The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-16

1 "
policy of the dragoonades of Louis XIV, and to
occupy numerous strategic points from the
mountains to the Mississippi river. If such
criticisms were necessary, some other pen than
mine would have TO be employed. for in my
view, it COMFORTS far more with Justice, both to
the living and the dead to say that, if there were
omissions, they resulted from an unavoidable
! condition of affairs, and from combination of
circumstances difficult if not impossible, to fore
see. The country was unused to war, and had
scarcely had time to recover from the surprise
excited by the enornity of its Inauguration in
such form as will forever deface the pages of our
history. But, nevertheless, we have the fact be-
fore us that by the rapid marches of confed-
crate troops, the loyal people of Kentucky
and Tennessee were cut off from com
munication with the Union forces and left to be
dealt with according to the will of the confeder-
ate government and its allies, and it is hard in
view of subsequent events, to avoid the convic-
! ton that it was at least unfortunate that the
policy advised by Governor Morton was not inn
mediatey carried into execution. Therefore,
| without any disparagement of others, we, who
| have his reputation III charge, must be allowed
to insist that, in the circumstances referred to,
| he displayed the highest wisdom and sagacity.
| Nor must we assume the position of military
critics Yet, able to look back
calmly upon the events of the and to review
their history with composure, it becomes us to =
prosecute our inquiries as to ascertain, if posi-
| bic, the precise truth, in order that our concu-
sions may comport with it. 1t may have been
| that the results anticipated by Governor Nor
| ton would not have followed the adoption
| OF his plan, even under the most favorable
cumstances. But is 1t assuming too much to say
! that the simultaneous occupation of Louisville,
Gowling Green, and Nashville by a strong Union
army, in the fall of 1861, might have put enc
| to the fatal policy of neutrality in Kentucky and
have held that State to the side of the Union,
besides defeating the conspiracy of the secession
| lists in Tennessee, by giving protection to the
! Union people therel If these things had been
accomplished. as Governor Morton thought they
| could be, results would probably have followed
very different from those which actually oc-
Cured. Nashville could have been made the
| base of Union operations extending to the gulf,
thus cutting off all military communications be-
tween the confederate authorities and Missouri,
Arkansas Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas
from Louisville to Mobile, holding
! the Memphis &c Charleston railroad,
Chattanooga, Cumberland Gap, and othar i'm
portant points The Confederate E41ne ternfat-
| ing at Fort Donaldson would nave been impc-
ticable Forests rsidrns might have been less in
furious or E7,ro nably prevented Price, Van Dorm,
| and Mccullough might have been unable to with
| st9,a1Id Fremont and Hunter in Missouri. The
bloody battles fought in that State and Tennes-
see might not have occurred. And Grant, after
leaving Cairo. might have made his indomitable
pluck and military skill of so much avail that he
= could have marched forward through Georgia
and South Carolina to the sea, three years before
Sherman undertook to drive the army of Joe
johnson back upon the Atlantic With these
b results achieved in 1861, the main body of the
e confederate army would have been surrounded
c the withdrawal of forces from Lee to check the
= advance of Grant would have enabled the army
+ of the Potomac to march upon Richmond-and
| the war might have been terminated by a single
vigorous campaign in the spring and summer of
= the ensuing year And thus three years of hard
r fighting might have been avoided, and immense
treasure and thousands of human lives might
4 have been saved, to say nothing of the suffering,
distress and desoation which no pen will ever be
Q able to portray.
The conduct of Governor Morton was con-
S spicuously efficient throughout the war He
failed in nothing required by his position but
was prompt and faithful in everything All the
wants and necessities of Indiana soldiers
looked after with assduous and unwearied care.
. Whether in the field encountering the enemy, of
: in the camp, or at home on furlough, suffer
, ing in the hospital from wounds sickness, he
was constantly vigilant in ministering to their
, wants and the necessities of their families.
? He employed all the means that human in
l genuity could discover to supply them with
every possible comfort. At his suggestion and
under his auspices system for the relief of their
: wives and children was put in operation. by
, means of which more than half a million of dol
, lars were raised and disbursed. Consequently,
such relations grew up between him and them as
nothing could disturb while he lived, and it is
not likely that the remembrance of him will ever
be erased from the minds of any of them who
survive him. In his life he reioiced at the honor
and glory they have reflected upon the State and
themselves, by gallantry unsurpassed in any of
the wars of ancient or modern times; and
that he has gone, they will revere his memory
with that affection which brave hearts always
feel for noble and generous deeds
AN EXTRAORDINARY TEST OF CHARACTER.
The event which, more than all others during
the war, put the character of Governor Morton
to an extraordinary test, was the refusal of the
Legislature to make appropriations for carry
ing on the State government Such an act
is, in its nature, revolutionary, because
it would necessarily put a stop to
government unless the people should assert
their reserved sovereign authority to see that it
is continued. In the instance referred to he was
compelled to select one of two alternatives
either to re-convene the same Legislature and
thus assure repetition of its misfeasance, or to
assume the personal responsibility of providing
the means to support the government and sub p
NIT his conduct to the people for approval or
| condemnation. The issue of the greatest
| magnitude involving possible consequences from
which the boldest and the bravest might well
| shrink. A feeble and vacilating man would
have been palsied by the weight of such re-
spOnsibity, and have submitted to the revou-
tionary triumph over the constitution and the
| laws. Such man would have acknowledged
| was made of ''sterner stuff'-possessing,
as he did, that high moral
| courage which has adorned some of the
most illustriouS characters in history. and
| which, whatsoever existing, exctes universal adj
! miraton. The occasion furnished him the OPP
portunity of displaying some of the best proper
ties of manhood, and enabled him to rise up to the
| highest craftsmanship. Having full confidence
| in the intelligence and patriotism Of the people,
and believing them to be incapable of censurng
act of fidelity to their honor and interests. he
resoutely and courageousy determined that I'M
der no possible contingency should the State gov
eminent cease, or the credit of the State be inn
| paired AS either of these events would have
| been public calamity he was required to act
with the utmost prompttude, and, by the pledge
of his own personal honor, succeeded in doing
what no other public functionary in the United
States has ever done, before or since-that is, in
raising suficiency of money by private loan to
pay the interest upon the public debt and to sup
| port the State government and all its chart
table institutions. This was more than equiv
| alent to the devotion of his private fortune .