Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1863-07-18
From the New York Independent
The Sunlight of Victory.
BY HORACE oRrrIsr.


..-.s .la ip BY HORACE oREELxr.
AT last the long hours Of trial and sui
fering wear awoy---the thick clouds OF ad
versity aud disaster ascend and vanish
the patient fottitude that would not b,
yanquished bears its fruit--the faded anc
battle-rcnt banners of the great Army o
the Potomac CLEAN with the unwonteC
light Of victory. No longer can the Nortf
be reproacbed with countervaiing, by ;ht
defeat of her armies all the triumphs gal
lantly won in the West and in the South
no longer can it be said with plausibiity
that every new effort Of the Army Of the
Potomac is sure to culminate 10 some fresh
calamity That army, commanded by Q
General who inspires and deserves its con
hdence, has met the mightiest host ever
embodied by the rebels-veterans all, and
led 10y their ablest geheral--a host which
he'd been trained by successes almost IN
broken TO regard battle and victory as In
its case Synonymous tcrms--and has crush
ed it in a three days struggle, in which lis
utmost strength was put forth with reck
less valor welded by signal ability. II
was not outnumbered-it was not caught
at disadvantage and cnt up in detail-it
was in equal conflict, on ground Of its own
choosing, by that same Army of the Poto
mac which it boasts of having so often
vanquished and voIsted in fair fight, be-
yond a doubt or pcsadventure. 1t left the
well-fought field piled with its dead and
wounded, numbering q full fourth Of the
flashed and confident legions it brought in
TO the conflict, and the Fourth of July
dawned upon the flying wreck of its
strength, its courage, aud its audacious
pride. In all, human probability, the
struggle at Gettysburg has crushed the
Rebellion and saved the Republic. ou1a sfl
In the contemplation of worldly pru-
dence, that struggle should have been post.
poued, if not avoided, on our side. A
greeu commander of oft beaten army,
which, it was widely and confidently pro-
cluimed, was utterly demOralzed by its
reverses, dsgusied by the frequent changes
Of its leaders, and would only fight under
Mcclellan, if ut all, should--it was reason
ably suggested--have waited to be heavily
reinforced from the Peninsula, from the de
tenders of Washington, from the rapidly
gathering Militia Of Pennsylvania and hci
sympathiZing Eastern sisters, before tempt
Lg the perllous ordeal OF battle. 1t i:
notorious, in well Informed circles, that al
the foreign military officers lonnging in oul
great cities, insisted that Meade wonld o
course be beaten by Lee if he gave battle
with the Army Of the Potomac uloue, and
that tho French ambassador ordered NJ
Imperial ship of war around from New
York TO Washington. as place of refuge
for himself in case of the bombardment o
capture of our capital. The Secessio
aristocracy of Baltimore, hitherto wei
posted with regard 10 the progress OF th
War, expected Lee as confidently as the.
looked forward to the anniversary of ou
Nalional Independence, and were only il
doubt as to which of these events woult
precede the other. i 4
There was audaciiy in the precipitation
with which Gen. Meade hurled that army
while yet unaceustomed to the sound OF hi
voice--an army which be had never one
reviewed or manGnYered as its commando
upon the sangnine leglons OF his veteran
antagonist but it was the audacity OF ge-
nius---!he daring of cue who knew himself
his solaIers, and theitask before them. AM
it was eminently due to that abused, ira
duced, misjudged Army OF the Potomac
that the discontinue of Lees invadin!
host should be emphatically its OWL
achievement. To have crushed the Rebe
battalionS by overwhelming numbers
enveloping them in myradS of Militia to-
multiludinous to be killed and too dense I,
get away--might have saved the life. bu
oud not have vindicatcd the honor, o
the Republic. Above all, it would no
have taught the unthinking aud superficial
many to prize at their true worth and t,
regard with admiring gratitude, the heroi
valor and invincible constaucy of the nobl
Army Of the Potomac. .ao Ao as7rh D.
v' - iiat s3r-I -t .