Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-06-30

The writer Of the following letter Is moi
Unknown to military fame. In the Mexican
war he fought under Gen. Taylor, and will
Gen. Scott participated In all the battle.
from Vera Cruz to Chepultepec, at thu
storming of which fort he was wounded
and rendered unfit for service, and retired
with the breyet rank of Brigadier General
During the present war he was placed II
command of Cumberland Gap, where, aftel
waiting for supplies until almost the las
ration was consumed, he blew up the fort
and, In a march of near three weeks, sus'
tanning his troops on green corn, he forced
his way to the Ohio river, his passage OBJ
stinately contested, with scarce the loss o.
a man. At the first attack on Vicksburg, he
led one of the corps of the army, and was
noted for his bravery, GOODNESS and skill
His suffering health, and the conviction
that the war was perverted, caused him to
resign. Two of his neighbors writing to
him for his opinion, Gen. Morgan. thus re-
spends: 4aa
tl \ MT. VERNON, o., June II, 1864.
GESrLEMEN: Your note is before me, and
with pleasure comply with your request
There is always danger of a civil war among
free people, resulting in the overthrow OF
liberty; and do not believe that mere
force can restore peace or preserve the
Union. In my humble Judgment, wisdom
and patriotism alike demand an armistice;
and | believe that cessation of hostilities
would result in all honorable and happy
peace.
An armistice is an agreed suspension OF
hostilities between beIligerenrs for speci-
fled time, and for given purpose. In wars
between civilized nations, an armistice al
ways precedes peace, though sometimes re-
sorted to for other purposes. None but bar
barian powers pursue hostilities to exter-
mination; and determination or complete
exhaustion of both contending parties
would be the necessary result In all wars,
did not the opposing parties agree to sus-
pend hostilities, so that the question in dis
pute might be submitted to the arbitrament
Of reason, after brute force had failed.
During an armistice the hostile armies
maintain their respective positions, and if
terms of adjustment are not agreed upon,
hostilities can be recommended. But as
general and almost an invariable rule an
armistice is followed by peace. The pro-
position for an armistice generally comes
from the victor; and thus after the battle
of Solferino gained by the French, the EN-
peror Napoleon proposed an armistice to
Francis Joseph of Austria, and peace was
the result.
without magnanimity there can be no
real greatness, and the absence Of it is the
certain evidence of a want of self-respect.
The cause of the Union has been nobly vim
dicated on more than hundred battlefields,
and the deeds of our soldiers have reflected
Immortal glory upon our arms. But our
enemy has been equally brave, and although
we hate secession, we accord an honest adj
for the heroism which has half re-
deemed amistaken cause.
The world has never seen such battles,
either in point of numbers or dauntless in
We have sent to the field more
than two millions Of men; and nearly, If not
full one half of them have gone down to
their graves. More than one tenth ofthe en-
tire population of the loyal States have been
actual combattants in this war. Whole re-
gions of country have been made desolate;
the busy hum of workshops has been hush
ed, as if palsied by eternal death; the plough
has been left in the furrow; and the father,
the husband and the son, have alike gone
out to battle. And yet, naught, absolutely
naught has been gained toward the restora
tion of that grand and noble Union formed
by our fathers. j say, then, for time let
the torrent of blood be stayed-letthe olive
branch supplant the sword, and heaven
born reason take the place of force. Victory
has crowned our banners on unnumbered
fields, and magnanimity will add lustre to
our arms.
Say to our countrymen of the South:
.'Let us reason together. Your homes are
draped in mourning, and SO are ours. Many
of your noblest sons have perished on the
field of battle, and such, alas, is the case
with lis. We are countrymen and we
have been friends, and even now, amid the
red storm of battle, we are proud of each
others deeds. Wehonor the names of Lee,
Of Sidney Johnston, and of jackson; and
you respect those of Mcclellan, OF Grant
md of Sedgwick. Let us talk together and
,all back the sacred memories of the past.
w Washington was yours and ours; and
franklin and Madison sat side by side in
he convention which framed the great
'Reason is the attribute of the gods
.arnage is the festival of fiends. Then let us |
around the council fire, and for |
nee initiate our red brothers of the forest |
md smoke the calumet of peace"
In word, let the result at Richmond be |
what it may, let us declare in favor of an
of sixty days. We can make the
proposition with honor, because itwould be
lone on Southern soil. We blockade all
he ports of the South not in our possess
lion, and the great Father of Waters is ours
rom its source to its mouth. But we want
peace; we want Union; we want cessa-
ion of the carnage of war; and these bless
ngs can only be obtained through an ar
nistice.
In my letter to the State Central Commit
zee in September, 1853, / denounced the
policy of President Lincoln in refusing to
receive Alexander H. Stevens as Confeder-
lte Commissioner, and, since then, have
urged the appointment of Com
nissioners on our part, TO meet with 9TH
srs to be appointed by the authorities at
and again respectfully advise
what have so often recommended before.
With earnest hopes for the preservation
IF the Union and the return of peace, re-
main, gentlemen, your obliged fellow citi-
zen,
: GEORGE w. MORGAN.
To RoB'T MILLER and WIN. LHAAIoN, Esqs.
~