North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1865-03-15
The Army of the Potomac.

The Army of the Potomac.
A Correspondent of the N. Y, Ne1rs; speak
ing Of the Army of the Potomac says:
The Army of the Potomac is not what it
was three years ago. 1t may still possess
the same spirit as of old, but the body has
changed. 1t the Army of the Potomac on
ly in name. OF the sixty-fve or seventy
| thousand men in its ranks, not one in twen-
ty marched from York town to the Chicka.
| hominy with Mcclellan. Of its old comman-
ders, scarcely one in thirty remain. Many
have been killed, many have been wounded
| almost to death, many have resigned, many
have been transferred to other fields and
many have been dismissed the service. When
its fame was greatest, the general who now
commands it and all other Federal armies
was almost unknown. Its present command
er was then general Of brigade under Nc
| Clellan. It's glory then circed the brows of
! Sumner, and kearney, and Porter, and Hook
| er, and Heintzelman but these are all gone
the braveSt to their last reWard-and
strange faces and strange voices are seen and
| heard in its camps The men who sprang
to its ranks in the wild fever that ragged in
! the summer of 'GI are now at their homes or
! in their graves.
! 1t is no longer regarded As an honor to be.
! long 10 the army of the Potmac. Its ranks
are now made up in great part Of men who
sold themselves to their country, and would
sell their country, if they dared men who
carry muskets because they are well paid for
| it, and measure patriotism by dollars. They
are men who have no heart Tor the cause
which Il ey balgained to fight for. Some
have been cheated and smuggled into it; these
desert whenever they can. Some others were
drawn TO it by offers Of large bounties these
| have no stomachs for battle, and will shrink
it when they can. Some have had their
manhood crushed by The tyranny of officers =.
these al e mere machines and would as soon
die Oh the gallows as on the battle field. In
short, the army now commanded by General
Meade, although brave enough when bravery
the army whose name it inhcrts, than the
present generation Of sham patriots and mon
| ey worshipers bears to the past generation Of
true patriots and honest promoters OF human
liberty.
On this arIny will devolve the work OF
closing the war. 1t is now the custom to
turn all eyes to the Carolinas, and there seek
the hero on whose shoulders rests the man
tie ofall military glory. But although Sher-
man has done great deal toward the attain.
ment Of the Northern purpose, and deserves
est part of the labor will fall to the lot OF the
army now before Petersburg. Sherman may
be left to dispose of Johnston as best he can
but Grant must grapple with the strongest
army and ablest general in the service of the
Confedracy. 1t is the fashion TO say that the
approaching contest will be a death grappIe
that General Lees army cannot possibly sur
vive the terrible blows in store for it, and
that when Autumn comes, there will no long
er be an obstacle to the march of Y ortherl
soldiers through the territory of the South
Whether this prediction shall be fulfilled is g
question that must be left to events. Grant
has struck many blows as powerful and crush
ing as any he is capable of striking now, and
the army that received them is still alive anC
full of vigor. His army will never again be
as strong as when it crossed the Rapidan il
May last. and the best life it then had has
left it forever. 1t may win fresh aurels, anC
dig more graves, but it must pay in blood
for very leaf of laurel, and for every South
ern grave a triple pail shall rest upon the
homesteads Of the North.