Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-06-16
5flistellaueuns &eading.

Misfellaneans &eading
JEFFERSON DAVIS BOOK.
"RIsE AND FALL OF THE CONFEDERATE COY
ERNMENT."
Advance sheets of Jefferson Davis forth
coming book, entitled "The Rise and Fall
| the Confederate Government" have bee
furnished to the press. They show that M
Davis is aggressive in the assertion of tn
righteousness of the principles for which tn
Southern people fought. Utterly regardles
of the arbitrament made by the sword at Az
pomattox, or of the march of events since ther
he defends secession, not only as right, bu
as the cornerstone Of the only possible con
stitutional Union. He gives some interesting
facts concerning the formation Of his Cabinet
He had intended offering the premiership
the Cabinet to Mr.. r. w. Barnwell, Of Sout]
Carolina, but the delegation of that Stat
having recommended Mr.. Memminger to b
secretary of the treasury, he was forced t.
forego his first choice. Having thus dis
claimed the responsibility of placing the pre-
miership in the hands of Mr.. Toombs, VIII
afterwards boasted that be "carried the Stat
department in his coat.tail pockets" Mr.
Davis goes further and says: "MA Toomb
was offered the place, for which Others be
lieved him to be we'll qualified" 1t had beer
the intention of the President to make Mr.
Toombs secretary Of the treasury on accoun
of his acknowledge on subjects of finance" Th'
Cabinet otherwise was made up from Mr.. Da
Wis personal knowledge of the men selected
THE BATTLES OF THE WAR.
In describing the great battles of the wa
Mr.. Davis writes graphically. He is forced
of course to be brief, as he has such an enor
nous area to cover; and yet never lets thu
opportunity pass of paying tribute to some
fallen Confederate or denounce the course O
the Federals. In beginning his history O.
the actual war he says:
We now enter upon those terrible scenes o.
wrong and blood in which the government o.
the United States, driven TO desperation by
our successful resistance, broke through every
restraint of the Constitution, Of national law
of Justice and of humanity.
THE BATTLE OF MANASSAS,
it appears from Mr.. Davis account, was un
derstood to be crushing defeat before the
field was cleared. As the President and his
party neared the battle they met fugitives
who announced that the Confederate army
was beaten. 1t was not until Gen. Johnston
was reached that it was ascertained there had
been victory. Of the retreat of the enemy
he says:
Our cavalry, though there was present but
the squadron previously mentioned, and from
a statement of the commander of which will
make some extracts, dashed boldly forward to
the charge The demonstration was followed
by the immediate retreat of what was, | be.
lieve, the last, thereabout, of the enemy's
forces maintaining their organization and
showing disposition to dispute the possession
of the field of battle. In riding over the
ground it seemed quite possible to mark the
line of fugitive's flight. Here was a mus
ket there cartridge box, there blanket or
overcoat, haversack, &C., as if the runner
had stripped himself as he went of all imped
iments to speed.
As we approached toward the left of our
line the signs of an utter rout of the enemy
were unmistakable, and justified the conclu.
sion that the watchword of "On to Rich
mond i" had been changed to "Of for Wash
ington!"
He notes the discovery of large number
of handouts on the deserted field, over which
he discourses bitterly. The author insists
and fairly demonstrates that he appreciated
the Importance of immediate and vigorous
pursuit of the enemy, saying:
I then suggested that he should be ordered
in pursuit; pause ensued, until Col. Jordan
asked me if l would dictate the order. | at
once dictated an order for immediate pursuit.
Some conversation followed, the result of
which was a modification of the order by
myself, so that, instead of immediate pur-
suit, it should be commenced at early dawn.
COL Jordan spoke across the table to me,
saying, "If you will send the order as you
first dictated it, the enemy won't stop till he
gets into the Potomac" / believe remem-
Der the words very nearly and am quite sure
that do remember them substantially.
The blame Of the failure to pursue he
places very clearly on Gen. Joseph E. John
ston. Of the possibilities Of a vigorous pursuit
he says:
This view of the matter rests on the sup
position that the forti6cations and garrisons
described did actually exist, of which there
seemed then to be no doubt. If the reports
which have since reached US be true, that
there were at that time neither forti6cations
nor troops stationed on the south bank of
the Potomac that all the enemy's forces fled
to the north side of the river and even be.
yond that the panic of the routed army in.
fected the whole population Of Washington
City, and that no preparation was made or
even contemplated for the destruction of the
bridge across the Potomac ; then it may have
been as many have asserted, that our army,
following close upon the flying enemy, could
have entered and taken possession of the
United States capital These reports, how
ever, present condition of affairs altogether
at variance with the information upon which
we had to act. Thus it was, and, so far as
knew, for the reason above stated, that an
advance to the south bank of the Potomac
was not contemplated as the immediate Sc.
quence of the victory at Manassas. What
discoveries wosld have been made and what
results would have ensued from the estab.
lishment of our guns upon the south bank OF
the river to open FIRE upon the capital, are
speculative questions upon which it would
be useless to enter.
THE TROUBLE WITH 10. JOHNSTON.
1t appears from beginning to end of the
book that Gen. Johnston and Mr.. Davis never
agreed on a policy after the first battle OF