Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-01-17

From the Richmond Examiner, January J..
Our feet upon the Threshold of the third year
the most gig no sruggle for national dependence
be found in the annals Of the world. Assaied all
sides by armie5 which for number and appointments
have been hitherto unequslled in any aar. Though we
have been stripped Of much territory have lost our CHEF
city. and though the enemy have gained f0othold u
every State Of Confederacy, YET the skill Of
generals and the courage of devoted iegiOns
evnced hundred biooiy fields during the year Just
closed, enable us today 10 stand before the world and
enemies powerful people united and deter
mined people than any previous period Of our history.
Amid the Cuet which prevails in Virginia while the
smoke of battle hssts away from the victorious field OF
Fredericksburg and while yet the huriy-buly " of con
TENDING hosts family aches from the Souhw st. the
time ia opportune to pause for smomsnt and cast
Prospect the gesteven Of the past twelve months
recollection of disasters and victories useful
knoUgedge for the present and the future
The year of our Lord 1862 dawned gloomily for the
Southern republic The hopes Of govein nment and peo-
pie had just been sadly dah by the disappearance Of
chance Of war between England and our enemy. Ter
red by the grol Of Britain Lnco had liberated the
Confederate commits and apOlogzed for the
duct of Commander Wilkes We began for the first
time realize that had to RELY upon own
age and strength alone TO carry through a with
oft5e most p0Weru nations of modern times Since
the eang ont Of the war had been the universal be-
1e that suffering for cotton England would take sd-
vantage Of the first pTetext to quarrel with the North
form alliance offensive and defensive with the South
But the settlement Of the MseenSde difficulty demon
sraed the fascy of this hope Eng wanted cotton
but shs wanted still the destruction Of cotton
producing system Of the South, which she thought in
North We, therefore, had to look enemy in the face
and single handed, prepare for the contest.
At hat time 1t the avowed policy Of our govern
ment to hold every foot Of the territory in each of the
States Of the Confederaey To carry out this policy the
armies Of the Confederasy numbering perhaps TIVE hun
dred thousand meH scattered along the Potomac, ts
Atlantic and Gulf coasts and along western frontier
were wat hing in mOnoIonous, cankering inactivity for
the enemy to strike The enemy feeling secure of bis
prey whenever he chose TO advance, was strengthen
ing his numbers and by drill and discipline performing
the slow but process Of making sOlIiers of vol
unteer lie msssing troops at every Rsssilable
poDt nor and western frontier, and fitting out
great armada TO operate against seabOard cities
His ees and Gordon of land forces constituted tho Ana
cOnda the great bus bear Of that crush
the young republic in its coils. 1t will further be
tdat this terrible beast discovered too late
for its own safety that it had enwrapped a lion
spired nc tile terror. The Northern journals came to
teemng with boasts Of its resstles prowess, and
these being freely published in the South had their eff
feet Our people stn had the contempt contracted st
Manassas for the Yankee land forces but there was
horror inseperable from the thought Of the mammoth
armadas and mortar fleets that were fitting out for mys
terious missions in Northern port Being dangers Of
novel kind they douby terrible, aud their desti
nations being unknown our whole seRbosrd wzs kept in
tremor. Southern papers endeavored to inspire
hdence by proving from historic example the immense
superiority Of land batteries over fleets Now, the peO
pie had hes all this and perhaps believed it, before the
fall Of Hateras but that disaster had shaken faith in
history and redoued the dread Of Yankee long range
guns snd gunbosts.
ctive hosiltes were instituted this year by General
Jackson who attacked and drove the enemy out OF Nor
gan county the 4th day of January A number of
skirmishes followed in Northern Virginia and il Wes
tern Kentucky, and in Missouri in al of which the ad
vantages decidedly with the Confederstes Our peo
pie took matters of course, it
believed that the Bull Runners as it was the
fashion Of that day TO call tne couldnot stand before
Southern troops 10 a land fight
While were eonsoling ourselves with this view of
land forces disasters past and come by
water General Crttenden marched his little army Of
ak thousand men into trap at Somerset, Kentucky
laid for him by the Yankee Generals Schoepf ana
rei F-fr #
hundred men, killed and wounded, his artillery, equip
age and three thousand men. BE thought the enemys
numbers less than bus own, but found them 10
csed fifteen thousand. This affair produced sensation
North and South, out of all proportion the numbers
engaged or its actual results SIX months aterit would
have been regarded ss an nsgnlncant skrnlh Atthe
me-be Hgerents were ignorant Of wsr and It
considered by both severe blow to the prestige of
Southern arms. II struck gloom TO every Southern
heart which we can afford saile at sud sent
corresponding thrill Of JOY through the North. The
New York Herald OF the day, nentng upon the Af
fair expressed the opinion that the rebs would in
sequence, for peace by the then ensuing May The
depression OccaOned by this mishaP continued through
the remainder Of the month"; though arms had met
with considerable successes on tue florida coast
and was only dspeed by the intelligence Of General
Prices victories at Boonvie, Missouri, the LIST Of
February
But February, which had dawned 50 brightly, soon
became overcast and disasters befe the Confederate
arms fast and heavy.
On the 9th Fort Henry, on the Cumberland river
taken and ON 'he sth Burnside captured Roanoke is
land after very ting resistance by the garrison who
consisted OF he Wise legion and some North Carolina
troops With the fall Of Roanoke island the enemy OBJ
tanned quiet possession of all the neighborng coast Of
North CarolinA.
On the 14h OF February, after two DAYS Of battle
such that time had been equaed on this con.
tine1t, the enemy. by dnt of overwhelming numbers
and he material aid Of his gunbOsts compelled the sur
render OF Fort Doneon and the part Of its gar
rson When il was sscertained by an unanimous eoun-
cI 4 war that further resistance Impossible Gen
Floyd acceded % that opinion but saved nearly all his
own command, with which he arrived safely at Nash
VILE The desperate character Of the battle which prees
ded the surrender be inferred from the acknovy-
edged fact that the enemys loss exceeded the whole
number Of the Confed rate forces al that point
Though these terrible disasters HE'D the nation with
terror and alarm, there is doubt they were
blessings in disguise. Our government bad under
thA ipossible task Of defending coast and frontier
thousands Of miles in xtent against enemy Of great
lv superior numerical strength and possessing all the
advantage of powerful navy 1t now for the first
time seemed 70 awaken to the dangers Of the attempt
qaiust sch policy Of defense the Yankee anaconda
must have been successful II became apparent that
our only hope 0f safety consisted in contracting our
lines of defense Consolidating scattered forces In
two or more great armies and BY suddei ana vigorous
blows breaking fhe long back Of the reptile
But it was essential thst this contraction Of our lines
should be made deliberately and without the appear
suce Of panic. Unfortunately this not done in all
cases
The resistance at DOnelsOn was protraeted inst long
enough to permit the evacuation Of Bowling Green