The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-07-31
Connie de Paris on the American Civil
War.

war.
The Reuue des DeuS MOndes publishes
several passages from the forthcoming
volumes of the Comte de Paris OF
1.-The American Civil War" which viii
attract attention on this side OF the wa
ter. The historian, it will be remem
bered served for long time on the stat
of Gen. Mcclellan, and had therefore
opportunities of observing the events
from which he draws his deductions
After tracing the causes of the outbreak
of 1861, the writer proceeds to say
" At the time the colonies rejected the
authority of the mother country all the
strategic points of their territory were
occupied by the English. 1t was sheer
necessity TO conquer the whole. They
had nothing to lose, and could not deem
themselves beaten even when the enemy
was still in the heart of the country.
In 1861. on the contrary, the Confeder-
ates. masters of all the territory which
thew claimed to withdraw from the legal
power of the new President, had need of
that vast region, on the one hand, TO
maintain the institution of slavery, and
on the other to support their numerous
armies. When it was invaded they felt
themselves vanquished. What was
possible in the War of Independence,
when the number of the combatants
was limited was no longer so. Wash
ington and Gates, Howe and Corvallis,
had usually under their orders only
men. These small armies could
subsist upon the country they
occupied. 1t was not, indeed,
10. 900 or 10, COO and very rarely 20, 600
always without difficulty and Wash
ington's soldiers suffered terribly in the
winter they passed at Valley Forge
The English army, traversing a COM
paratively rich country from Philadel-
phia to New York, was obliged to carry
its provisions with it, and CORVALLIS
lost all his baggage in North Carolina,
which he marched through as con-
queror. but neither were subject to the
vast commissariat system which sup
poses a fixed and assured basis of opera
TONS and without which considerable
armies cannot be supported in America.
They subsisted and sojourned for long
months beside IN enemy who was master
of the country. 1t was amid
this attractive and instructive life
that the news of the dis
ruption of the Union surprised
the American army. The treacherous
foresight OF the late Minister of War,
Mr.. Floyd, had removed it altogether
from the States which his Southern ac-
completes were preparing to raise
against the Federal authority. The
soldiers had the honor of being deemed
faithful to their flag under Thousand
pretexts. The Federal forts and arsenals
had been dismantled by the very men
whose first duty was to watch over the
general interest of the nation, and the
garrisons withdrawn from them for dis
persion in Texas had been placed under
the orders of ali officer who seemed to
have been chosen only to betray them.
Thus removed, however, from civiliza-
ton, the regular officers had remained
strangers to the passionate quarrels it
and had paid little attention
to the movement which divided their
country into two camps. No family
suffered more cruel divisions when the
citizens armed against each other than
this military family whose members
were united by SO many ties. All those
who belonged to the North prepared in
spite OF diverse opinions on the ques-
tons of the day, to respond to the APP
peal of the Government. Among those
who were connected by birth, or rela
with the Southern States,
some, like the venerable Scott, remained
faithful to the North holding that the
far from absolvir g them,
bound them to defend the threatened
existence of their country. The ma
iority, governed by party influence,
and imbued with the fatal doctrine of
the absolute independence of the States,
which had become among them kind
of dogma, abandoned the Federal flag in
order to go and organize the nascent
forces OF the rebellion. Many of them,
however, did not make without
regret resolution so opposed to the
ordinary notions of military honor.
Those regrets, well known to their for
mer comrades, contributed to soften the
tone of the war by removing rancor and
passion from it, and the remembrance
of them influenced Gen. Grant when,
four years later, he extended TO his
adversary generous hand.
There were some who aggravated the
always painful spectacle OF military de
lection. Gen. Twiggs, who commanded
the troops in Texas, was seen to have
an understanding with the rebels while
he was still wearing the Federal uni
form, and to deliver up to them the
depots of provisions and munitions of
his own soldiers i'll order to deprive
them of all means of resistance.
Abandoned by part of their officers,
deprived of all resources, finding only
enemies in the ungrateful population
which they had so many years protect
ed. these brave soldiers had also to re-
sist the seductions of those who pro-
missed them brilliant future in the
ranks Of the insurgents. One of their
old leaders wan Dorm had the melan-
choly courage to reappear in their midst
in order to back up this proposal by the
influence which his rare military quail
ties had given him. He gained over
nobody, and the remnants of his regi-
ment, forced to conclude a convention
OF evacuation with the enemies sur
rounding them on all hands, returned
to the Northern towns, where they met
comrades long separated from them
who were rallying to the defense Of the
national cause. 1t was, indeed, new
dangers which these men, united by
common sentiment of duty, went TO