The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-09-26
Watohman. What of the Night2

"signs OF its coming" are plainly visible IN the
horizon. Streams of light begin to play on the
SUBMITS Of oar hills and mountains, and soon
our valleys will be lighted up, and the shouts
of Peace be heard throughout all the-land.
Now what are the signs Of the coming Of this
morning Of Peace which all are so anxious to
witness? What evidence is there to warrant
a belief thatthe military power of jeff Davis
Is about to be broken, and the great rebellion
to collapse? Or, in other words, what have
the Union armies gained, and what have the
rebels lost since they forced this war upon
us? The above are important questions in
which the people have1a deep interest. We
can answer them and not depart from the re-
cord. During the last three years history has
been made very fast, but not too fast for the
pen Of the historian to record the facts as
they have traDspired.rI 1t. is true, we of the
present time do not and cannot fully appreci-
ate them; that work must be left for posterity
to- do, and future generations will read the
pages of history which we are making with
an interest Of which we have but faint and
feeble conception. VA ar ss
But to return to the questions. Our brave
soldiers have not died In vain and poured out
their precious blood upon their country's al
tar for naught. A thousand Chicago plat
forms may assert that the war has failed of its
ends. but the veterans in our armies know
better. They can tell those Chicagoites what
has been gained by the Federal forces since
.+Little Mcclellan retired from his parade
grounds and entered the arena of politics and
at last mounted the peace platform which was
made expressly for him. Our soldiers car
point to such trophies as few wars can equal
and none surpass. aAuoa a s1daAH0
What are those trophies, the reader may
ask (? Look along over two thousand miles
Of frontier. We have taken from the rebell
over thirty thoroughly furnished fortresses
captured over two thousand cannon, recon
quered and hold nearly four thousand miles
Of navigable river courses. fought our way tc
! and taken ten of the enemyis principal cities.
three of which are capitals OF states, captur-
ed sixty thousand prisoners in single month,
advanced more than three hundred miles into
territory claimed by the rebels, have cut up
that territory In such u manner as to badly
interfere with the communication Of the reb-
ell armies with each other, and have driven
them into inconveniently close quarters. =
Again look along over six thousand miles
of our sea coast, What meets the eye on this
long line? We hold every harbor, or COM
mand the main entrance to them, and we
trust Wilmington will ere long be in our pos
session. The, war is failure, it yits Shame
on Copperhead lies. No; no, cur gallant and
brave soldiers have not failed. They have
done q glorious work, and their noble deeds
WILDE recorded on the pages Of history for
the admiration Of coming generations. s .n.9
We.haye been speaking only of material re-
suits, and theseHMe ysuch7as will furnish no
basis for an armistice. We know, Copper
heads Know rebels know and the world
knowsEthat jeff Davis and other leading trail
tors can have peace just as soon as they lay
down their arms aud ask for IL; then, and not
till then. 7'
But what of the moral results that have
grown ut.of this WARP These have furnish
ed cause for profound gratitude to enlighten-
ed humanity and earnest patriotism, not
only here, but in all civilized countries. New
ideas have sprung up and higher civilization
attained. The cause Of liberty has received
a new impulse. But our object in this ar
ticle vas not to discuss the question in its
moral aspects, but to show that the war has
not been failure, and that we think has been
apnndantly shown IAa 21#kE
The above article was written before the
wires brought US the joyful news ofthe splen-
did victories Gen. Sheridan and his brave
troops have won in the valley of tho Shenan-
doah, victories that have struck terrible
blow at the rebellion. The bearing and i'm
portance Of these victories we have not time
now 70 discuss, but may make them a subject
Of future comments. The task imposed on the
brave Generalwas an unpleasant one, for he
was ordered not to fight, but to keep largo
force of the enemy in his front during several
weeks until the Opportune moment came to.
strike the blow, and most admirably has
Sheridan discharged his duty. But more Of
this in an other article, The plan was wise
y laid and splendidly executed. = ~