Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1863-04-18
The peninsular Campaign in Virginia.
(MARcH-JULy, 1SGl.)
BY TIE PRINCE DE JOINVlLLE.

| Dl LIE lRiNNl. Df. JOl'| lLitIt.
Military events succeed each other rapidly
in America, and the public follows them with
an attention which is the more anxious be-
cause it does not understand them, either from
ignorance Of the organization Of the American
armies aud Of the character of their leaders
and soldiers, or, chiefly from inability to OBJ
tain, in reference to these memorable struggles,
the recollection of competent observers, who
themselves engaged in ther,. These pages
may. perhaps, crafty 81 legitimate a curiosity,
being made up from thcnot"s OF an officer who
took part in the last battles in Virginia, and
who sill watches the great operations Of the
war. Our task is simply to unite and group
the impressions Of this officer, and the recol-
lcc.ions scattered through his numerous let
ters and in his journal- Washington Globe.
When arrived in America. the curtain had
Just fallen on the first act OF the Secession i'll
surecton. The attack on Fort Sumter by
the people of Charleston had been the pro-
iogut, which had been followed by the disas.
ter of Bull Run. The southern army was en-
campcd in sight of Washington, around which
troops were hastily erec,u: works OF defense.
! The booming Of cannon ut the Outposts was
occasionally heard. Amid this excitement
the army of the Potomac came into existence.
Til then, the Federal Government, taken
by surprise, had only been able to adopt hasty
provisional measures. which aggravated III
stead Of avertinG the danger. All the advan-
tagcs, at the beginning of the insurrcciion,
had been with the insurgents They were
ready for a hostile attack; the North was not
Indeed, the work of secession had long been
in preparation. Under the pretext of mill
iary organization for the suppression Of slave
Instructions, the the Southern States had
formed Il permanent militia ready TO marc! at
the first signal. Special schools had been
founded. where the sons OF Shareholders i'm
bued the good and bad qualities which form Il
race Of soldiers. Meanwhile, the Northern
man, confidently relying on the regular work
in" oi the Constitution, remained behind his
counter, attending solely to his interests. b.
sides, the national army Of the United States
belonged almost entirely to Southern inen
For many years the Federal power had been
in their hands, and they had not failed to fill
with their creatures all the departments Of
public administration, especially the Military
School, and. consequently, the army. For a
long time Secretary of .War Mr.. Jefferson Da-
Wis had done more than any other man to effect
this. The tastes Of the Northern States had,
moreover, facilitated his task. Among HE Ia
borious and always somewhat purianieal rro-
pie of New EngIand, the military profession
was regarded as the profession OF idlcrs; the
West Point school enjoyed but poor esteem
among them, and their families kept their chill
dren from il. Finally, on the very eve OF the
crisis accustomed by the election Of MIR. lin
Floyd. now one of the secession Generals, had
taken care to send South the contents OF all
the Federal arsenals, and to dispatch the whole
of the regular army to Texas. putting between
it and Washington the barrier of the slave
States, in order to make powerless the scni.
ment of duty which might lead the soldiers to
follow the too small number of officers who re-
manned faithful to their flag. Thus nothing
was wanting to the precautions taken by the
conled4rates. They had served the navy as
they had served the army: it was scattered
to the four quarters of the globe.
AS for the North, it did nothing Yet it
had not wanted warnings. For many years
secession had been openly preached. a curl.
ous book called the Partisan Leader, published
more than twenty years ago, proves this In
the form of novel. it is a truly prophetic pic.
ture of the war whicl, now dislocates Virginia.
represented in colors well fitted TO explain the
ardor with which the imagination Of the creole
women have cspoused the secession cause but
it was thought nt the North, as in so many
other places, that " it would all come right"
The North felt itself the stronger,and thought
it useless to take trouble beforehand. 1t was
the old story of the hare and the tortoise. Ii
nallv. in case Of need. the North counted on
the hundreds Of thousands Of volunteers set
down in tho officialreports ms representing tho
military force cf the country. which popular
nexperience considered irresistible. The
North was soon undeceived. Tho Southern
people lost the Presidential election. They
still had majority in the Senate, they had
not lost their power; hut their pride had re.
ccived wound. Of which aspiring leaders
avaied themselves MS means of success, and
raised the standard Of instruction. The Fed