The Iron Furnace, or Slavery and Secession Part 12

"I a.s.sure you, sir, Sherman's battery was not captured--so far from this, it came out of the battle of Mana.s.sas Plains with two pieces captured from the enemy, having itself lost none."

At this moment Colonel Fry, who killed Zollikoffer, rode up for orders.

While receiving them, the horses attached to a battery halted in front of us. "There," said the General, "is every piece of Sherman's battery. I ought to know that battery, and I a.s.sure you there is not a gun missing."

The pipes, canes, and trinkets supposed to be made of the wood of Sherman's battery, if collected, would form a vast pile; and were you to inform the owners of those relics that they were spurious, you would be politely informed that you might "tell that tale to the marines," as their sons and their neighbours' sons were the honoured captors of that battery; a fact, concerning the truth of which they entertained not even the shadow of a doubt.

CHAPTER IX.

CONDITION OF THE SOUTH.

Cause of the Rebellion--Prevalence of Union Sentiment in the South--Why not Developed--Stevenson's Views--Why Incorrect--Cavalry Raids upon Union Citizens--How the Rebels employ Slaves--Slaves Whipped and sent out of the Federal Lines--Resisting the Conscript Law--Kansas Jayhawkers--Guarding Rebel Property--Perfidy of Secessionists--Plea for Emanc.i.p.ation--The South Exhausted--Failure of Crops--Southern Merchants Ruined--Bragg Prohibits the Manufacture and Vending of Intoxicating Liquors--Its Salutary Effect.

The following is the substance of addresses delivered by me on October 22d and 25th, 1862, at Cooper's Inst.i.tute, New York, and before the Synod of New York and New Jersey, at its session in Brooklyn.

I will confine myself to rendering answers to various questions which have been asked me since my escape to the North. I have viewed the rebellion from a southern stand-point; have been conversant with its whole history; have been behind the curtains, and have learned the motives which impel its instigators in their treasonable designs against the Government.

Slavery I believe to have been the sole cause of the rebellion. It is true that the slaveholders of the South were becoming strongly anti-republican. Rule or ruin was their determination, and they would not have listened to any compromise measure after the election of Mr.

Lincoln; but this feeling, this opposition to republicanism, and l.u.s.t of power, is the offspring of slavery. In 1856 I heard Jeff. Davis declare that the people of the North and the South were not h.o.m.ogeneous, and that therefore he advocated secession. The reason he a.s.signed for this want of h.o.m.ogeneousness was found in the fact that the South held slaves; the North did not.

Men accustomed to exercise arbitrary power over their fellow-men, will not cease their encroachments upon the rights of all with whom they are a.s.sociated, politically or otherwise, and a temporary suspension of the control of the government is regarded by them as a _casus belli_. Slavery may therefore be justly regarded as the parent of secession. Whilst this cause exists, the South will be the hot-bed of treason. Slavery has produced its legitimate fruit, and treason is its name. With slavery intact, no compromise, if accepted by the South, would prevent another outbreak in a few years.

The question has been asked, is there any Union sentiment in the South? I reply that there is a strong Union sentiment, even in Mississippi. This sentiment is not found amongst the slaveholders, for, as a cla.s.s, they are firmly united in their hostility to the Government. The middle and lower cla.s.ses are not only opposed to secession, but also to slavery itself. Eleven years' a.s.sociation with the southern people has enabled me to form a correct opinion, and to know whereof I affirm. I make this statement without fear of successful contradiction, that the majority of the white inhabitants of the South are Union-loving men. The slaveholders have long ruled both the blacks and the whites in the South. When the rebellion was determined upon, the slaveholders had the organized force to compel acquiescence upon the part of those who favoured the Union, yet wished to remain neutral. Their drafts and conscriptions swept them into the army, and when once there, they must obey their officers upon pain of death. To desert and join the Union army, was to abandon their homes and families, and all their youthful a.s.sociations. Yet many have done it, and are now doing good service in their country's cause.

The rebels punished with death any who declared himself in favour of the Union. In my presence at Tupelo, they were taken out daily and shot for the expression of sentiments adverse to the rebellion. If the Union troops at any time occupied a place, and the people expressed any favourable sentiments to their cause, upon the evacuation of that position, those who sided with the Union troops were cruelly treated.

All these causes, and many others which I might mention, have prevented the full development of the true sentiments of the people. I could name many localities within the rebel lines where the great majority of the people bitterly denounce the Southern Confederacy and all connected with it. I could name many individuals who have declared to me that they would prefer death to a dishonourable compliance with the conscript law. I could name localities within the rebel lines where armed resistance to the conscript law has been made; but the safety of those loyal citizens forbids it.

