Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-10-12

GERS who We're over them. The gross
blunders that prolonged the war and
,ast untold life, limb and treasure
wer, committed 10y the men high in
rank. Sometimes they were errors in
Judgment, sometimes they arose from
tilnility and dread of taking a great
responsibility: and too often they were
the dreadful results of jealousy, anger,
spite, for which the starred author
should have been shot More than
onca more than dozen times, there
was too much whisky at headquarters.
However these deplorable results We're
caused, they wrought untold misery to
the soldiers, and put back the end from
year to year.
Some writer's have a certain hesita-
ton in discussing these things. have
not the least.
The great war and all that went
along with it have passed into history /;
a large part of it's actors have passed
AVA, and more are departing daily.
There is every reason why the truth
should be told, so that it may be crys-
tallized into history, and no reason why
it should not be told. The higher a
man stood in rank and command, the
more serious were his errors. Gener-
as, like other public men, belong to
their country, and whether they be
living OF dead, the common soldier, out
of jus ice to himself, cannot afford to
have those errors CLOSED over.
When General Butler was relieved of
command at New Orleans in 1862, and
came to New York, somebody asked
him:
do you think, General that we
shall ever get success sfully throug Ii this
WARP"
oh, yes" replied Ben. II haven't a
doubt of it."
But when-and how?'
"Ah These are very different ques-
tons. We shall probably blunder
through, but we shall get through"
Looking back now upon the events
OF % quarter Of a century ago, it may
we'll seem to us who participated in
them, that, under Divine Providence,
wo were permitted to "blunder
through"
Ny meaning will be plain when
have pointed out few things that did
happen but should not have happened,
and some of the things that might and
would have happened, with very
slight change of circumstances, which
the, leaders had the power to make.
In the fall of 1862 Gen. Sherman
told Secretary of War Cameron at
Louisville that three hundred thousand
men would be required to put down
the rebellion. The information was
received by the Government and the
people with a gasp of amazement and
anger. Sherman was voted insane,
and sent to st. Louis to take charge of
:: recruiting station. where it was
thought he could do no harm with his
crazy notions.
Now mark what would have hap
pened had the Government then
adopted that policy! Vicksburg and
Port Hudson were not garrisoned and
fortified by the Confederates till more
than six months after this "crazy" idea
had been put forth. With even one
hundred Thousand more men called out
before January, 1869, every point on
the Mississippi could have been seized
and held, two whole years of the war
at the West would have been saved,
the fight would have been half won,
and the lavish expenditure of blood
and treasure Oh the Mississippi would
have been saved.
and before the end came, not three
hundred thousand but more than one
million Union soldiers were called to
arms!
Here was blunder of the Govern
ment on a most magnificent scale.
It may be said that the people were
not ready for such large measures.
That is true; and perhaps the RESPONSE
lbility or that grand bluudar must be
divided between the people and their
servants in power.
And the nligAt-haue-beeses of the
war! It makes us almost sick to re-.