The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-06-16
A ssesu.i.n Rsmiui,ranrs


Some few confederates have taken ex.
ceptions 10 that part Of Col A. w. Slay.
backs Decoration Day speech. delivered in
st. Louis, in which,he admitted the inner
ent weakness of the secession idea and the
perception fit BY the confederate soldiers
az ~ early stage Of their struggle. II is
the tirst ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of the fact, we
beheve that has been made'by confed-
edrate officer, and it Is not surprising that
y should attract some attention. Col
Slayback said.
They INC southern soldiersl eaat their eyes up
ton reea9nizng the right of amy t3tntc IN certain
euninRfles % act up aepasate nationalify for IL
litilesupnunae court and its little navy with il
fhlmefto. ~ Pelican. It's Lone Star for A aav
ana tae soldier began to ask himself For what am
nkhtanKf Will my children be better on when
mewfougs am redressing shall have henn suc.
eoedsd BY others q greater magnitude y VIII my
~ 70 ~ IlgnLs wat wa remain to msiH eth
sr event ne - sale under the new nationality As un
der ing old And what can postnrify gain for rx-
changing for still an9therex experiment the llustrious
fabric that washington, Hamilton, Jefferson and
Adams and the brave wise and good msn who
shared their counsel and dangers established and
bought with the blood Of my ancestry Of the reyo
TWAS this appalling logic which fastened upor
the minds Of southern soldiers spun
Like phautasmh, or u hideous dream
And then, and not anti then. did their hearts he
GIN to fail them"
The Kansas City Times violently denies
tins It declares that If il we're true 'it
would stamp the whole struggle as utterly
destitute OF principle aud worthy the i'm
measurable contempt Of every patriotic
and honest man, and it tells the speaker
that he has no right to speak in the name
OF the Confederate soldiers of Missouri
when he speaks that which places them In
disgraceful attitude in the eyes of the
whole country"
Notwithstanding this denial however
the individual testimony of many nf the
most thoughtful and intelligent Confede-
rate othoers confirms 1t as a very interest
ing historical truth. The right Of secession
was the technical point on which the South
began the war but that IL was not the
cause OF the war, and not what the South
ern soldiers we're fighting for is proven BY
the tact that It was utterly lost sight of al.
most as soon as the struggle begun. Ii
vanished from the Southern mind the mo
ment the contest became mortal. 1t never
was a watchwOrd nor an onset shout il
found no place on Southern battle banners, |
and was never the inspiration Of Southern |
battle hymns. No victories were won in
ats name, and no defeat was considered a
sacrifice 70 IT, Secession means dispersion !
and the people Of the South furnished
convincing and conclusive self refutation of |
Il when they compacted themselves in the
effective unity Of an army, and made the |
whole South q camp. The officers and sol.
diers OF the Southern armies were intelli
gent men, and this very subject was the
theme OF frequent discussion around the
lamp fires in the early stages of the con
hict and II may be safely asserted that
before the conflict was year old, the doc
,rine OF secession was east TO the winds.
The army reasoned that, under il. south
Jurolina might disintegrate the very fabric
hey were attempting 10 establish Louis
ana might, by a declaration OF independ-
nee and a French alliance, which was at
lne time limited at, control the mouth Of
he Mississippi and the coast States.
night by separating movements and in
dependent governments OF foreign alliances,
ompel the interior members Of the Con-
ederacy to seek an outlet to the veryl
cean through the territory of the veryi
'orth which they were fighting 10 be indie :
'endent Of, That the Southern soldiers :
their cause GU the field with {
UGH marvellous coherency and intreDidity,
2 spite Of this discouraging reflection, is q
iue partly to their superior fighting quail u
les and partly to the fact that the South. /,
TN army, long before the war closed, had
' ! down IN the opinion that the Con
.gueracy must be transformed into an EN-
pl , 70 rescue it from the perils and diff .
SH1.h o. the secession idea. Had the I
I osdI,, cause been successful, there IS )
1aruly = 9oubt that the army w0,ld have
demanded an empire and ofFerad ~ r r,,s .
pie 70 its ablest general il wnuId n S,V iua
chosen civilian for the hopor Ia r., ~ ~ i
southern army had learned N IL ,C oo,, sne 2
OF It's mortal struggle TO place a IoS as,; :
mate on mere political abilities. and shet
YER very highest on effective soldierly capsei.
II y worth remarking, in this counec- !
ton, that secession is the most boneiassi,,
lest cause that can be imazined. Gbsrty |!