The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-04-27
From tie Southern Magazine for May.I
Gleanings from Gen. Shermau's Dispatches

Those thick, lDosely-bonnd octavos, printed
on soft ami rather dinGv paper which Com
gress publishes and distributes under the
name OF Public Documents, arc not generally
considered very entertaining reading. But
there are exceptions; and one of these is the Re-
port OF the Joint Committee of Congressman
on the Conduct Of the War. Indeed, com
pared with such mild pastorals as " Some Ac-
count of tho Cheese Manufacture il Central
New York,".or "IemaTks on the Cultivation
of Alfalfa in Western Tennessee" it is quite
luridly sensational, and in parts reminds us of
those striking Reports Of the Duke of Alva to
his royal master, which have been dsintcrred
in tho dusty archives of Simancas.
AS Il study of Congressional nature, military
nature and human nature generally in it's least
attractive aspects, these eight stout volumes
are richly worth perusal. Hero the reader is
allowed to peep behind the scenes of that ror-
tentous drama; here he may see tho threads
of the iutI'rgues that centred in Washington :;
may hear :" petty newspaper correspondent
demonstrating wiki an animation that we can
scarcely ii;cr.ho to ierrid patriotism, tho inca
pacity. the i-uurance, and even the doubtful
'.loyalty' of the CoIumander-in-chief; may
see private lnaliGuity and vindictivencss put
ting on grand Roman airs and whispering de-
lators draping themselves in the toga of Brn-
tus.
However, il is not with these aspects of the
Report that we at present have to do, but
with the dispatches of General Sherman on his
march through Georgia and Souti Carolina.
A great deal of fiction, and some verse. VIC
believe, have been written about this famous
march or grand foray; but here we have the
plain matter-of-fact statement of things -
they were, and they form n luminous ilustra-
ton of the advance of civilization in the
nineteenth century as eXemplified in the con-
duct of invasions, showing how modern phi
lanthropy and humautarianism, while ac-
knowledgiug that for the present, war is a
cessary evil, still strive to mitigate its horrors
and spare all avoidable suffering to non-com-
batants. FUr 1his purpose we have thought it
worth while 20 reproduce Il few of the most
striking extracts illustrating the. his
spirit aud his wGlk.
A kind of Keynote is S,r id il ~" dis
patch to General StoncuiIu, - May Il. ~ siuir,
after ordering him T. to press 'i"N.r' ;rr valIrv
strong" ends with the words, pic!; ~ " hat
ever provisions and plumber you can
On June 3. the question of torpedo - dis;
cussed, aud General Stedman receives The io,-
lowing instructions: " If torpcdoes are found
IN tho possession of an enemy to rear, you
may cause them to be put on the ground aud
tested by wagou-loads of prisoners, or, if need
manner, if . torpedoe is suspected CA any
part of the railroad, order the point tn he tes
ted by a carload of prisoners or citizens i'm
plcated, drawn by n long rope2 g Implica-
ted we suppose here means " residing o cap
tured in the neigh borhood."
On July Z, we have an interesting dispatch
to Gen. Garrard on the subject of the destruc-
tion of the factories at Roswell. Their ut
ter destruction is right, and meets my entire
approval; and to make the matter .plete,
you will arrest the owners and employees and
to Marietta, and l will see as to any man in
America hosting the French flag, and then de-
voting his labor and capital to supplying ar
mics in open hostility. to our government and
claiming the benefit of his neutral flag. Should
You, under the impulse of anger, natural at
contemplating such perfidy, hang the wretch,
l approve the act beforehand. / re-
peat my orders that you arrest all people, male
and female, connected with those factories,
matter what the clamors and let them foot it,
under guard, to Marietta, whence 1 will send
them by cars to the north. Destroy and make
the same disposition of all mills, save small!
Touring mills manfestlY for local use but all
saw mills and factories dispose of effectualiy,
and useful laborcrs, excused by reason OF their
skill as manufacturers, from CONSUMPTION, are
much prisoners as if armed"
o. the same day he further onlarges on this
subject in a dispatch to Gen. Halleck:
&C Gen. Garrard reports to me that he is in
possession of Roosevelt, where were several
very valuable cotton and wool factories in full
operation, also paper-mils all of which, by
ny order, be destroyed by fro, They b ad been