The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1864-08-25


Southern Confederacy, and you shall
have them. For the benefit OF our cause
l wish they might be impressed upon ev-
cry soul in the land, that the confidence
begotten of my three months obserVa-
tions in the interior of the South might
be shared by every man who has the
least connection with the responsibilities
of this struggle. Aud | am sure that
these opinions are not peculiar to myself
Every one of the fifty officers just ex-
changed will express the same-every
one of them, whether from the jails Of
Charleston, or the pens of Macon and
Andersonyilie, will confidently tell the
same story.
The rcJez cause IS fast failing from
crhoustion. Their two grand armies
have been reinforced this summer from
the last resources of the South. From
every corner of the land, every old man
and every boy capable of bearing rifle
has been impressed, willingly or unwill-
ingly, and hurried to the front. Lees
army was the first so strengthened. 1t
was at the expense of Hoods. Gov.
Brown told the truth with a plainness
that was very bitter, but it was none the
less the truth. Let me extract few
prominent statements from his proclana-
ton of July 8, addressed to the "Re-
served Militia of Georgia"
ga late correspondence with the Pres
ident of the Confederate States satisfied
my mind that Georgia is to be left to her
own resources to supply the reinforce
ments to Gen. Johnston's army, which
are indispensable to the protection of At
lanta, and to prevent the State from be-
ing overrun by the overwhelming num-
bers now under command of the Federal
general upon our soil.
ssBut there is need of further rein
forcements, as will be seen by the accom-
panying letter of Gen.~J Johnston. : 3 >
And it becomes my duty to call forth ev
err man in the State able to bear arms
as fast as they can be armed, to aid in the
defence of our homes, our affairs, and the
graves of our ancestors.
"If the Confederate Government will
not send the large cavalry force (now en-
gagged in raiding and repelling raids) to
destroy the long line of railroads over
which General Sherman brings his sup
plies from Nashville, and thus compe
him to retreat with the loss of most of his
army, the people Of Georgia, aeho harc
already been dram upon mare hecriIy IN
proportion to popHlation tran those oJ
any other .State IN the Confectionery
must at all hazards, and az any sacrifice
rush to the front.
IF Gen. Johnston's army is destroyed
the Gulf States are thrown open to the
enemy, and we arc ruined"
There must, indeed, have been despe-
rate weakness when Georgia, and the
Southern cause with it, were so neglected
that Lees army might be made equal tC
the task of holding Grant to the Poto
mac or the James and the people Of the
South are Intelligent enough to under
stand and to appreciate this fact, and
they have lost heart accordingly.
The following is from letter written
By one rebel to another that accidentally
fell into the hands of one of my fellow
prisoners, and for the authenticity Of
which | vouch:
Very few persons are preparing to O.
bey the late cali of the Governor. His
summons will meet with no response
here. The people are soul-sick, and
heartily tired of this hateful, hopeless
strife. They would end it if they could
but our would-be rulers will take good
care that no opportunity be given the
people to vote against it. BY lies, by
fraud, and by chicanery this revolution
was inaugurated; by force, by tyranny.
and the suppression of truth 1t is sus-
taincd. Ii is nearly time that it should
end, and Of sheer depletion 1t muSt eao
bctore Tong. We have had enough OF
want and Of woe, enough of cruelty and
carnage, enough of cripples and corpses
There is an abundance of bereaved pa
rents, weeping widows and orphaned
children in the land. If we can, let US
not increase the number. The men who.
to aggrandiZe themselves, or to crafty
their own political ambition, brought this
cruel war upon peaceful and prosper
Gus country, will have to render fearful
account of their misdeeds to a wronged,
robbed, and outraged people. Earth has
no punishment sufficiently meet for their
villainy here, and hell will hardly be hot
enough to scathe them hereafter"
There is certainly no small proper
ton of the Southern people (despite the
lying declarations of their journals, as we
had good occasion to learn, that not only
favor the progress of our arms, but that
daily pray that this exterminating war
may soon be brought to finality by our
complete and perfect success. They have
had too much Of despotism-not enough
of the triumph promised them. Many
intelligent Southern gentlemen do, in
deed, express strong hopes of their ulti-
mate independence, but such hope is not
shared by the masses. Disappointed from
the first in not having been acknowledged
by foreign Powers-more bitterly disap-
pointed in their general expectation that