Year: 1862

-Whlch Will onhlB &c tno pVoltlVhi aAu pot


haps decide the fate Of this army-th'


Grand Army Of the Potomac. Count the


thousands who came, buoyant with hope


and animated with new life in view O.


meeting the fOei aud then turn and esti


mate the sluggish stream Of dependency


that will move away if it turns back, and


count the balance that have faIlen-sOund


the seas Of blood that have been spilled
reckon up the sums in millions that have
been expendei--gO, search out the homes
in mourning for the sons never to come
back again, and then, and not till then,
will you know what this war is costing.


entered the army with faint idea Of
what war is; I shall go out Of it, whether
to my home on earth, or my home in bet
ter world, with a knowledge Of what human
nature is, or what it is capable Of being,
such as would gladly never have known;
yet & knowledge which feel that it is
needful the world should know, or else the
lesson would never have been written in
this awful page of blood and desolation up
on thia fair earth. Therefore am glad
that am where am, and permitted to
help write it.


You know 1 was once foolish enough to
think that the world had advanced beyond
the possibility of another great war-at
least that this our native country had
Why was so mistaken ? Because knew
not the degradation and disqualification
which comes from human slavery. be-
heved once, honestly, that the South had a
perfect right to make and maintain such
institutions as she pleased, without inter-
ference; 1 believed that Slavery should
live with the will of the South; but was
mistaken. What man has not been able OF
willing to do, it would seem that God had
taken into his hands to do, and Slavery,
the dark, foul stain that has made demons
Of men, degraded human nature so much,
must now be wiped out clean and effectual-
". You will call me an abolitionist-a
name would once have avoided with scru-
pulous care-bnt call me what you will, no
name, no taunt can change the unalterable
conviction that nothing this side Of hell
but slavery-making property Of human
beings-could make men so inhuman, so
desperate, as the foe with which we war.


1 was once something of a politician,
but am not now, and l probably shall
never be again--at least not until we have
a purer system of politics than has govern
ed this country in the past When l first
came into the war, l often heard of the
"policy" Of the war-how this measure or
that would affect our party-and Twas ac-
customed to hear any tendency on the part
of the government towards the abolition of
slavery, denounced in emphatic terms, and
sometimes mingled my voice with others in
the utterance of such sentiments; but We
hear no more Of this now, atleast do not.
We have something else to think about;
something else 10 talk about. There is no
policy now but such as cOntemplates the
ieath of traitors. Cancellation and recon-
ciliation are not measures by which peace
or power are hoped to be ere-established =
We want no patched up peace with the
South; we want no party poweri but we
do want our government re-established to
its outer borders; we want our country
grand and glorious as in the past; we want
our homes and hearths preserved to Us; we
want peace, durable and honorable peace.
But these we can never have until the ar
rogant spirit of the South is humbled, and
Slavery, the cause Of this arrogance, has
ceased to exist. You may we'll think that
have stepped away from the line up to
which we once trod so evenly and con-
stantly; but if you want to know my rea-
sons for so doing. come here and will
show you. In the line of battle is to be
learned many a leasonS not elsewhere
taught. 0, how this army is cursed by the
sufferance of political fayoritism in the
choice of men to command. Go 10 a father
and mother who had lost a son in the war,
one who had written home Of his tolls in
the trenches, of his fatigue from long
marches, and sufferings on guard-perhaps
protecting rebel prOperty--and who had
written too Of the thousands Of slaves every
where encountered who would gladly leave
their masters, and thus relieve the guard
who would gladly jump into the trenches
and take the spade, and thus relieve the
worn-out soldier; or, who on the march,
would be happy to be allowed the privilege
/ Of carrying the knap-sack and gun Of the
weary ones--I say, 60 to such bereaVed
fathers and mothers, and ask them now II
they do not feel that their son Is more pre-
cious and more deserving than the slave
holders interest; than the Slave or Slave
~, or the all-potent party policy that said
/ 20 the army, on must not interfere with
the slavep9 Whatwill they tell you now
/ viii not the thought that perhaps had the
slave been offered his freedom sooner, and
/ shown the way TO the trenches at an earli-
j -er day, their boy might have lived, modify
their reply? think 50, and | tell you


what is true here, this kind of policy is
making abolitionists Of us all, Some in the


North had best begin to take the lessons Of
our experience, and modify at once, or else


ws shall find rebels yet to conquer, aftei


we have subdued the South.


But one thing moro l wish to speak o


before I close this already too long letter


and l wish I could speak it to the millicni
who now suffer, that the remedy nigh


come in haste let every true man, whit
loves his country, loves justice, and love
the dear interests of his fellow-men, rails
his voice to its full force against any fur
ther party interference in the choice ofmel
! for the administration Of public affairz


whether in the army or out, until this re


bellion is put to death. Let brand as in


delible as that which marked the brow Q


Cain, be put upon the forehead of any one
? from the President down, who allows pc
Iitical favoritism to influence him in tn
i. least iota against his Judgment, in the Sc
j lection Of public officers. Our countr
groans to-day, and will suffer for ages
9 come, from this terrible abuse. Retribr
tion seems to be coming, swift and terrible
! to many in high places who brought thei
] politics into the war. 1t is time to tax
! Warming. To free this country from ira
= tors and to free it from slaves, is the bus


ness Of this present time, and for this "


want UNION, uneOmpromising union, in .
|. -. ,.,,-or IN all ifq m0iaStV in all Il