The Abingdon Virginian. [volume] (Abingdon [Va.]) 1849-1883, 1863-08-21

~
ed ut advertising rates, also tributes of respec
and $500 for announcing candidates.
Address of the President
10 tic Soldiers Of the Confederate States.
a FTER more than two years of a warfar
An scarcely equalled in the number, magnitude
and fearful carthage Of its battles; q warfare il
which your courage and fortitude have illustrat
ed your country and attracted not only gratitud,
at.home, but admiration abroad, your enemies
continue struggle in which our final triumph
must be inevitable. Unduly elated with theil
recent successes, they imagine that temporary
feverses can quell your spirit or shake ySur de.
Termination, and they are now gathering heavy
masses for general invasion in the vain hote
that by desperate EFFORT success may at length
be reached
fou know teo well. my coantrymen, what they
mean by success. Their malignant rage aims
at nothing less than the determination of your
selves, your wives, and children. They seek to
destroy what they cannot plumber. They pro-
pose as the spoils of victory that your homes
shall be partitioned among the wretches whose
atrocious craelties have stamped infamy on their
Government. They design to incite serEile in
surrection and light the fires of incendiarism
whenever they can reach your homes, and they
debauch the inferior race, hitherto docile and
contented, by promising Indulgence of the vilest
passions as the price Of treachery. Conscious
of their inability to prevail by legitimate war
fare, not daring to make peace lest they should
be hurled from their seats Of power, the men
who now rule in Washington refuse even to con-
fer on the subject of putting an end to outrages
which disgrace our age, or to listen to sugges-
ton for conducting the war according to the
Gsages Of civilization.
Fellow citizens, no alternative is left you but
victory or subjugation, slavery and the utter
ruin of yourselves, your families and your coun-
try. The victory is within your reach You
need but stretch ferth your hands to grasp it,
For this and all that is necessary is that those
who ATE called to the field by every motive that
can move the human heart, should promptly re-
pair to the post Of drty, should stand by their
comrades now in front of the foe, and thus SO
strengthen the armies of the Confederacy as to
ensure Success. The men now absent from their
posts would, if present in the field, suffice to
create numerical equality between cur force and
that of the invAders-and when, with any ap.
proach to such equality. have we failed to be
victoriousf Ibelieve that but few Of those alb
sent are artdated by unwilingness to serve their
country but that many have found it difficult
70 resist the temptation of visit to their homes
and the loved ones from whom they have been so
long separatedI that others have left fJf tempo
rary attention I'd theft Affairs with the intention
Of returning, and then have shrunk from the
consequences of their violation of duty; that
others aGain have left their posts from mere
restlessness and desire of change, each quieting
the upbraidings of his conscience, by .persuad-
Ing himself that his individual services could
have no Influence on the general result
These and other causes (although far less dis
81 al. Al 4
escape from the sacrifices required by patriot |
ISM are, nevertheless, grievous faults, and
place the cause of our beloved country, and of |
everything we hold dear, in imminent peril I |
repeat that the men who now owe dutyto their |
country, who have been called out and have not !
yet reported for duty, or who have absented (
themselves from their posts, are sufficient in
number to secure us victory in the struggle now |
impending.
f.call on you then, my countrymen, to hasten |
to your camps, in obedience to the dictates of |
honor and Of duty, and summon those who have
absented themselves without leave, or who have +
remained absent beyond the period allowed by I
their -furlough, to repair without delay to their
respective commands, and j do hereby declare
that grant ageneral pardon and amnesty to all
officers and men within the Confederacy, now
absent without leave, who shall, with the least /
pOSblDlo d0kdy, fcturu W CuolF pTOpCI pooeo "a
duty, but no excuse will be received for any de-
lay beyond twenty days after the first publica-
ton of this proclamation in the State In which
the absentee may be at the date of the publica-
ton. This amnesty and pardon shall extend to
all who have been accused or who have been
convicted and are undergoing sentence for abb
sence without leave, or desertion, excepting on
~ those who have been twice convicted for de-
sertion.
Finally, coniure my countrywomen-the
wives, mothers, sisters and daughters Of the
Confederacy--to use their all-powerful influence
IN aid of this call, to add one browning sacrifice
to those which their patriotism has so freely and
offered on their country's altar, and
to take care that none who owe service in the
held shall be sheltered at home from the disgrace
Of having deserted their duty to their families,
to their country, and to their God.
f@) Given under my hand, and the seal
I SEAL : of the Confederate States, at Richmond,
.(~- this LIST day of August in the year. of
BUR Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty
three. JEFFERSON DAVIS.
By the President:
J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary Of State.
August 7th, 1868. +