Wilmington journal., 1867-01-24

undertake to drink all the blood that would
| be shed"
It was charged, it is true, by the North,
| that Southern statesmen had so arranged
matters aided by the Secretary of War un-
| der President Buchanan, Gov. Floyd, that
all of the Southern military posts should be
abundantly supplied with arms in order
| that they might readily be used upon an
emergency which they foresaw. There was
no truth in the allegation likely to affect
the reputation of these gentlemen, mas
much as they had done nothing more than
what the law required, which was to make
an equal and just distribution of arms be-
tween the States and supply such as had
hitherto been neglected This was the
head and front of their offending.
The war had indeed in reality opened,
and its fratricidal strife was destined to
reign for over four years, converting the
land into very pandemonium.
g What thoughts conflicting. then were shared
And something of strange remorse,
Rebelied against the sanctioned sin of blood,
And christian was OF natural brotherhood"
CONTRAST OF THE ARMIES
At the commencement of the war it was
evident that the belligerents clearly mis-
understood each other The practice of
North, was regarded as an evidence of cow
ardice by the South, and the ever-vaunted
chivalry of the South was considered on
the other hand as but the himsy covering
of bluster and bravado. Gen. Scott who
at first commanded the Northern armies
endeavOured to remove the delusion when
he retorted upon those who chided his
failures, that those who had taken him
into Mexico, now kept him out of Rich
mOnd. The South, however, continued
for Il long time to assert that one of it's
soldiers was a match for three of the Yam
KEGS. One of its leading orators, who
afterwards sealed his devotion by his blood
confidently asserted that he could acAip
back invasion from the frontiers, and even
the little children sung,
4 blue cockade and a rusty gun
Make those Yankees run like fun
Certain it is that the South, from its
habits and education, enjoyed many and
great advantages as q school for arms. It's
pursuits and institutions inclined to them
and the nature of the climate was favora-
bic to bold enterprise and adventure. Mil
itary schools were common. The shot gun
and rifle were familiar companions, and in
the management Of the horse no people in
the world were superior. Her population,
too, was homogeneous. The fight was up
Oh h6I SoIi hcI uOulSS ana nGtlfIllS were
to be defended. Her convictions of duty
amounted almost to religious presentment.
Influences such as these account for hero
ism i'll her army, which was almost super
natural. 1t was an army that the earth had
never equalled before. The talent, the
worth, the intellect, all that was noble and
distinguished in the States from Virginia
to Texas, Ito say nothing of accessions from
other quarters the defendants of the men
who fought with Washington at Yorktown,
of the heroes who figured in all the great
fights where the national eagle foated, or
who yindicated the fame of the nation on
the ocean, on the floors of Congress, III
the chair of the Presidency or the Cabi-
net, OF in the positions Of honor abroad,
had buckled on their armor, marshalled
their cohorts, and i'll hot haste rushed to
the front. OF one wing of this army even
the historian OF the enemy could not but
eXclaim = g who can ever forget that once
looked upon it?-that array of tattered
uniforms and bright muskets--that body
of incompatible infantry, the Army of
Northern Virginia, which for four years
carried the revolt on its bayonets, oppos-
ing a constant front to the mighty concen-
trati0u 0f power brought against it which
receiving terrible blows did not fail to give
the like, and which vital in all its parts died
only with its annihiIation.
Taking the whole military establishment
OF the South into view, it may be said that
although its material was OF the very best
character IN many respects, it was deficient
in that hardness and infieXibility of pur-
pose, that dOgged pertinacity which knew
no encouragement, that sternness of dis
cipline which amounted to the precision of
machinery, which characterized the army
of the enemy. The lack of discipline, for
which the officers encountered grave res-
possibilities, came to be more and more
seriously felt as the Wal advanced, and the
Whole country was covered with stragghng
soldiers, and desertion, which by sevele
measures might easily have been Suppress
ed, became ii frequent event.
Let it not be told to the discredit of our
people, tiIat they could only be kept in the
path of honor and duty by resort to the eX-
treme measures Of conscription. Did the
enemy succeed better until he had resorted
to the draft or exhausted the resources of
Il meaner alternative, the bounty chest p
Was it otherwise when, III the classic days
of 1776, desertion of whole companies and
regiments left Washington at times almost
helpless in front Of the British History,
ancient and modern, has shown that no
great war, however dear to the heart OF the
people and essential to their being, can be
maintained by what is called moral srlasion,
and without regard to force The evils of
our conscription were, that it was too
loosely and unequally enforced /; that the
disc limitations were frequently odious,
and the exemptions OF details were multi
piled without limit, furnishing what were
called bomb proofs, into which thousands
of the strong and the young were en-
sconed to the infinite disgust and demoral-
IL ltion of the common soldiery.
The Federal army, which at first consisted
in great part of the scum of their cities, in
which were intermiXed foreigners of every
nationality. and in greater numbers, was at
first a mere mob, and Notwithstanding a
drilling of six months, fled in the first fight,
on the mere appearance of panic, and
could no more be controlled than herd of
wild buffalo from the prairies. The teach
ing was worth hundred victories to the
North and the victory to us proved worse
than as many defeats. Henceforth the ma
terial improved and grew better and better
every day the infusion of foreigners was
less, and the virtues were recognized of
native ranks and native swords. The Con-
tederate soldier awoke to the consciousness