The Wichita daily eagle., 1901-06-02
THE NoRTH's AND souTH's CON-
FlDENCE.


ward each other at the outbreak OF the
civil war. says a writer 81 the New York
Evening Post. Each loved SO well its
own Institutions. free OF slave. that i
despised those OF the opposite section.
From this spirit came that conflict whose
tremendous sacrifices are az this time
each year recounted. It is sn old acade-
mic question whether the civil war could
or should have been avoided with hui
man nature as II is" the answer is usual
~ prefaced. the war had 10 come. In
other words, each side had developed so
low an estimate OF the other that it was
necessary 10 fight il out 70 see which
was right. Each was sure Of victory,
even feeling that the task before it was
almost tC0 easy.
In the celebrated congressional debate.
preceding the outbreak Of hostilities.
Louis Wigfau OF Texas bumptiously
shouted: The Star Of the West has
staggered into Charleston harbor. re-
ceived q blow full in the face, and stag
gered out Your flag has been insulted;
redress il II YOU dare. You have sub
mitted to it two months. and you viii sub
nit 10 il forever. We have dissolved the
Union; mend il II you can; cement il with
blood; try the experiment This was
characteristic southern boastfulness- Sen
ator Chestnut OF South Carolina also
spoke IL a strain that must have greatly
pleased his constituency, when he said;
For myself, 1 would unfurl the Palmetto
flag fling il 20 the breeze. and with the
spirit OF brave men determined 10 live and
die as becomes our glorious ancestors,
ring the clarion note of defiance IN the
ears Of an insolent foe"
Alexander H. Stephens. one Of the most
mild-mannered Of confederate leaders
said in his celebrated corner stone
speech" after he had been made vice
Z. A.. u
eminent: The processes Of disintegra-
ton Of the old Union may be expected TO
90 on with almost absolute certainty. We
are now the nucleus Of q growing power.
which viii become the controlling power
of this continent" The south even doubt
ed if the north would dare 10 fight at ali /:
it regarded the northern people as effem-
mate mOney-changers and mechanics, in
capable OF standing up to the Ordeals OF
The battlefield With their boastful as
suranceS of an early and easy victory, the
north is thoroughly familiar.
One hardly needs TO go to southern his
tories 10 ind out that the north quite as
much underestimate its foe as the south.
Secretary Seward is quoted by Pollard. in
his Lost Cause" as saying at New
England banquet in New York that the
whole trouble would be over in sixty
days Lincoln's own call for 1000 men
official estimate Of the probable duration
Of the struggle. Greeley said this error
resulted from that obstinate infatuaticn
which would believe, il defiance Of all
history and probability, that a conspiracy
of thirty years standing was to be put
down in sixty or ninety days by some
process equivalent to reading the riot act
20 an excited mob and sending q squad Of
police to disperse it." Greeley italicized
81 in, 10 he
wrote in 1864 when the hindsight had
made some headway on the foresight OF
almost everybody. It is recalled that at
first prisoners OF war taken by the north
with arms in their hands were commonly
permitted to go at large on taking the
oath Of fealty 10 the constitution. For the
first year of the war no regular list of
prisoners taken by the Union forces. not
even those parOled, vas kept at the war
department. It was assumed that the
insurrection would be over so soon that
systematic war measures need not be re-
sorted 10.
The northern press was particularly
sure on this point The New York Tri-
bune is quoted by Pollard as saying
"The nations OF Europe may rest assured
that Jeff Davis & Co., will be swinging
from the battlements at Washington, at
least by the Fourth of July" The New
York Times said: Let US make quick
work The rebellion as some people
designate il, is an unborn tadpole. Let
us not fall into the delusion of mistaking
q local commOtion for revolution. A
strong, active pull together VIII do our
work in thirty days We have only 10
send a column Of 5000 men across the
Potomac to Richmond, and burn the rate
out there; another column TO Cairo. seiz-
seizing the cotton ports Of the AIissis-
sippi; and retaining the remaining 25,o0
included in Mr.. LincOlns call for 1880
men in Washington. not because there is
need Of them there, but because we do
not require their services elsewhere
Could the author of these words have
seen the 10000 Union men stretched writh-
ing on the sod, or still in death in twenty
minutes Of Cold Harbor three years later,
in that same endeavor to take Richmond
which was so jauntily referred TO, he
would have made different calculations
In peace Richmond was a few hours ride
from the national capital; in war IL prov
ed a terrible journey with long stops at
Fair oaks. Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill,
Savage's Station, Fraziers Farm, Nal
vern Hill, Fredericksburg, ChanceilOrs-
VILE. the wilderness. spottsylvania, Cold
Harbor, Petersburg. Fort Steadman and
Five Forks. The people at Washington
went out in carriages TO see the first bat
tie Of Bull Run, much as they would go
now 70 dress parade; some firing at the
rebels was expected, and. as an eXhioi-
tion OF target-practice at rapidly moving
objects il was expected 10 be worth see
ing. 1t took a number Of Bull Runs 10
undeceive North and South, or 20 over
come the aboundiug American feeling Of
assured superiority and of easy victory
over all enemies.
A Chicago newspaper which led In dec
laring the war against Spain already be-
gun as soon as the Maine exploded was at
the time Of the civil war true to its pat
riotic impulses. Although Chicago had a
population Of only about 81 Do. II wanted
20 fight the rebeIiious Southerners alone,
or at least TO have the west do so. LET
the east get out Of the way. u geuer-
ously suggested This war IS fcr the
west Illinois can whip the south by her
self we insist upon having the matter
turned over 10 US.
Each section made great tactical mis-
takes through desuising the pFowcss OF
the other. The short term 81 Lincoln s
call was perhaps as dlsadvautase more
than Offset by the failure ~ the south %
bring in sufficient quantity 81 arur1tlrl-
ton and military supplies before its ports
were closed u neglected % do 50 be-
cause great preparations were believed O.
be unnecessary. Illustrations ~ this scrt
might Dc ruulfirlied indaruiselv. But the
war came, SIS results are known ID tne
light of these the aabnliuga ~ the Char
lesfon Mercury contrast olllv with fhe
Inscription on the soldiers m1llrne.7t ~
Columbia. written after fhE test vas real
ig made. .It is no trouble tor ~ 20 Nllp
al creation was the sentiment before
hand after q fey years trlai- there vas
cut i1 on enduring stone, Gns rfrpel-
yates f1c memory cf trcse who rafe fpf-
ilel fallen cause by tae simple ranli
~ sr.r~ ff-ra and The hsrriran ef fnasr
deaths. and who ir TIRE carE hours - iln-
rrisc-mrrr i1 fhe bure'eesress rl tre
h-sultzl in fhe s1crt. SHARP aE11y - tns