The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1863-10-01
seward,s Diplomatic Circular.
CIRCULAR NUMBER THIRTY-NTNE.


complained of the premature DEGREES OF Ureat
Britain and France, which accorded the char
acters of beIligerent to the insurgents the
statesmen of those countries have answered,
that from the first they agree IN opinion that
the efforts of the Government to maintain the
Union, and preserve the integrity of the Re.
public, could not be successful. With view
to correct this prejudgment Of so vital ques-
ton, addressed circular letter to the repre-
sentatives of the United States in foreign coun
tries on the 14th day Of April, 1862, in which
| reviewed the Operations Of the war on sea
and land, and presented the results when hao
attended Il down to that period. The prelu-
dice. which then attempted TO remove, stlli
remains and it constitutes the basis OF all that
is designedly or undesignedly injurious to the
countrv in the policy of foreign nations. The
insurgents have been able to protract their re-
sistance by means of sympathy and aid they
have received from abroad, and the expecta-
ton of further and more effectual foreign as
sistance is now their chief resource. A new
effort, therefore, to correct that prejudice is
demanded equally by prudent concern for
onr foreign relations, and by the paramount
interests of peace and humanity.
In the battles of August, 1862, the Cuion
forces suffered some severe and appal ling re-
verses. But they resulted in the reunion OF
the army which had been called in from the
Peninsula, below Richmond, with the army
which had its position between that strongly
fortified seat of the iusurrectton and this cap
itol. The wisdom of this reunion was soon
to be indicated. The insurgent army, flush
ed with its recent successes and suspectlng
that a sympathetic interest OF slavery would
produce an uprising Of the people of Maryland
in it's favor, for the first time crossed the Po-
tornac River. Harpers Ferry, with many pris
oners, fell into its hands, rather through acct
dents in preparing its defense than because it
was indefensible. Nevertheless, the expecta
ton Of recruits sgnally failed. Gen McClel-
Ian, commanding the now consolidated forces
of the Army of the Potomac, was re-cnforced
by fresh levies from Pennsylvania, and by de
tachments called in from neighboring forts
He drove the insurgents from their positions
at South Mountain and Champions Gap
About the middle of September, the two OPP
posing armies confronted each other at Sharps-
burg, aud pitched battle was fought on the
banks of the Antetam. 1t was well sustain
ed on both sides. Men of one race and train
ing directed the armies, whose rank and lille
were substantially of one blood, and even near
" equal in numbers The arrogant assump-
ton of superior valor and herOisIn which the
insurgents had brought into the contest, and
had cherished throughout its early stages, per-
ished on that sauguinary field. The insur-
gent army, shattered in the conflict abandon
ed the invasion of Maryland, and sought ref
uge and opportunity to recover its wasted
strength in Virginia behind its accustomed
barrier, the Potomac.
Mr.. Seward then details the retreat of Bragg
to Murfreesboro, the defeat Of Price and Van
Dorm at Corinth, aud the occupation Of Nash
vile and Murfreesboro by Rosecrans, the cap
ture Of Vicksburg, the victory at Helena the
surrender Of Port Hudson, and the occupation
of jackson.
1t will be remembered that on the 22d day
of September, 1862, the President issued a
proclamation requiring the insurgents to lay
down their arms and return to their allegiance,
under the penalty that i'll all the districts
where the iusurrection should be still main
tanned with the support Of the people, he would
on the LIST Of January then next proclaim, as
military measure, the freedom of the slaves
The warning was generally rejected and de-
fed, but the proclamation which it hcralded
was duly issued. As the national armies adj
vanced into the insurrectionary territories,
slaves in considerable numbers accepted their
freedom and came under the protection of the
national flag. Amidst the great prejudice and
many embarrassments which attended meas
ure so new and so divergent from the polite
al habits of the country freedmen with com
mendable alacrity enlisted in the Federal
my. There was in some quarters a painful
inquiry about their moral capacity for service.
That uncertainty was brought to a sudden end
in the siege of Port Hudson. The newly raised
negro regiment exhibited all necessary valor
and devotion in the military assaults which
were made, with desperate courage, and not
without fearful loss by Gen. Banks. This
protracted operation all of Gen. Banks avail
able forces. While it was going on, insurgent
troops which were called up from Texas re
occupied much of the southwestern portion Of
Louisiana which he had before reclaimed
The surrender of Port Hudson, however, SCI
his army at liberty, and he has already made
considerable progress in restoring the nation
al authority, thus temporarily displaced.
The complete occupation of the Mississippi
by the national forces has effectually divided
the insurrectionary region into two parts, and
among the important features of this division
one which is of the highest practical signif-
icance is, that the field of military operations
of the instruction is chiefly on the eastern
side of the river, while its supplies have been
mainly drawn from the prairies Of Arkansas
and Texas which stretch away from the west
ern shore. These prairies can no longer sup
ply the insurgents with cattle for suStenance
in the field, and on the other hand. arms ord
nance and ammunition can no longer be sent
from the eastern manufactures and deposits
to forces employed or in garrison in the West
The value of the acquisition of the Mississippi
in this respect was illustrated only few days
since in the capture by Gen. Grant, near
Natchez, of 5000 beeves, and 2, 600 mules
which had crossed to the eastern bank, and
at the same time many hundred thousand
cartridges and other stores which had just
been landed at the western end Of the same
ferry.
After narrating the progress of events at
Charleston, the symptoms Of disaffection in
North Carolina, the defeat of Lee at Gettvs-
burg, the occupation of ShelbyvilIe, Tullaho
ma and Chattanooga, and the rout of Morgan's
forces, the circular concludes as follows
This review of the campaign shows that no
great progress has been made by our arms in
the east. The opposing forces there have been
too equally matched to allow great advanta-
ges to accrue to either party while the neces-
sity of covering the National Capital in all
contingencies has constantly restrained our
Generals and forbidden such bold and danger
GUS movements as usually conduct to brilliant
military success. In the west. however, the
results have been more gratifying. Fifty
thousand square miles have been reclaimed
from the possession of the insurgents. On re
ferring to the annexed map it will be seen
that since the breaking out of the insurrec-
ton, the Government had extended its former
sway over and through region of two hund-
red thousand square miles, an area as large
as Austria or France, or the peninsula of Spain
and Portugal. The insurgents lost in the va
rious field and siege operations of the month
of July which have described one-third OF
their whole forces