I know that there are some who a.s.sert that there is no Union feeling in the South; but they are mistaken. The author of "Thirteen Months in the Rebel Army" found but little. His situation was not favourable for its discovery. He informs us in his work, that after he had been compelled to _volunteer_, he regarded his oath (an oath much more honoured in the breach than in the observance,) of such force that he sought to obtain information, rather than to desert. He pa.s.sed from one post of preferment to another, till at length he was on duty under the eye of Breckinridge himself, who complimented him upon his alacrity in bearing dispatches; and this was truly great, as he rode at one time sixty miles in seven hours, and at another, fourteen miles in less than fifty minutes. He also exhibited a guarded zeal for the secession cause. Who would have gone to an officer who was apparently aiding and abetting the rebellion, ably and a.s.siduously, to communicate his Union sentiments? Any who would thus betray themselves could not be sure that they would not be shot in twenty-four hours.

Had Mr. Stevenson been with me in Tupelo, and looked upon those seventy or eighty prisoners who were incarcerated for their adherence to the Union--had he witnessed the daily execution of some of them who preferred death to _volunteering_ to defend a cause which they did not hesitate to denounce at the peril of their lives--had he been with me while in the midst of a host of Union citizens of Mississippi, who at the noon of night had a.s.sembled in the deep glens and on the high hills, for the purpose of devising means to resist the hated conscript law--he would have come to a far different conclusion. I have seen the cavalry go out to arrest Union men. I was at a Mr. William Herron's, in South Carroll, Carrol county, Tennessee, and while there, several companies of cavalry came up from Jackson to destroy the loyal citizens of that vicinity, and they did destroy some of them and much property. They pa.s.sed within two hundred yards of fortifications hastily thrown up to resist them, and would have been fired on had they come within range. Before completing their mission, a messenger came to inform them that Fort Henry was beleagured. They hastened to the fort just in time to take part in the action. After the surrender of the fort, they retreated to Fort Donelson, and were all captured at the reduction of that fort, to the great joy of those Union citizens whom they had driven from their homes, and whose property they had destroyed.

The slaves add greatly to the strength of the rebellion. Slave labour is extensively employed in the military department. They are the sappers and miners, the cooks, the teamsters, the artisans; and there are instances where they are forced to shoulder the musket and go into the ranks. I have seen and conversed with slave soldiers who have fought in every battle from Mana.s.sas to Shiloh.

Many strong secession counties send more soldiers to the rebel army than there are voters in those counties. The slaves who remain at home, labour to raise provisions for the sustenance of the families of the soldiers, and a surplus for the army; hence every white man is available for service in the field. Were this slave labour diverted to some other channel, the result would follow, that a great proportion of the rebel soldiers would be forced to return home to care for their families, or those families must perish. In order to divert this labour, it would be only necessary to encourage the negroes to leave their masters. Wherever the Federal army has advanced in the southwest, the slaves have crowded into their lines by hundreds, and only desisted upon learning, much to their regret, that they would not be received, many of them being tied up and whipped, and then sent southward beyond the limits of the Federal army. Some who had travelled seventy miles upon the underground railroad, to reach the Union army, being asked by their fellow-servants upon their return, how they liked the Yankees, replied that "General Nelson sort o'

hinted that he didn't want us." Upon being urged to be more explicit, and to state more fully what was the nature of the hint which led them to infer that General Nelson did not want them, their spokesman replied: "Well, if we must tell, we must. General Nelson tied us up and gave us fifty apiece, and sent us off, sw'arin' he'd guv us a hundred ef we didn't go right straight back home to our masters. He said this wa'n't no war got up to set the n.i.g.g.e.rs free."

The Kansas Jayhawkers liberate all the slaves with whom they come in contact. I pa.s.sed four regiments of their cavalry last August, on their way to Rienzi, Mississippi. They had about two thousand slaves with them, of every age and s.e.x. Those slaves groomed their horses, drove their wagons, cooked their victuals, and made themselves useful in a variety of ways, leaving every white man free to go into the battle when the hour of contest arrived.

