Year: 1865

may WlCnStanu the WnlrlWinu, iot lilo uHiuA-
tiated prepare for crash among the OIL coal
and mining bubbles of the hour, and stand
from under in time. !.
The General stampede from the Rebel


Armies.


Desertion from all the rebel armies has taken
the character of q stampede. 1t Is subject
that has suddenly become of more importance
to the enemy than the niger question, the
cotton burning question, the State sovereignty
question, or all the other questions together
that the Southern factions have fought over.
In oil their arguments as to the best way In
which they could oppose US the Southern lead
ers of every stripe have assumed the existence
Of the great Southern armies as fixed points
Lees army Of veterans, that had fought so
steadily over Virginia, Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania, was counted upon as fact not less posi-
tive than the iron mountain in Georgia 1t was
the same with the other armies. The points
that were always in dispute were what use
should be made Of these armies, how they
should be supplied, reinforced and COM
manded; but these assumed, at the very start,
that those armies would remain unchangeable
facts. No one doubted that. Those armies
were the basis Of all rebel argument, and now
the Southern leaders suddenly see this basis
tremble and begin to melt away. They see
Lees army dribbling out of existence, 80 that
it becomes shadowy and doubtful whether
there really is such an army; and not even Lee
can tell from day to day what its numbers are.
The foundation Of all their arguments is shaken
and crumbles away. That this is very GER
tainly the case is shown by the extensive
and reliable accounts that we give to-day Of
the deserters coming into our lines everywhere.


Ordinarily desertion is merely one Of the
diseases of the soldier. It is another express
sion Of the same spirit of discomfort and unrest
that stimulates the malingerer to his many i'm
positions There has never been an army
or an armed force that had no deserters. While
on the one hand no cause was ever so bad but
men would stick to it, none on the contrary
was ever so good or so sacred that men would
not abandon it Even one Of the three hundred
who ought to have died at Thermopyle with
Leonidas, made his appearance alive at Sparta
after it was reported that the whole number
had been slain. But the desertion that becomes
epidemic throughout all the parts Of 2 force
tha1 are upholding the same cause is very
different thing. This sort Of desertion is not
due to the ordinary accidental causes Of deser-
tion which at most would only affect the parts Of
one or two armies in limited degree. But it is
due to the same general influences, to the same
widespread and universal conviction that first
puts whole people in arms. Deceived by
their leaders, the Southern people took up
arms to fight for what they believed to
be their cause. Now they at once see
that that cause is hopeless, and that they
were deceived in respect to it, and they are
laying down their arms by the same general
consent and impulse wherever they can, and
whenever they can. This is the whole cause of
the desertion.


1t does appear that the action of the Southern
leaders, after the late peace conference at
Fortress Monroe, has done more than any other
event of recent occurrence to open the eyes of
those deluded men. One deserter has even said
that that conference broke up Lees army. 1t
is evident that though Davis wanted better
terms than the President could give, an infuen-
tial part of the Southerners would have been
satisfied with those terms. 1t is worthy of note
that Hunter, one of the commissioners, was to
be the President whom the submission party
desired to put in Davis place. The Southern
army throughout is taking those terms. Many
deserters declare that the Southern soldiers
would come over without exception If they
knew that their treatment would be so good,
and it is therefore evident that General Grants
order on the subject of deserters is not as
widely known in the Southern armies as it
should be. That order is as follows:-


SPECIAL oRDERs-No. 8.


HEADQUARTERS, ARMIES THE UNITED STATEs


IN THE FIELD, VIRGINIA Jan. 4, 1865


Hereafter deserters from the Confederate army, who
deliver themselves up the United States forces WILL
taking oath that they will not again take up arms
and transportation their homes IL tho
within the lines Of federal occupation II their homes
not within such lines they will be furnished subsis
tence and free transportation TO any point in the North
States All deserters who take the oath Of allegiance
WILL II they desire IT, be given employment in the Quar-
termasters and other departments Of the army, and
the same remuneration paid them as Is given TO civilian
employees for similar services Military duty or service
endangcrng them 10 capture by the Confederate forces
will not be cxacted from such give themselves to
United States military authorities Dcserters who bring
arms horses mules or other property into our lines with
them will delivering the same 10 the Qnarermasers
Department, receive In money the highest price such
arms, horses mules and other property are worth Rail
road employees telegraph operators mechanics and other
civilians, employed by the Confederate authorities, who
desert from their present employ and into the
federal lines will be entitled 10 all the benefits and i'm
munites Of this order By command OF


Lieutenant General GRANT


7. S. BowsRs, Assistant Adjutant General