Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1879-07-17
Killed by West Point"
Gen. 7oombs on tho Cause of the Failure
ct the ConIederacv.


An Atlanta letter in the Philadelphia
Times, giving on account OF an interview
with Gen. Robert Toombs, contains the fol-
lowing:
"What, in your opiuion, was tho cause
Of the failure of the Confcdcracy?"
"lf had to name one thing that was
most fatal should say tho couscript aot
That demoralized the troops and tho coun-
try. There was no necessity for it,, and il
sprung from Mr.. Davis's desire to havo the
appointment Of officers. He wos crazy
over his West Point martinets, and when
lie could not appoint the officers Of, tho
volunteers he went to Congress and dcs
manded the conscript law, and got it, l
said ut the time: THE cause is lost, and this
should DO its epitnph: Killed by West
Point 10 general terms tho absolute in
efficiency OF Richmond was tho causo Of our
failure. Davis is a remarkable character.
lie is good writer, and that is all. lie
was slow ma", and always acted rashly at tho
last. His delay was not caused by dclibcra
tion, but was combination of variety and
q refusal to think. IIo is very small
military man. Ills idea of war was based
u,on the experience in tho Brcckinridgc
campaign. | told him that ninety per cent.
of var was business; that VIC must organize
victory, rather than trust to fighting
entirely. I urged him to send to England
to buy all tho arms there. lie ordered
5000 rifles Under prctcDsc of giving the
Unionists time to leave the South, kept
our ports open for sixty days. No new
government eyer started with such rnli.ni
ted credit as wo had. We had any amount
of cotton offered US. l urged Mr.. Davis to
send this to England US fast US it could be
carried, and buy ships aud arms with it.
We could have borrowed any amount We
wanted. The frat loan mndo was $50, 900,
when it should have been s5,00O,000
But it seemed to DO impossible to get the
government to look at tho matter in q
scrious light. ! advanced some $4,000
myself for office rent, No. Senmes was
there, begging for cotton and p'edging him.
self to bring bnck ships and arms for every
bale he took. lie finally got, l think,
three hundred bales. The financial record
of the Confcdcracy was failure that would
hayo bccn'udicrous had it not been so &C.
rious. With Unlimited credit, backed
by rich and patriotic people and con-
trolling tho leading stoplo of the
world, our bills were soon so low down
that it was suid tho government ran the
presses all day, and tho niggers ran them
ut night. Had the first sixty days of tho
Confederate Government been properly
improved, wo could have so organized that
defeat would have been impossible. At
one timo it was announced that thcrc was
au error of $780, 100000 in tho amount of
bills out aud tho amount on tho books Of
the government. There was never
moment during tho war when Davis actually
appreciated the situation. Why, after
the march of tho Confederatcs from Rappa.
hauuock to Sharpsburg and back again;
when they had swept everything before
them, numbers not availng anythiEg
against them, Davis thought tho war was
over, and actually began to quarrel about
who had whipped it. Ho was as jealous as
a Barbary hen, and once started to have mo
arrested for ridicuing him. l am
thoroughly satisfied that tho establishment
Of government under Mr., Davis was an
impossbility. Indeed tho fight was hap
hazard from beginning to end, without
method or craftsmanship, aud sustained
only by miraculous valor Us long os il was.
The constitution was u good one, but ,hcro
praise Of the Confederate Government aud
lie works must end"