Slavery is a strong prop to the rebellion. Four millions of labourers are able to furnish supplies for eight millions. Subtract that vast resource from the rebellion, add it to the support of the Government, and its stunning effect would be speedily demonstrated in the complete paralysis of the Southern Confederacy. In order to supply the loss of the slaves, half the soldiers in the army must return, or famine would sweep both the army and the families of the soldiers from the face of the earth. One cause of the long continuance of the war is, that the Union army has endeavoured to conciliate the South, rather than crush the rebellion. They have guarded the property of the rebels; they have returned promptly their fugitive slaves; they have put down servile insurrection with an iron hand, and in every possible way have shown clemency instead of severity. But their kindness has been abused, their clemency regarded as evidence of imbecility, and the humane policy of the Government totally misconstrued. Captain John Rainey, of Cambridge, Ohio, while on duty at Corinth, Mississippi, received an application from a notorious secessionist for a guard to protect his premises, which was obtained for him from the colonel, three soldiers being detached for that purpose, who proceeded to the station a.s.signed them. About four o'clock in the afternoon they saw the owner of the premises they were guarding, mount his horse and ride off. Supposing him to be going on some ordinary errand, they took no further notice of it. About nine o'clock, one of the guard who had strayed into the orchard, some three hundred yards from the house, heard an unusual sound, as of cavalry approaching. Concealing himself, he saw, by the bright moonlight, this secessionist ride up with seven or eight rebel cavalrymen, who, seizing his two companions, rode off with them as prisoners. The ingrate who committed this base and perfidious act then went into his house and retired to rest. As speedily as possible the third picket returned to his company, and informed them of the occurrence. Fired with indignation, twenty men volunteered to visit summary punishment upon the perpetrator of this villany. Hastening to his house, they aroused him from his slumbers, and in a few minutes suspended him by the neck between the heavens and the earth. On their return they reported to their companions what they had done, and, through fear of punishment, took every precaution to prevent the act reaching the colonel's ears. It was reported to the colonel, however, whose reply to his informant was, "Served him right!" This policy of guarding rebel property by Union troops must be abandoned, or the war will never terminate. The Union army has been attacked by the rebels when large numbers of the soldiers were absent as guards to protect the plantations and all the interests of secessionists. Such gingerly warfare must end, or the days of the Republic are numbered. Carrying the war into the enemy's country has thus far proved a mere farce. The retreating rebels destroyed tenfold more property than the pursuing Federals. I would not counsel cruelty. I would not advise the unnecessary destruction of life or property, for all wanton destruction tends to weaken rather than to strengthen the cause of those who perpetrate it. Vandalism is everywhere reprehensible. The proper policy I believe to be this: Let the Union army be supplied with provisions, so far as practicable, from the territory occupied.

Let the slaves find protection and employment on their arrival within the Union lines. Despise not their valuable services. Let it be proclaimed that for every Union citizen of the South who is slain for his adherence to the old flag, a rebel prisoner shall be executed, and that the confiscated property of Union men shall be restored, at the cost of rebel sympathizers in the vicinity. Let these necessary measures be carried out, and no well-informed person can doubt that the war will cease before the end of six months. With slavery, the rebels are powerful; without it, they are powerless. With slavery, every white man between the ages of eighteen and sixty is available as a soldier, and vast supplies are procured by servile labour. Abolish slavery, and the army would be immediately reduced one-half, and supplies would be diminished to a destructive extent. Slaves armed and drilled would make effective soldiers. With a perfect knowledge of the country, with an intense desire to liberate themselves and their brethren from bondage, with an ardent hatred of their cruel masters and overseers, (and the majority of them are cruel,) they would render a willing and powerful aid in crushing the great rebellion. After the war is ended, give them as much land as their necessities require, either in New Mexico or Arizona, and they will furnish more sugar, rice, and cotton, than were extorted from them by compulsory labour in the house of bondage.

The desire for freedom on the part of the slaves is universal. It is, according to my observation and full belief, a rule without exception.

These aspirations are constantly increasing as the rigours of slavery are increased, and the slaves are as well prepared for freedom as they would be a hundred years hence. The _Iron Furnace_ of slavery does not tend to the elevation of its victims. There are better methods of elevating a race than by enslaving it. The moral elevation of the slave is no part of the reason why he is held in bondage; but the convenience and profit of the master is the sole end and aim of the peculiar inst.i.tution. All attempts on the part of the slaves to obtain their liberty are resisted by the slaveholders, by the infliction of appalling and barbarous cruelties. Thirty-two negroes were executed at Natchez, Mississippi, recently, because they expressed a determination "to go to Lincoln." Six were hanged in Hoxubee county, and one burned in the streets of Macon. The southern papers state that Hon. Mr. Orr, of South Carolina, attempted to drive his slaves into the interior, to prevent their escaping to the Yankees, and upon their refusal to go, he ordered them to be driven at the point of the bayonet, and in the execution of the order, fifty of them were slain. There are instances in which the slave is greatly attached to his master's family, but his love of liberty is greater than that attachment. It often transcends his love for his own family, which he abandons for its sake, risking his life on the underground railroad, and enduring the rigours of a Canadian winter, that he may enjoy his inalienable rights.

