Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1864-12-14

organisa,ion t.rhies Repor. and:plan hars Dec
adop.eds - -
PuBIisHED BE ORDER OF TIE MER7ISa.
Your Committee have felt much embarras,uen
in the Performance Of the duties which have beel
assigned them. They have bsen selected pro
pose for your adoption 3 plan for the formation
OF Is military organization which is to include al
those who are willing, in this pressing emergency
to enroll thsmselyes as asmembcrs of your associa
ton, and to be in readiness to perform any dutie
which may fall to their lot in the common de-
fence. Il is NO holiday show in which We art
about to engage. It is true thar no immediate
danger is to bs apprehendsd fren the army O.
the enemy, but ne have all seen enough, in tht
last three weeks, to be convinced thatn part O.
our country is safe, unless protected by tho pres
ence Of . large military force. In this time o.
danger, thon, it is our duty, aid it should be our
privilege, to prepare for any military sIigency
that may arise. It will be too, 1ate to sound the
tocsin of alarm when our villages are smoking;
our fields rayagcd,-our honsehold Gods destroy
ed, and our Virgins violated. These things, Of
course, we are not able to forosce, but we able
.toprepare for them before band, so that if they
do CONS We may be able to meet them with de-
tsrmined front, and confident hearts. -
The only manner in which we can efectthis
determination, and bring about thiSsonfiden Is
for us to form ourselves, at once, into some kind
,of military organization, which shall be COM
manded by good end true men; and. in which
every one, whose heart shall prompt him to pro-
tect, every thing that is most dear and sacred,
shall have. place. FO1 shis organization the
most practical planis the best, and the most sim
pie is the most practical. Your committee have
therefore adopted for your consideration short
and simple. basis Of military organization,
/. which they trust will meet with your approval.
Tn this plan, it is perhaps needless to say, that
they have been governed solely by their desire
for the good Of the community, and By the hope
that they would thereby.hc enabled tCeffect some
thing locking towards an organized military de-
fence, should the occasien;eEor arise.
Before the presentation of the plan which they
-shave adopted, your Committee deem it their duty
to notice, in few words, the objects of this in
tended organization, and to answer, as best the,
may be able, Che various objections which they
have heard urged againstit.
Although, as'mpst be evident to every one,
the whole community, individually and colec-
lively, are interested in this matter, thero has
seemed to be an almost universal apathy and
leathargy pervading all classes as to tho object
for which your meetings havo been called. Al
though thoy must know tlIatt ths enemy isnear
us, and that, (being dependent almost entirely
for his supplies upon the country surrounding
his line of march-is is possible-nay prs6a1te-
that he may como into our own District, there to
carry on bis work Of devastation the citizens are
resting quietly under the shade of their own vine
and fg. tree. as ii they possessed some aPcclai
immunity from the nenstrousN pillagc and car
mage carried on by the enemy. yarlous causes
may have conduced to this result. Up tothis
time our State has been singuIarly blessed in her
escape from the Wholesale work of murder ard
violence which has been visited upon our sister
States, but can our citizens suppose that their
sta affairs is to continue during thewar !? Do
the .ot know that whenever, in the fortune OF
w .he. enemy may become possessed of our
co .n,ry, the scancs Of bloodshed which Wall tdcE
be enacted cannot bsScaualled by ttose recorded
: oh any page az history: Ddshey suppose iha
the enemy do not know that The pisu'ct
of Edgefold, in particular, has ralwsys been
elamoring for separation from her base
and unprincpled Northern kindred 2 Do they
suppose that tie enemy have forgotten the Dis
trict which sent forth a ByELEn aBRocSs and
a prcktss?.. IF they do then Yce be to them
when the enemy shall awake-to their recollection
of these things. >.
Some of our citizens hare said that there is no
uss for q military organisation, for. .tse reason
tha. we arcso very weak that wecan never ehces
any thing in tho shape Of defence. a good rea-
son-truIy reason, which, had been urged
upon our armiesin the field before the bsttles oi
Bull Run and Manassas would have lost us en-
tireIy those brttles, ay.well q. many others. II
ne are weak We can become stronger BY anon
and organization. We can prepare to meet tho
enemy, if they should come, in some KIND OF
order, and should we at last not be able TO pro-
tect our wives and our children, We san at least
die with honor before them, and carry with us
the respect of our countrymen. -.
There is another objection, however, and a
more serious one, which has Ecen urged against
the proposed organisation, and that IS that We
cannot male chose interested perform tho duties
required of thep unless We have the authority of
law. This, Jour COMMITTEES arc unwilling to be-
lieye-they cannot believe that the men who
have sent,their. aons and their brothers to the
battlefield, there to encounter the enemy, face,
to face, and heart to heart, in the very fury OF
his hate, will shrink, in any manner, or refuse to
perform their allotted share in the troubles which
have conc upon our beloved country. It cannot
be possible that when opr citizens know that our
worst enemy is near us, and perhaps win fapio
strides, is gpthesing around our .vesy aFe-s'des
and hearth:stores-whcn. they know that hun
drcds and thousands of our -countrymen arc now
heuseloss and homeless. hying fren the track OF
this monstrous destroyer-When they Know
thst our 1carest city is even now fcarfully frcm-