The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-04-12
'XII.------NO. SO.

60 47isi Al1.I"fNO. O0. sro
...- ...l LII IL ..----- - :,
cellent book called THE Army of the
Potomac'-when we say that, If the
issue of the American War had de
pended solely upon the two rival
armies which opposed each other in
Virginia, the Stars and Stripes would
never have fioated above the Capitol
OF Richmond. Vast as were the re-
sources in men and material of which
In 1854 General Grant disposed, il
was not by General Grant that Rich
mond was taken, but by General
sherman. If any American doubts
the correctness of this view, we beg
70 refer him to the passage in Mr..
SwintOn's book which describes the
hOpelessness and detection of General
Ghnt's army after their bloody re-
pulse at Cold Harbor upon the Sth of
June 1864. But, in addition to the
testimony OF Mr.. SwintOn, who served
himself with the Northern army, and
was an eyewitness of the deep deiec-
ton which he describes, we might
easily quote many other facts which
lrrefragably substantiate this view.
and dissipate the sOphisms advanced
in the case which our cousins have
submitted to the Arb;trators at
Geneva, that the battle of Gettysburg
was the death of the Rebellion.
Whenever the private letters of MIR.
Stanton, the War Secretary at Wash
lngton, shall see the light, it will be
conceded, even by the most Thought
less of readers, that if the fate of the
contest had depended solely on Lee
and Grant, the great Republic would
not to-day be one and indivisible.
$50 gloomy" says Mr.. Swinton.
twas the military outlook after the
action at Cold Harbor, and to such a
degree by consequence had the moral
spring of the public mind become
relaxed, that there was at this time
great danger of a collapse of the war.
The history Ofthis conflict, truthfulIy
written, will show this. The archives
Of the State Department., when one
day made public, will show how
deeply the Government was effected
by the want Of military success, and
to what resolutions the Executive had |
in consequence come. Had not sue
cess elsewhere come to brighten the |
horizon, it would have been difficult !
to raise new forces to recruit the |
Army of the Potomac, which, shaken |
ia its structure, its valor quenched in |
blood, and thousands of its ablest |
officers killed and wounded, was the |
Army of the Potomac no more" 4
In reference to this famous cam |
paign Of 1864, which, although MIR. |
5winton is its hitherto best historian,
still stands much in need of a Jomini
Or Napier, we have but space for
he following passage from General
Lees last biographer: tJ tiarilJ'f ! |
1.-The campaign of one month";
'ays Mr.. Cooke, ''from May A to June
|, had cost the Federal commander
10 900 men and 5000 officers, while
.he loss of Lee did not exceed $4,000
men (of sChO'ia fe,c trcre officers. The
'esult would. seem an unfavOrable
comment upon the choice of route
made by General Grant. General
two years before, had
cached Cold HarbOr with trifiing
osses. To attain the same point had
,Ost General Grant frightful num-
Der of lives. Nor could it be said
hat he had any important successes
o. offset this loss. He had not de-
eated his adversary in any OF the
,attle-fields of the campaign, nor did
t seem that he had stricken him any
eriOus blow. The Army of Northern
not reinforced until it
cached Hanover Junction, and then
'nly by about 5000 men, had repulsed
very assault; and in final trial of
trength with force vastly superior,
lad inflicted upon the enemy, in
bout an hour, loss OF 13 900 men.
When We urgs upon military stu
lents the Importance of giving an at
entive study to this campaign of 1854,
may be well to whet their appetite
y stating the comparative numbers
# the two rival armies. Lees num-
'ers upon the 1st of May were, as
learly as possible, 50, 600 men. With
n the month he was joined at Hanover
JUNCTION by 1900 more. General
irant opened the campaign i'm COM
nand or 141,1 ,161 men. Within the
month, and i'm fact from the very
of the bloody strug-
lie, Grant received reinfOrcements
ay by day, which amounted to more
han loo, 900 additional men before he
rossed the James River. "Lee's
rmy," says Mr.. Cook, small as it
vas, was wretchedly supplied. Half
he men were in rags, and, worse still,
we're but One-fourth fed. When Lee
net his enemy at the commencement.
{ May, the men were gaunt, half
tarved, aud in no condition To enter
ntO so arduOus campaign" We
ubmit to all military readers that ,
ever yet did $1,000 men quit them
more glOIi ,usly than these tatterde-
naliOn and starving Southern regi-
nents." "Never let me hear" says
ir Walter Scott, "that brave blood
as been shed in vain-it sends roar
ng voice down through all time" 1t
, not necessary 10 comment upon
he magnificent abundance and varie-
y of food, drink and munitions Of
rar supplied to the 250, 900 men who
DlIOwed General Grant; but when
military epicures, while famiiiariziDg
with every detail of Worth
nd Seaian, profess themselves unable
American mois, we venture to tell
ucu tilat, III Oh tuaL CODStitulcS True
the Transatlantic Civil
Var far surpasses the Franco-German
Onfiiet. Nothing is easier, says the
tewart of Moliere's miser, than to
i've q great dinner with plenty of
money; the really great cOOk is he
rtO can set out banquet with no
money at all. General Grant in 1864
rev upon an almost inexhaustible
reasury; General Lees account WAS
Ieavily overdrawn before the cam
'sign began. Nevertheless, it is every
sy becoming more and more patent
hat Mr.. SwintOn was right in believ-
ng that the ragged, fxmished, and
regiments of Secession, num-
'ering altogether but $1,000 men,
vonld have discomfitted their 250,0O0
and surfeited opponents, if
ieneral Sherman and his army had
lot revived the spirits and terminated
be courage of his dropping colleague
n Virginia. Ectri:r cdnsd DIS placuit
ed victa 'ContOni. u 7Ji |