The southwest is already nearly exhausted. The troops which first went into the service were well supplied with clothing, provisions, and money; but the conscripts were poorly clad, and received their wages in Confederate bonds, which have so depreciated, that ten dollars in gold will purchase one hundred dollars of the bonds. Great suffering is the consequence, and desertions are of daily occurrence. While I was in prison at Tupelo, eighty-seven of the Arkansas infantry deserted in a body. One hundred cavalry were sent to arrest them, but they defeated the cavalry in a fair fight, and went on their way rejoicing. Tennesseeans and Kentuckians could not be trusted on picket duty, their proclivity for desertion being notorious. They suffered no opportunity to escape them, and often went off in squads. Many of them being forced into the service, did not consider their involuntary oath binding.

The wheat crop of 1862, in the southwest, was almost totally destroyed by the rust, and the corn crop by the drought. Salt could not be obtained at any cost, and every marketable commodity had reached a fabulous price. Southern merchants feel that they are ruined. At the commencement of the war they had made large purchases in the North, mainly on credit. The rebel Congress pa.s.sed a law that all who were indebted to the North must pay two-thirds of the amount of their indebtedness to the Southern Confederacy. This the merchants did. They then sold their goods, taking cotton and Confederate money in pay. The cotton was destroyed by order of Beauregard, and the Confederate scrip is worthless, and the Federal generals are enforcing the payment of Northern claims. This fourfold loss will beggar every southern merchant subjected to it.

At the commencement of the war, strong drink was abundant, and it was freely used by the soldiers. Drunkenness was fearfully prevalent. This vice increased to such a degree that the army was rapidly becoming demoralized. A large amount of grain was wasted in the manufacture of liquor. At this juncture the rebel government wisely prohibited the manufacture and sale of all that would intoxicate. Soon the wisdom of this measure was apparent. For a time this contraband article was smuggled in, yet it was only in limited quant.i.ties, and at the present time a drunken soldier is a _rara avis_ in the army. At the first promulgation of the law, a cunning countryman perforated a large number of eggs, withdrew the contents, filled the sh.e.l.ls with whiskey, closed them up, and carrying them to the camp at Rienzi, sold them at an exorbitant price. Others resorted to filling coffee-pots with whisky, stopping up the bottom of the spout, filling it with b.u.t.termilk, and if asked by the guards what they had for sale, would pour out some of the milk in the spout, and by this deception gain an entrance to the camp, and supply the soldiers with liquor. But all these tricks were discovered, and since the manufacture, as well as the sale, was prohibited, the supply on hand became exhausted, and drunkenness ceased.

CHAPTER X.

BATTLES OF LEESBURG, BELMONT, AND SHILOH.

Rebel Cruelty to Prisoners--The Fratricide--Grant Defeated--Saved by Gunboats--Buell's Advance--Railroad Disaster--The South Despondent--General Rosecrans--Secession will become Odious even in the South--Poem.

BATTLE OF LEESBURG.

The battle of Leesburg was fought on the 21st of October, 1861. The southern accounts of this battle were so contradictory, that I will not give the various versions. One statement, however, all concur in--that when the Federal troops retreated to the river, after being overpowered by superior numbers, and had thrown down their arms, calling for quarter, no mercy was shown them. Hundreds were bayoneted, or forced into the river and drowned. The rebels clubbed their guns, and dashed out the brains of many while kneeling at their feet and imploring mercy. I saw one ruffian who boasted that he had bayoneted seven Yankee prisoners captured on that occasion.

BATTLE OF BELMONT.

The battle of Belmont was fought on the 7th of November, 1861. I have heard repeatedly from southern officers their version of the events which occurred on that occasion. General McClernand, for the purpose of breaking up the rebel camp at Belmont, attacked it in force at an early hour, and completely routed the enemy, pursuing them to a considerable distance.

