The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1863-05-29
Signs of Yielding i'm the South.


military ,vements, especia.ly!in Nir ginia
one would say the war is likely to be Ions
and exhaustive that the rebels are indomit
able In resolution and will fight to the last
and yield only when WORE out by our superi
ority of men and resources. Foreigners
who only Judge from what We have done anC
what we have failed to do so far, may be
pardoned for thinking that the attempt tc
conquer the South cannot succeed. Many OF
our most patrioric citizens, find themselve:
lnclining to this View, after some great re
pulse, like that on the Rappahannock, and il
1t were not for the conviction that we must
persevere and prevail, or perish as nation
there would by this time have been a loval
peace party, instead of a traitorous faction
Of copperheads.
Is it not little remarkable in spite OF all
adverse circumstances, that the opinion pre-
vaiis pretty generally in the army that the
wal ID He"i ItS emu. intercourse Will llle
rebel soldiers strengthens this opinion
They find them generally tired of the war
and ready for peace on almost any terms.
Few CT them are against tie Union or ever
were. They f)l!ow their leaders, but they
care nothing about the confederacy That
belongs to a few politicians, and the southern
soldiers are honest when they say, as they
often do, that if the politicians We're out of
the way, the soldiers Of the TWO armies
could make peace without any difficulty
Why then do the rebel soldiers fight so des-
peratey? Because they are fighters by hab-
it. If they had supposed the battle at Chan
celorsville would be the last one ever fought
under the confederate flag they would have
gone into it with equal determination to win,
for the mere glory of it, In the civil broils
i'll which they have been educated at home
they have been in the habit of fighting things
through till one or the other party was un-
questlonab!y beaten, and they did this all
the same if they knew how it would come
out The southern idea of honor is not to
yield till forced to, whether the cause is right
or wrong. And this lighting haiti has Civ
en- the rebels some very great advantages
over Cur northern troops, who have no such
reckless contempt for wounds ard death. -
The persistent fighting of the rebel soldiers
therefore indicates nothing against their dis
position to make peace at the earliest Oppor-
tunity. In fact they would feel all the more
like submission if they could only orag that
they had whipped in the last biz fight.
The articles published lately in the Rich
mond Enquirer ale Very significant on this
subject. The Enquirer is pointing out to
the southern people in very plain words the
hopelessness OF their future prospects. y
great many southern people must be think
ing in that way, or it would not be safe for
the Enquirer to print what it does. Ii is
right in its conclusions, and It makes them
very clear by its facts and reaSonings. The
North can stand a long war much letter than
the South, and as things are Aow going. a
five years contest would impoverish the South,
destroy slavery and transform the rebel
states into territories to be possessed by free
emgrantS from the North and West. But
we don't want long war. The people il
both sections desire peace at the earliest pos
sible moment, and let southern people gen
eraily come to understand that they cannot
have their confederacy without absolutel Y
conquerIng the North, that they can't DO that
under any circumstances, and that the longer
they fight the worse off they will be in the
end, and the rebellion will soon COLLAPSE
There are certainly signs that southern opin-
ion is taking that direction, and that We may
therefore hope for short war The way to
make this certain is to win III the present
campaign n.-Sprinyfeld Republican,.