with tho product
brain and hands; and they will find thes
lea of less powerful for destruction than for
nrcs. stuctlon, when ONCE fully applied in tn:
"es rectfou.
'egard All the great industrial Interests {
alton, loyal States were never more active,
or not prosperous, than ut this time. all tha
~ 4,,o been lost BY the supply Of men to the
" 'ne has been made mp By increased activit,
coun- energy, and the adaptation Of machine
It that work ncre otorc done by the human
l into fnrc iii these f-rcat forcss pars hacn =, ~
.hancc | fur the benefit Df the srt & 0f rr1rn nou