The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1889-12-07

"a bureau upon which she very existence of
the Confederate armies must depend, and for
the iabors of which it is apparent the sound /
lest practical order of intellect essential II
1t would be easy to find Confederates Of
thigh rank and approved judgment in mill I
!tary affairs who still look upon this appoint
ment and two others as the main causes of
the downfall of the Confederacy
WHO FORESAw A LONG WARP
AS to the other charge so persistenty urged,
that Mr. Davis was mot able to compre-
bend the proportions of the struggle enpend-s
ingn the obvious answer is, Who was! A
few, very few, thoughtful men in the north,
who drew their conclusions largely from his
tory, predicted long and bitter struggle; in
the south it is exceedingly doubtful if there:
were fifty men who believed the contest
would outlast year. If there was one who,
from the beginning, anticipated four years
war, he succeeded admirably in concealing'
his views. That President Davis, his cabinet
and all his advisers shared the current delu-i
sion that the war would be short and its thea-l
tire confined principally to the coast and the
border between the two sections, is certain.
Such belief was the parent OF many errors.
In the first place, it was estimated that the
south had almost arms enough, and the first or.
der sent to Europe was for but COCO Enfield
rifes Before the blockade could be made
effective it was urged that the Confederate
government should take the cotton and to-
bacco of which a large stock was still on
hand, issue bonds to pay the owners, export
the stuff to Europe, and make it the basis Of
fund to draw upon. The owners generally
were willing, and the effect would have been
tremendous. At the same time considera-'
BILE amount of foreign exchange in the banks
was offered to the government on favorable
terms Both propositions were rejected or
ignored, and the golden o. V soon
passed, never to return. 1t noted
also that the legislation sional
congress- and of the first tagu-i
lar congress at RichmoI ne
lack of perception as to til, the
impending struggle,
On the Federal side of the Ii the
froth and nonsense about "a was
swept away by the battle of n; the
rest was done for at Shiloh. After the latter
thoughtful men both north and south made
up their minds that the issue was to be tena-
ciously fought to close. The north erred
often in expecting great and decisive victo-.
ries; the south quite as often in expecting
foreign interference or a division in the north
True, Mr.. Benjamin at Richmond continued
to promise qualification i'll ninety days" long
after Mr.. Seward at Washington had cease
to do so, but he found few echoes.
AN APPALLING DIFFICULTY.
The victory of Bull Run produced great
4 exultation in the SOUTH but appears to have
had a decidedly SOLDERING effect upon Presi
dent Davis and cabinet. 1t may now be CON
4 sidered proved that he was in for aggressive
action Immediately after that battle but
yielded to the adverse opinions of Johnston
] and BeaureGard, and thereafter, with rare
4 exceptions insisted upon defensive policy.
During the long period Of inaction which fol,
] lowed he embraced every opportunity to dc,
clare his earnest desire for peace He even
4 excited criticism by suggesting conciliatory
] measures; for many months all his utter
ances were amplifcations of that passage in
his first regular message. "The moment that
this pretense of our subjugation is abandoned
I the sword will drop from our grasp and we
] shall be ready to enter into treaties of amity
and friendship"