Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-10-12
Prom the N. Y. Post.
Jeneraon DavIl'G Last Speech.


heartened companions in reVolt, delivered
at Macon on the Gath of September, is in
its tone not unlike the terrible words
which Milton puts into the mouth of Sa-
tan when he would rally his dropping fol-
lowers after being cast out of heaven
Surveying the blissful seats which could
possess NO more, the archsngel exclaimed:
"what though the field be lostl
All Il not lost; the unconqusrable will
And study OF revenge immortal hate,
- And oourAge never 10 submit or yield.
In the same malignant mood our arch
rebel exclaims that, In spite of reverses in
the field, in spite of the losses of cities and
states, in spite of forced retreats of hun
dreds of miles in length and of months of
duration, In spite OF the dispersion or de-
strnction Of his armies, all was not Lust,
hatred OF the Yankees was as Virulent as
ever, will TO rule or ruin as unCouquerable,
the study how TO revenge disaster and de.
feat as vivid and immortal.
But If the arrogance of Davis's speech
was characteristic, the dependency that
nevertheless peryades it, the air Of extreme
and remediiess despair which breathes
around il, is remarkable. We do not won
der that the Charleston Mercury should re.
gret the publication of such utterances, or
that the Richmond Rhig should advise the
President to take with him, when he tray-
els, tho more oily and rhetorical Benjamin
who has the repute of preparing all Da-
vis's messages and proclamations. This
speech at Macon was one huge confession
of weakness, bitter outbreak of bafled
malice, cry of despair sent up from the
very depths of an agonized mind.
Davis boasts that he will yet recover his
lost ground, averriug that it is possible for
Lee to hold Richmond and for Hood. to
drive Sherman beyond the Chattahoochee,
with a route more awful and destructive
than that which befel Napoleon in his re-
treat from Moscow; but he boasts in vein
which shows that he does not believe his
own extravagance. He is conscious that
he can accomplish either end only by re.
cruiting his armies, which, in the present
state of rebel opinion, is simply impossible
Besides, he is perfectly aware that if be
could succeed in cutting Of Sherman's
COMMUNICATIONS, by throwing Hoods army
between Atlanta and the Tennessee, he
would only open the way for an advance
still further into the interior, either to-
wards Macon or towards Augusta. His
best prospect is a choice OF evils-that is,
whether he will allow Sherman TO move in
one direction OF the Other He cannot stop
that movement altogether, and his own To-
cal newspapers, as our Atlanta correspon-
denr quotes, have told him as much. As
for compelling Sherman to retreat the
thing is too absurd for discussion.
| a. The extraordinary part. of this, speech,
| however, is that in which Davis describes
the condition and PrUsPscts Of his army
mTWo.thirds of our men are absent" he
says, ''some sick, some wounded, but most
| of them absent without leave," i. E., the
the greater part Of two. thirds have volun-
tarily deserted. They have either gope
home, where their friends keep them hid
den from the oonseriptiugy agents, or they
have crossed over into our lines, where
they will undoubtedly remain until the
close of the war. Davis's pitiful appeals
to them to come back will reach the earl
Iof few for whom they viii possess nc
lShar1s, tif. they -doAno indeed have the eff
feet of driving that few deep into the c1VeI
and fRstnesses Of the ,mouAtalns. 1t Ii
not persuasive way of educiug the dis
cOntented from their lurking places to in
lbrhi, them, that the army Is almost broker
10 pieces and public affairs in q gaspinI
stats. Yet these abscondiug and conceal
ed soldiers must be the principal reliancI
Ia. Davis for he tells the women, "yoi
have not many men between eighteen ant
4 forty Ave letI,'' and that "sveFy younI
man, As fast rs be reaches the proper age
is hurried to the field" Without q re
serve; of young men to draw upon he cling
! TO the faIlacious hope that the veteran
4 who ran away when the promises OF sue
cess were much brighter will return nov
e that success has gone out Of the case.
Dayis's defence of himself against tn
charge of not having sent reinforcements =
johnson and Hood Is Rdmirableia II meet
every point Of the accusation it dispose
of every cavil fer he says frankly that p
did not have the men TO send. He.coul
tnot, like 0sdmus, reap armed men nom lth
hundred GhousAlas Of trpgOu's teetk tha
3 Ihe had soWed be conld not raise ther
from the groahd by stamping upoh IL Wit
his foot he could mot spare them from th
Virginia forcas, because those forces WeE