, 1865-06-15
FEDERAL


Or stating, in round numbers the respevt-
I've strength Of the helligcrents during the
first yeRr of the struggle, the Federal Govern
tnent Ind twenty millions of supporters and
the Confederate eleven millions. We have
omitted California, Oregon, Utah nnd Neva-
da, with total population Of 600 600, from
the computation, because they were 80 far
away that their people could lake no part In
the contest. Later in the wnr California con-
trlbutcd sorne regiments Of mounted men to
MD in cvcraHing the rebels in New Mexico,
Arizona and Utah. But adding California
tracting Utah and Axiom, and It only In
CIT aaes the strength Of the Union side By oue-
Third Of a million Of pt pulatson.
We have reckoned th,ee and half millions
of the blacks Of the South on the side Of the
rebels. For Ill practical purposes they con'
tributed more support TO the rebel cause
than an equal number of whites. They
raised the crops that fed the rebel troops In
thc fi.ld and their flmilies at home. They
built the rebel 1ortihcations, and most OF
their hundreds Of miies Of intrenchments.
They drove their army wagons, cooked and
prepared thelr food, loaded and unloaded
their trains, bnilt and repaired thcis rail-
roads aid u9idges, and performed, in short,
the bulk Of all the hard work, and furnished
nearly all thclr rbt;ons. Bnt for the labor Of
these three and half millions o: blacks, the
rebellion could not have survived the second
year Of the war. The rebels retained the most
OF the strength Of the slave population until
last fat and more than half OF II mill the
1out Of Lees ar11y and the capture Of Rich
1none. II waa only during the last year Of
thr contest that the North began to derive
much military Or physical aid from the
black population.
Wrssser., therefore, that the strength OF
the Confedefntes at the outset and during the
first quarter Of the war, equa1ed eleven MIL
lions Of people. Il the Federa1s were nearly
twice ~ great in population they had to 6ght
at the further end Of the lever while the
rebels Eerc near the fulcrum. The latter,
fighting ut home. possessed immense advau-
tagcs In transportation Of supplies, In know
ledge Of the country, in accllmation 10 the
ciimate, and in power 10 cal. ont the whole
arms-bcaring popu.at,on between sixteen md
sixty years Of agr+ The "Sortn'' were the
invaders the s'south, the invaded; the one
side fought away from homo among hostile
population. TEE other fought at homo
among friends and kindred. The Northern
Genefals ~ese Obliged 10 distribute half Of
theh forces into l0uumsgab1e garfisons to hold
the towns and forts captured, and to protect
tAelr railroads and water corrscs on which
they defended for srrTl!es. With the other
had OF their troops, they moved against a
fortified md mtreIchsd enemy-An enemy
fighting on thedctcnslye In county ofalnost
l'mitless ares, Of which they knew every
aeoI, ana among people who were faeirac'
i've inenos ana epmpsthtzcrs. In these re-
spec!s the rebel ch1e!s po.eessed immense, al
most 1nca!culabic, advantages ever theirin-
Taoets, and veil they knew how 10 use them.
Il was this strength of eleven millions Of
people acting under despot.c direction and
wrought mn 10 frenzy OF excitement. and
these gfcat advantages in the 1heater Of the
war, whicl spread over a territory as 1p.ec
as Russia, that made all the crovncd heads,
the aristos,acy and the military men oi
Europe to predict with such dogus!ic pos1-
tivencss. that the Federal government had
undertaken en- impossible task, aud one
wholly beyond its strength, wien j. entered
upon tho 'Jo1" OF crushing the rebellion and
sukjuga,iug the insurgents
The roye,uinr c]asses IN Europc cannot
yet comprehend how the ..Northn succeeded
In its apparently honless and impossible un-
dertak1uc, Papfrs cf the Standard aud Tfoss
stsire resort to falsehood for nm explanation
They a1,ecc there were Int four millions Of
Coniedesa,ea, when iu tact there were eleven
ml.lions, and that there were twenty-six
millions Of Federals, when In truth there
were but nineteen millions. They Intimate
That the bulk of. orr armies we're com posed