The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-02-05


treated fairly in turn. The critic afore-
said says:
"Of all the writers and lecturers inI
history we know no one who can ap-l
proach Professor Fiske is c~learness oil
statement, charm of style or in theI
possession Of the true historical spirit"
He somehow offended the virginians.
This numebr viii possibly offend the
north or some Of its aforementioned
and fanatics. We quote from the rel
view paper:
He confesses that his sympathiesI
have always been intensely northern,
as BELTS a Connecticut Yankee, yet hrl
could in all sincerity take of his hiatt
10 the tatue Of Lee when he passed i'll
in New Orleans. Concerning Lee heI
expresses the following sentiment:
His devotion to the self-governmentl
which seemed TO him in mortal perill
was no more reprehensible than thel
loyalty TO Falkland TO the prerogativeI
OF Charles /, though in both cases the
sentiments were evoked under circum-I
stances which made them dangerous tol
the nations welfare . Fiske isl
speaking OF the capture of Island
Number Ten. where three generals
FA~AA WV A-C a suns - = ~
pieces, 1000 stands OF muskets, tentsl
for 1900 men, several hundred horsesI
and an immense quertity of ammuni-
ton were captured without the loss of
a single man on the federal side, and heI
says. the credit for the achievements
was as usu given to the commanding
officer n Pope for the moment
achieved a reputation which seemed toI
rival Grants, but which he was de-
CrinaI rrf+Hf-r civ ---rL - loo -~-
confronted with a problem which ADLER
men than he found insoluble.-the prob
lem of outgentralling Robert Lee and
Stonewall Jackson"
That was a disgrace to southern arms
as were some other events in the great.
Ffske has a proper appreciation
Of General Beast Butler, who was from
his own state. Concerning whose mill
tary qualifications one need only saw
that it was fortunate, so far as the
capture of New Orleans was concern
ed that the conditions of the case were
such as to give all the serious work to
n f1eet. Again speaking Of Buffers
famous Woman Order" he SAYS.
Had its wretched author, however
understood in the smallest degree the
feelings of gentlemen, had there enter
ed into his composition so much as a
single fibre of true manhood, he would
have seen that this vile edict insulted
no one else SO grossly as the officers
and soldiers under his command. Such
an outrage ought ITO have led ito his i'm
mediate recall"
He as SO endowed with true vision
and understanding hat he does not
make Grant greater than Lee as some
of the fools have made him. He admits
Grants love of whiskey, and says that
the confederate accounts, if exagger-I
ated as to the battle of Shiloh come
much nearer the truth h Grant and
Sherman in their published memoirsl
are willing to admit.
We turn now to Grants campaigning
against Lee. MI. Fiske writes:
Moreover. with regard to that fright
full tale of bloodShed, from the Wilder-l
ness ITO Petersburg. 1T. may be Doubt
ed whether it really added anything tol
Grants first reputation as a soldier. Tot
start with an army twice as large asE
thS CASliy .. anu lItl W InTOW AWAY
$4,000 men In killed and wounded, WITH
out either infiicting a proportionate loss
or advancing ~perceptibly toward the
goal Of the campaign, is hardly a rel
cord Of great generalShip, and it is
the kind of record Grant made for
himself ait Vicksburg and Chattanooga.
When Grant, after three weeks of
arrived at the North ANIMAL
river there could be no doubt that heI
had been outgeneraled. $ 1t was
a melancholy necessity tol
pound the life out Of Lees army, even
at the cost Of half a dozen lives for
a price which the populous north
could afford. But to admit that Grant
could o avoid paying such a price is
to concede the superior ~generalship oil
Lee. In truth, when Grant first came
to Virginia he evidently underrated his
antagonist. The obstacle to FEDERAL
success in Virginia did not consist in
the fancy that the army of the Poto-I
had not a the full fighting ca
drawn out, but in the fact that
its antagonists movements were guided
by superior genius. At the west Grant,
had been opposed by generals of vary
degrees Of ability. for the mostl
part good soldiers. but none Of them a |
demonstrated genius. In Virginia hel
found himself opposed by a general of
lue CdllOIe OF IuTToL0 or MdrlOOrOugn,t
and his eye were gradually opened to
the difference"
That is frank, honest confession. II
had been at the head of equal force
with Grant one battle would have
closed the campaign, Washington would
fallen and Philadelphia and New
York have been at the mercy of thel
great southern captain. If he could
kept his army to one-half the
strength of Grant there would havel
been no Petersburg. no Appomattox.
We are now inclined to read FiSke'sl
book ON Virginia after seeing him able
to rise above the narrow pTejudices of
narrow section.
BREvITIEs