The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-01-27
The Rage Of Despair.

The Charleston .Nelrmy of the 18th
inst. is remarkable for its sl:,Slling criticism
on the rebel army and the rebel leaders,
and bitter, passionate avowalS OF the des-
perate straits in which the Conteder;icy is
placed 1t wants mo more jeff Davi.
tOolerv.' but ''men. real men. earnest
mrn-not ''mermaidS with heads OF
monkeys and tishy attachments" Geor-
gia and South Carolina are in no mood
for tritiing. ''South Carolina don't in.
tend to he conquered. She intends t,
fight. She don't intend to be hamperet
or turned over to the enemy. When she
is thus dealt with there will be reckoning
reckoning where there will be no re.
Spcctors OF person. But even more he.
roically exclaimS the Mercury:
"Wc stand to-day as gladiators stripped
to the fight: we are ready and trained to
enter the struggle for life Or for death
South Carolina is ready to become the
arena of the republic. Her SONS are
ready for the contest. Make of her whole
soul Il military camp-strip her to the
waist; she will not shrink But give her
her gauntlets and her sword. and she i:
ready to stand or fall where she is
The condition of the Confederate sol.
diery in the coast department is declared
to be di>graceful. Lawlessness and disre.
gard of authority prevail everywhere
Most of the calamities of the Contederacy
are charged upon jeff. Davis. He it i.
who deties all law and SO breaks down
discipline Congress lies PROSTATE at hi.
feet
''Reckless of the Constitution-reg
less of his relation to the legislative brancl
OF the Government contemptuOus o.
their authority, his nerve is only eminent
in resistance, where obedience would b,
alike duty and honor. The man that
cannot obey, cannot command. Unfortu.
nately for us at this time. our Executiv.
is most emnently conspicuous in boil
vices. is imq"ucticab!y Obstinate and Mmenta.
bH weat"
Thus the Mercury runs on. s'Wha
General" it asks, ''has been cashiered fol
lncompetency-what Lieutenant Genera
for inefficiency-what Major General fo1
lncompetency-what Brigadier for worth.
lessness-what Colonel or Captain sho
for lawlessness in their commands!''
In ITS anger and contempt for rebel Of
ficers and men, the Mercury breaks ou
into eulogy of Sherman, as the mode
whom the ''chivalry' should initiate:
''We want nerve in Congress-we want
nerve In our generals 1t is nerve thai
has carried Sherman to Savannah-it i:
that which is now carrying him to cut tn.
Contederacy in half His is an army Of
disclpllne-an army of soldiers-not ;
mob of ragamuffins He has no general:
with rolls of twenty or thirty thousand
men, and twenty or thirty hundred in the
field His men stand to their g,lns-no1
to peoples chicken-coops and barn-yards
His men are full in hand at their posts
Tie holds them there. He is general"
Having thus vented its spleen at rebe
generals by eulogizing Sherman, it pillo-
rleS jeff. Davis in the same manner by
dlscoursing of Mr.. Lincoln, who, it says
has run the machine with ''stern, in
flexible purpose, a bold, steady hand, a
viggilant, active eye, sleepless energy, a
fanatic spirit, and an eye single to his end
REPRESENTATIONS" 1t adds:
''He has called around him, in counsel,
the ablest and most earnest men of his
country. Where he has lacked In indiyid-