The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-09-18

Britain has ever been the foe and is TO-
day the bitter enemy of every form of
Republican institutional government.
She tried to strangle us in our cradle
with more than Il step-mother's intense
hate. She tried to crush us in 1912 by
driving out shipping from the seas, and
then she went to work when she had
fattened upon slavery herself and drug
ged the whole world with her opium
trade with well nigh diabOlic method.
with her headquarters at Exeter Hall
in London, to deepen sectional hate be-
tween the North and South To-day
like a great Anaconda she is swallow
ing up with her immense gold power
both the banking systems of our country
and our transportation as well. 1t would
be ungraceful and ungrateful to indulge
in any comment upon any mistakes made
by the government at Richmond in fail
ing to get all of our cotton out of the
Southern borders and banking upon it
in European marts when landed at Ber-
muda before the blockade was en-
forced and made effective 1t would
be equally unfair and unkind to COM
ment upon the mistakes made within
the first few months of the war in not
making impregnable the mouth of the
Mississippi and that of the Cumber-
land River and the Red, where the
last two empty into the great "father
of waters" 1t is perfectly clear
that the failure to do this forced the first
great battle Of the midland south out of
Kentucky. ont Of Tennessee into Miss:s-
sippi. Elsewhere north of Shiloh Gen.
Sidney Johnson would have been fanked
out of position Ivy the Federal gunboats
on these rivers 1t is perfectly clear to ov-
cry candid mind that while mistakes
were made and telling mistakes at that,
if not well-nigh fatal, vet that noble
patriot, Jefferson Davis. did all he could
with the lights before him to maintain
his country's cause. 1t was very evident
from the early days Of the struggle that
Virginia would be the great battlefield.
Richmond from first to last was the key
point and the keystone of the Southern
COnfeder2cy. If the armies of the South
could not hold this great citadel, it was
obvious that we could make no success
ful stand anywhere. General Mcclellan
in his very remarkable book has clearly
established the fact that had be been
other than Il Democrat when he was be-
leagucring Richmond with his mighty
hosts had he been reinforced. as he
begged General Halleck and Mr. Stan
ton, Secretary of War to reinforce him,
with Cen McDowell's G0000 troops idle
in front of Washington, and had the au-
thoritieS at Washington allowed him to
have thrown that large army upon Gen.
Lees left flank, fully occupied with Nc
Clellan as he was. Mcclellan would have
cut Gen. Lees lines of transportation on
the Virginia Central, the James River
lcanal and the Southsde Railway. Some
may say, sneerignly, that this never could
have been done at that time. In answer
to this it may be alleged that Stonewall
Jackson's Valley campaign was made to
avert this anticipated movement. A des
perate attack upon Gen. Lees left by
IMcDowelrs 10000 men would have
called Gen. Jackson hurriedly from the
valley. while so small was his force
I17,000) and so large was that Of Gen.
Mcdowell (G0,000) that the issue at arms
could not have been doubtful. Gen. Lee,
at all times the master of Gen. Mcclellan
in tactics and manoeuyre, and in fine all
the elements of generalship, himself I'M
conscious of the fact in his high devotion
to duty he was tncapacitated from his
splendid organism to understand the des-
perate, diabolic policy at headquarters in
Washington in its unwillingness to stop
the war then and there because of two
conditions not yet reached. First, there
was Democrat in command of the
army of the Potomac. and the command
er Of that army at the close of the war
was eX-necessitate logically the next
President of the United States. Sumner,
Seward and Stanton had determined that
this should not be. Secondly, the prOcla-
nation of emancipation had not been is
sued. Slavery had not been abolished.
Now if this reasoning be correct, and the
further suggestion be true that because
of the Anglo-Saxon element inthe South
crn armies after the fall of Richmond,
here could be no guerrilla warfare follow
ing. Men of Latin blood, Spaniards,
French, Italians are addicted to the pitt
able vice of guerrilaing. Men of Anglo
Saxon blood never guerrilla. Thus it fol-
lows that the fall of Richmond would
have ended. the war in go. If this be
true, wha an ocean of blood, what fear
full waste Of precious treasure, what
tears of widowhood. what fearful blight
of orphanage, what fearful orgies of we'll
nigh hellish abandon to rapine and MUIR
der, what fearful responsibility at the bar
of God must be upon the consciences of
Stanton, Seward and Sumner, who led
the more amiable, the more patriotic
Lincoln by the nose. The seven days
fights around Richmond drove Mcclellan
Concluded on third page.)