Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-04-28

You have told the country that both the
rebellion and slavery were dead you have
told the people that the forces of the rebels
were reduced by dcsertions, and that they
could not be recruited, fed nor clothed; and
yet you are forced to act upon the defensive,
being threatened at all points
Whenever you have directed the action of
our troops they have been uniformly unsuc-
cessfu you have perpetually offered us the
! wretched spectacle of splendid resources
and excellent chances of success sacrificed
to ncapacity. The only success which you
came near attaining, but the credit OF which
we intend TO take from you, is due TO the
incredible imaginatvencss that you have
displayed in describing facts. Changes of
base, mastery retreats, and reconnoissances
have succeeded each other with a rapidity
worthy Of the greatest Snowman Of modern
times The immense variety of circumstan-
ces is only equaled by the identity Of the re-
suits We have
Sherman $ reconnaissance.
| Smith reconnaissance.
| Thomas reconnaissance.
Fitzpatrick reconnaissance.
Custer $ reconnaissance,
Scymour's reconnaissance.
Gilmore Charleston reconnaissance
The result is everywhere the same, ride
ulous and disastrous. The sole concession
VIC can make to your honesty, is that you
have improved upon the base of 1862 you
destroy fewer soldiers and burn less Of the
nations property
How is it, that after three years of in
comparable victories, according to Halleck' 5
facctious expression, unprecedented in
the military history of nations, you are
still pondering how to preserve the national
capital and your bases of operation?
r.. - g. 4,r ln
achievement of such results, that you now
ask the nation to pass vote of confidence
and rc-elect you for another and perhaps
another term
In your inaugural address you gave a very
striking illustration Of your peculiar homes
ty, by pledging yourself in accordance with
the well-known principles Of the party which
had elected you, not to serve another term
you said this in Il manner which none o
your supporters then misunderstood but
your words were evidently designed to bea
IA double meaning, so that, if you shoulc
find the sweets of Office more cnticing thar
you possibly anticipated you might chang,
your purpose without seeming to violate
your promise. Candid people will see. il
this good deal more evidence Of cunnin!
than honesty
The whole truth is this: you are leadin!
the nation quietly to its destruction by. de
ceiving the people as to the dangers whlcl
threaten it. In the first part Of the cam
rpaign of 1869, you gained advantages whicl
YOU were unable to utilize or even to retail
in 1868.
You sacrificed the entire West for th
capture of Nicksburg, and then you pro
claim to the four winds that the Mississippi
is free, while not a single steamboat cal
navigate it without being attacked or per
haps burned, and without every passenge
having the fear Of death or captivity befor
his eyes.
To serve the ends of your cause, you hay
made hero out of II man upon whom yo
have lavished everything, who had ever
obstacle removed from his path, and VIII
was promptly furnished with Reinforcement
and supplies, while Rosccrans could g
none; and who has scarcely been able I
hold, with the immense resources at h
command, the ground which his predece
sor had gained in spite Of you by his ow
p talents.
You have offered us the distressing spo
20, tacle of the sacrifice of merit to caprice al
personal political interests, and this in r.
public, in the name and under the plea
popular sovereignty.
- And to cap the climax we are obliged |
= hear definitions like this: - An uncond
tional loyal man is one who, although NJ
satisfied with the measures taken by ii
j. government, approves them all and give
St them his constant support
N. 1t seems almost incredible. Are we
Constantinople in ST. Petersburg, in Rom
or in Paris ? Are we the descendants {
of those proud saxons who refused to succum
DC to any yoke, or the illegtimate offspring
ct, cardinals seeking TO secure fortune al
MS greatness by a perpetual worship? Are v
| II Al. i. 4 ,pt Il las,
by Luther and Calvin, who, rather than su
1t iect their reason to an authority which tn,
en despised, preferred to expatriate themselv
,lic to those shores, where, through the age
lor cy Of liberty, they founded our nation
on greatness which you are now striving
an drown in sea of cowardice and adulatio
lis corruption and incompetency? Were o
ced ancestors to visit the earth, they would &C
its tainly be surprised to see that, eighty yea
cx- after the revolution which gave life a
ca liberty to the nation, the Lincoln pal
could find no otherdefinition of loyalty tn
at blind submission to the DEGREES Of the sc
md ernment,
ing But we have exercised this blind al
ian mute submission during three years DIT
ra- ing three years we have kept silent-a
se, what was more generous than silence
of Some true radical patriots said not lo
of since, 'We have lost confidence in Ere
lch mont. What has he done or said for ye
,on past ?"
sty What could he do? What could he sa
ent He has done for you what Butler and SIS
yer have done what we have all done; he h
our been charitable enough to keep silence, a
you that is more than he should have done.
our the face of so much incability and corru
ives ton, patriotism alone has kept us silent.
aim Each time thata fresh defeat or fresh C
heir ccssion to foreign powers brought an ind
in nant exclamation to our lips, we restrain
ion. its utterance And yet have much gri
po- and love, and admiration, accompanied CT
ans hecatomb of these unknown heroes, m
has tyrs to their country, who have fall
mil through the incompetency and the cold {
able Unsuitable ambition of the men whose II
cto- sion it was to lead our sons to victory,
nave who, being blinded by. political conside
hose tions for their personal Advancement
ergy them only to proftless death.
And you have not displayed more tai
peo- or energy abroad. Napoleon has tramp
dis upon the rights of a friendly republic;
even has insolently notified US of a blockade
uced the Mexican coast, and hro,oR the MOI
eter- doctrine IN Our face, We ask, then, VIII
IS master now in America, he who lays d'
,e or the law, or he who submits to the samt
le of Is Napoleon the III, or the successo