Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1863-08-11
NEWS PROM THE SOUTH. :
Extracts from late Rebel
Newspapers,
rRocLAmAvos OF JEFPsRsoN DAVIS.

rRocLAMATIoS OF JEFFBRsoN DAVIS.
| To the Soldiers Of the Confederate States.
After more than two years of q warfare
scarcely equaled in the number, magni.
tude, and fearful carnage of its battles; 6
WAR in which yonr courage and fortitudt
F.! have illustrated your country, aud attract
| ed not only gratitude at home, but admira-
tion abroad, your enemies continue TO
struggle in which our final triumph must
be inevitable. Unduly elated with their
recent successes, they imagine that tempo
rary reVerses can quell your spirit or shake
your determination, and they are now gath
ering heavy masses for general invasion,
in the vain hope that by desperate effort
succsss may at length be reached.
You know too we'll, my countrymen,
what they mean by success. Their malig-
nant rage aims at nothing less than the
; determination of yourselves, your wives,
and childreu They seek to destroy what
they cannot plumber. They propose as the
spoil5 OF victory that your homes shall be
partitioned among the wretches whose
atrocious cruelties have stamped infamy
on their Government. They design to in'
cite servile insurTection and light the 6res
of incsndiarism whenever they can reach
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 pow
er, the men who now rule in Washington
refuse even TO confer on the subject OF
putting an end to outrages which Disgrace
our age, or to listen to Il suggestion for
conducting the war according to the
usages of civilization.
Fellow citizens, no alternative is left
you but victory or subjugatiou, slavery,
and the utter rain of yourselves, your fam
lilies, and your country. The victory is
within your reach. You need but stretch
forth your hands and grasp it. For this
all that is necessary is that those who are
called to the field by every motive that can
move the human heart should promptly
repair to the post of duty, should stand by
their comrades now In front of the foe,
and thus 80 strengthen the armies of
the coufederacy as to insure success. The
men now absent from their posts would
if present in the field suffice to create nu-
merical equality between our force and
that of the invaders; and when with any ap.
proach to such equality have we failed to
be victorious? l believe that but few of
those absent are actuated by unwillingness
to serve their country, but that many have
found it difficult to resist the temptation
of visit to their homes and the loved
ones from whom they have been so long
separated; that others have left for tempo
rary attention to their affairs with the in
teution of returning, and then have shrunk
from the consequences of their violation
of duty; that others again have left their
posts from nero restlessness and desire OF
change, each quoting the npbraidings of
Of his conscience by persuading himself
that his individual>SerVicesc cOuld have no
influence on the general result.
These and other causes (although far
lose disgraceful than the desire to avoid
danger or 70 escape from the sacrifices
required by pAtriotism) are, nevertheless,
| grevious faults, and place the cause OF our
beloved country, and of everything We
hold dear, in imminent peril. repeat
that the men who now owe duty 10 their
country, who have been called out and
! have not yet reported for dnty, or who
have absented themselves from their posts,
are sufficient in number to secure US VIC
tory in the struggle now impending.
call on you, then, my countrymenu 10
| hasten to your camps, in obedience 10 tho
dictates Of honor and of duty, and summon
those who have absented themselves with
ont leave, who have remained absent be-
vond the period allowed by their furIoughs,
TO repair without delay to their respective
commands, and do hereby declare that
grant a general pardon and amnesty to all
officers and men within the confederacy,
now absent without leave, who SHALL with
tho least possible delay, return to their
proper posts of duty but no excuse will
be received for any delay beyond twenty
DAYS after the frst publication of this proc
lamation in the state in which the aoseu-
tee may be at the date of the publication.
This amnesty and pardon shall extend to
all who have been accused, or who have
been convicted aud are undergoing sem
| tence for absence without leave or deser-
ton, excepting only those who have been
twice convicted of desertion.
Finally, l coujure my countrymen-the
wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters OF
/ the confederacy--to use their all.poWeTtul
| influence in aid of this call, TO add one
crowning sacrifice to those which their pat
riotism has so freely and constantly afford
ed on their country's altar, and to take
care that none who owe service in the neio
shall be sheltered at home from the disgrace
of having deserted their duty TO their fam
flies, to their country, and TO their God.
Given under my hand, and the
seal of the Confederate States, al
/ skAL Richmond, this lst day of August
in the year of our Lord one thous'
and eight hundred and siXty-three
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
By the President:
J. P. BESJAX1x, Secretary Of State.
a TO THR FRoST =" Az APPEAL TO TIE NEl