The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1921-02-10
English Sentiment for the South.

No sooner had the Southern COnfed-
eracy fallen than the following noble |
strain of indignant eloquence burst in
tones of thunder from the press of the
London Ercning Herald:
IT he South is doomed. With the
surrender of General Lee ends not in
deed the possibility of military defense,
still less that of desperate popular re-
sistance. but the hope of final success.
After four years of war, sustained with |
gallantry and resolution that have |
few, IT any, precedents in history; |
after such sacrifices as perhaps no
that have drained the lifeblood of the
country: after a series Of brilliant vic
tories gained under unequaled disad-
vantages, courage and skill and devo-
ton have Succumbed to brute force:
and by sheer power of numbers Il race |
inferior in every quality of soldiership
and manhood. has prevailed over the
hravest and most united people that
ever drew the sword in defence of civil
rights and national independence. To
numbers. and to numbers alone, the
North owes it's hateful triumph. Its
advantages in wealth and resources.
in the possession of the sea and the
command of the rivers. We're neutral
lied by Southern gallantry. In spite of
the most numerous navy in the world,
half dozen Southern cruisers drove
its commerce from the seas. In spite
Of its overwhelming superiority in
strength of ships and guns. imprOvised
Southern ironclads beat and drove off
its blockading squadrons, and South
ern cavalry. embarking OH little river
steamers captured its armed gunboats.
In defiance of all its power. Southern
energy cOntrived to supply the armies
of the Confederate States with every
thing of which they stood in need.
When the war broke out the North
had every kind of military stores in
abundance and could draw unlimited
supplies from Europe: the South had
scarcely cannon had but few rifles.
still fewer swords or bayonets. and not
single foundry or powder factory.
All these deficiencies We're supplied by
the foresight of the Confederate Gov
eminent and the daring Of the Confed-
crate armies. The routed forces of the
North supplied artillery and ammuni-
ton. rifles and bayonets to- the South
erners The cannon which Numbered
against Gettysburg. the shot which
crushed the brave mercenaries of Burn
side on the slopes above Fredericksburg
came for the most part from Northern
arsenals. No Southern failure is attrib-
| uted to the want Of arms or powder;
no Federal success was won by the
enormous advantages which the North
enjoyed in its military stores and it's
open ports Had these been the only
odds in its favor. long ago would the
Federal Government have taken refuge
| of Southern soil have been free from
the step of the invader. Numbers. and
numbers alone. decided the struggle.
| almost every battle has been won
by the South, but every Southern vic
tory has been rendered friutless by the
overwhelming numerical superiority of
the vanquished. The conquerors found
themselves ON every occasion confronted
by new armies and deprived Of the
fruits of victory by the facility with
| which the broken ranks of the enemy
were replenished. The smaller losses
of the South We're irreparable; the
greater sacrifices of the North We're
of no consequence whatever in the eyes
of government which lavished the
lives of hired rowdies and foreign mer-
cenaries in the knowledge that money
could repair all that folly and ferocity
might destroy The South has persisted
by exhaustion. by sheer inability to
recruit her exhausted armies. What
ever errors may have contributed to
hasten her fall. whatever may be due
to the fatal march into Tennessee and
the incomprehensible policy which laid
Georgia and the CarolinaS open to
Sherman, the struggle has been decided
solely by the relative numbers of the
belligerents. by the fact that the Fed
eral recruiting field was practically
unlimited. while that of the Confed.
crates was too small to supply the
losses Of each campaign.
at may console the heroic soldiers
. of the South to remember that theil
. whole force was never equal in mum
her to the foreign mercenaries of the
Union alone but the lesson which thi:
war has taught is one of disastrous
! augury for mankind 1t can hardly b.
hoped that any people will show greater
! devotion than the Southerners. tina
any country will send forth bravel
I armies or greater generals. and the fat.
of secession assures us that valor ant
+ strategy are vain when opposed tt
numbers; that a commander who mus
count the lives Of his men must In TIL
!. end be overpowered by one who. lik