The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-13

company of Gems. Johnston and Beaure-
gard. ! will now give my opinion OF
this action, as l purpose doing OF such
subsequent actions, and commanders
therein. as came within the range OF my
personal experience during the war.
Although since the days OF Nimrod
war has been the constant occupation
| OF men, the fingers of one hand suffice
| to number the great commanders. NO
! "unlearned" people think of usurplng
Tyndalls place in the lecture room. or
| Of taking his cuneiform bricks from
| Rawlinson vet the world has been much
more prolific Of learned scientists and
philoogers than Of able generals. Not
withstanding, the average American,
and. Judging from the Dictatorship OF
Maitre Gambetta, the Frenchman,
would not have hesitated to supersede
| Napoleon at Austerlitz, or Nelson
at Trafalgar. True, Cleon captured
the Spartan garrison, and Narses gained
victories. SO did Bunyan write the
Pilgrims Progress but pestilent
demagogues and mutilated guardians OF
Eastern zenanas have not always been
successful in war, nor the great ana use
| full profession of thinkers written allie
CORY. As men without knowledge have
in all times usurped the right to crltlcise
the conduct of commanders and cam
paigns. they will doubtless continue,
despite the protests of professional sol
djers. who discharge this duty in rev.
erent spirit. knowing that the greatest ls
he "who commits the fewest blunders.,
Gen. Mcdowell, the Federal command
er at Manassas, and O trained soldier OF
unusual requirements, was sc. hounded
and worried by ignorant and impatient
politicians and newspapers, as to be
scarcely responsible for his acts. Thls
may be said of all the commanders in
the beginning of the war otably OF the
Confederate General Albert Sidney
Johnston-whose early loss on the
field of Shiloh was irreparable,
and, mayhap, determined the tate
of the South. McDowell's plan OF
battle was excellent. and its execu-
tiont by his mob no worse than might
have been confident expected. The late
Governor Andrew, OF Massachusetts,
observed that his men thought they
were going to town meeting. This Is
exhaustive criticism. With soldiers at
his disposal. Mcdowell would have sue
ceeded in turning and overwhelming
Beauregard's left, driving him from his
rail communications with Richmond,
and preventing the junction OF john
ston from the Valley. 1t appears that
Beauregard was, to some extent, sur
prised by the attack, contemplating
movements by his centre and right.
His exposed and weak left, how
ever. stubbornly resisted the shock
OF the opposing masses Beaure,,
gard, whose personal daring and
GOODNESS were most inspiriting,
brought up assistance from the centre
and right and the ground was held un-
til Johnston, who had skillfully eluded
Patterson, arrived, and began feeding
the fight with his people, when the affair
u,. r.-,,r J,,iJoJ fTbnra nnp ha lift la
question that. with strong brigade OF
soldiers, Johnston could have gone to
Washington aud Baltimore. Whether,
with his means, he should have ad-
vanced has been too much and angrlly
discussed already. Napoleon held that,
no matter what the confusion and ex.
haustion Of victorious army. q defeated
one was q hundred fold worse, and action
should be based on this. Assuredly, il
there be Justification in disregarding an
axiom Of Napoleon. the wild confusion
Of the Confederates after Manassas, to
which / have alluded, would afford it.
The first skirmishes and actions Of the
war showed that, unframed, the South
ron was better fighter than the North
erner. not because OF more courage, but
of the social and economic conditions
by which he was surrounded. Devoted
to agriculture, in a sparsely-populated
country. the Southron was self-reliant, a
practiced horsemau, and skilled in the
use OF arms. The denser population OF
the North, the habit Of association for
commercial and manufacturing purpo-
ses. weakened individuality of charac-
ter: and Craftsmanship and the use OF
arms were exceptional accomplish
ments. The rapid development Of rail
ways and manufactures in the West had
assimulated the people of that region to
their Eastern neighbors, and the old
race Of frontier riflemen had wandered
to the far interior of the continent.
instruction and discipline soon equal
lied differences, and battles were de-
cided by generalship and numbers.
This was the experience Of our kinsmen
in their great civil war. The country
sauires who followed the banners OF
Newcastle and Rupert at first swept the
eastern counties yeomanry and the Lon
don trainbands from the field; but fiery
and impetuous valor was at last over
matched by the disciplined purpose and
stubborn constancy OF Cromwell,s Iron
sides. The value Of the initiative" in
war cannot be overstated. 1t surpasses
in power mere accession of numbers, as
it requires no transport nor commissa-
riat. Holding it, commander lays
his plans deliberately, and executes
them at his own appointed time
, and in his own way. The "de
fensive' is weak, lowering the m0rait
of the army reduced to it, enforcing
constant watchfulness lest threatened
, attacks become real, and keeping COM
, mander and troops in q state Of anxious
tension. These trui5ms would not de.
/ serve mention did not the public mind
ignore the fact that their application is
strictly limited to trained soldiers, and
: often become inpatient for the employ.
: ment of proved ability to sustain sieges
and hold lines in offensive movements
: A collection of unframed men is neither
t more nor less than a mob in which in
r dividual courage goes for nothing. Ii
!. movement, each person finds his fiber
l ty of action merged in crowd withou
: instruction and incapable of direction
I Every obstacle creates confusion
b speedily converted into panic-by oppo