Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1863-04-24
6ronl the South.
ADDRESS OF JEFF. DAVIS TO
THE CONFEDERATE STATES.

In compliance with the request of Com
gress, contained in the resolutions passed
on the fourth day of the present month,
| invoke your attention to the present
condition and future prospects Of opR
country, and to the duties which patriot
ism imposes on us all during this great
struggle for our homes and our liberties.
These resolutions are in tho following
language.
Here follow sundry resolutions passed
blythe Confederate Congress, reGsh.ksi,s
Mr.. Davis to issue an address
Fully concurring in the views thus ex-
pressed by Congress, confidently appeal
to your love of country for aid in carry
ing into effect the recommendations of
your Senators and Representatives We
have reached the close Of the second year
Of the war, and may point with just pride
to the history of our young Confederacy.
Alone, unaided, we have met and over
thrown the most formidable combinations
of naval and military ornaments that the
lust of conquest ever gathered together
for the conquest of a free people.
We began this struggle without a sin
gle gun aaoat, while the resources of our
enemy enabled them to gather fleets
which, according to their official list,
published in August last, consisted of
four hundred and thirty-scven vessels,
measuring eight hundred and forty thou
sand and eighty-six tons, and carrying
three thousand and twenty-six guns, yet
we have captured, sunk or destroyed
number of these vessels, including two
large frigates and one steam sloop-of-war,
while four of their captured steam gun
boats are now in our possession, adding
to the strength of our little navy, which
is rapidly gaining in numbers and eff
cheney.
To oppose invading forces composed
of levies which have already exceeded
thirteen hundred thousand men, VIC had
no resources but the unconquerable valor
of people determined to be free aud
we were SO destitute of military supplies
that tens Of thousands of our citizens
were reluctantly refused admission into
the service from our inability to furnish
them arms, while for many months the
continuation Of some Of our stronghold
owed their safety chiefly to careful con
cealment of the fact that we we're with
out a supply of powder for our cannon
Your devotion and patriotism have tri
umphcd over all these obstacles, and
called into existence the munitions. o.
war, the clothing and the subsistence
which have enabled our soldiers to illus
trate their valor on numerous attle-felds,
and to inaict crushing defeats on success
sive armies, each of which our arrogant
foe fondly imagined to be inyincible. -
The contrast between our past and pre-
sent condition is we'll calculated to inspire
full confidence in the triumph Of our
arms. AT no previous period of the war
have our forces been so numerous, SO
well organized, and so thoroughly dici-
plined, armed and equipped, as at pre-
sent. The season of high water, on
which our enemies relied to enable their
fleets Of gunboats to penetrate into our
country and deyastate our homes, is fast
passing away ; yet our stfongholds on
the Mississippi still bid defiance to the
foe, and months Of costly preparations
for their reduction have been spent in
vain. Disaster has been the result Of
their every effort to turn or storm Vicks-
burg and Port Hudson, as we'll as every
attack on our batteries on the Red river,
the Tallahatchie and other navieable
streams. Within few weeks the falling
waters and the increasing heats Of sum
mer will complete their discontinue. and
compel their bafled and defeated forces
to the abandonment Of expeditions on
which was based their chief hope Of sue
cess in efecting our suljugation.
We must not forget, however, that the
war is not ended, and that we are still
confronted by powerful armies and threat
ened by numerous fleets, and that the
Government that controls those fleets and
armies Is driven to the most desperate ef
fort to effect the unholy purpose in which
it has thus far been defeated. 1t will use
its utmost energy to avert this impending
doom, 50 fully merited by the atrocities
it has committed, the savage barbaritics
which it has encouraged, and the crown
ing attempt to excite a seryile population
TO the massacre Of our wives, our daugh-
ters, and our helpless children. With
such contest before US there is but one
danger which the Government of your
choice regards with apprehension; and
to avert this danger it appeals to the
never-failiDg patriotism and spirit which
you have exhibited since the beginning
Of the war.
The very unfayorable season, the pro-
tracted drouths Of last year, reduced the
harvest on which We depend, far below
an average yield, and the deficiency was,
unfortunately, still more marked in the
northern part Of our Confederacy, where
supplies were specially needed for the
army. If, through a confidence in early
peace, which may prove delusive, our
fields should now be devoted to the pro-
duetion Of cotton and tobacco, instead Of