Returning, he destroyed completely the camp, but delaying too long, large reinforcements were thrown over the river from Columbus, and the Federals were compelled to retreat precipitately to their boats, not, however, till they had fully accomplished the object of their mission. A scene occurred on this field which exhibits one of the saddest phases of this internecine strife. The incident was related to me by Mr. Tomlin, a lawyer of Jackson, Tennessee, not unknown even in the North, who was personally acquainted with the actors. Colonel Rogers, of an Illinois regiment, led his command into action early in the contest. A Tennessee regiment opposed him with fierceness for some time. At length they began to waver and exhibit symptoms of disorder. At this moment their colonel, who had been unhorsed, mounted a stump, and by an energetic and fervid address, rallied his men.

Again they began to falter, and again his burning words restored order.

Colonel Rogers believing that the safety of himself and regiment depended upon the death of the Tennessee colonel, drew a pistol from his holsters, rode up and deliberately shot him through the brain. The Tennesseeans seeing their colonel fall, fled precipitately. On the return of the Illinois troops, Colonel Rogers, impelled by curiosity, dismounted, and scanning the features of the colonel whom his own hand had slain, recognised his own brother. As the tide of battle had rolled past for the moment, he ordered the corpse to be conveyed to a transport, on which it was brought to Cairo, and thence borne to the stricken parents, who mourned over and buried the remains of their brave but erring child, who had met his fate at his brother's unconsciously fratricidal hand.

BATTLE OF SHILOH.

On April 6th, 1862, the sun rose clear; not a cloud was discernible in the sky; it was truly a lovely Sabbath, even for a southern clime. Early in the morning I took a walk with my little daughter, a child four years of age, in whose prattle I was taking great interest. We had gone about one hundred yards when my child exclaimed, "Pa, we must go back! it's going to rain; don't you hear the thunder?" The sharp and stunning reports I soon recognised to be the sound of cannon on the field of battle. The cannonading continued incessantly during the day. The whole country became intensely excited, and many citizens hastened to the battlefield, the majority bent upon plunder. On Monday the battle still raged with increasing fury. On Sabbath, General Grant had been completely surprised, and would have lost his whole army but for the gunboats in the river.

These gunboats sh.e.l.led the pursuing rebels, checking their advance, and saving the discomfitted Federals. Buell arrived with his division on Sabbath night, and on Monday the rebels were driven at every point during the whole day, with great loss. When I heard the rebel officers state that the gunboats lying in the Tennessee river had checked their pursuit, and had committed great havoc amongst their troops, at the distance of nearly three miles, I supposed that the rebel army had continued the pursuit till they came in sight of the gunners on the boats, who then threw their sh.e.l.ls into their advancing columns, and my mistake was not corrected till I saw the scene of action. A plateau extended from the river, where the gunboats lay, to the hills, a distance of about one-quarter of a mile. The hills rose to a considerable height, and were covered with a large growth, and on their frowning summits the lofty trees seemed to intercept the pa.s.sing clouds. Grant's discomfitted and shattered army had taken refuge on the plateau. Some had even thrown themselves into the river, and swam across. Such was the position of affairs when the gunners threw their sh.e.l.ls over those lofty hills, and beyond them a distance of two miles, into the midst of the rebels, checking their advance, and destroying them by scores. Couriers constantly pa.s.sed to and fro to give information of the position of the enemy. All night long their sh.e.l.ling continued, causing Beauregard to change his camp thrice. Thus,

"Bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there."

On Monday morning Buell's division advanced, and the tide was turned. The rebels were driven from every position, and their loss was fearful; and had pursuit been continued to Corinth, their whole army must have been annihilated. General A. S. Johnson fell about three o'clock on the Sabbath. The tibial artery had been severed--a wound not necessarily fatal; but he remained in the saddle till he fainted from loss of blood, and when borne from his horse by Governor Harris and others, survived but twenty minutes. On Sabbath night Beauregard occupied, for a time, an old Presbyterian church--a rude log edifice. The church was named Shiloh; hence both Beauregard and General Grant, in their dispatches, named the engagement the battle of Shiloh. I was in Rienzi as the wounded pa.s.sed down on the cars to the various hospitals below. They pa.s.sed continually for a month. On the 18th of April I went down to Macon, in Noxubee county.

A large number of wounded were on the train. A lady from the Female Seminary in Aberdeen had been placed under my care. When we reached a point six miles from Crawfordsville, I noticed a young man looking out in an excited manner, and immediately after he jumped out and rolled down an embankment. I was much surprised at his conduct, but soon the crashing of the cars explained the cause. The train had been thrown from the track, and was rushing down an embankment. Jumping from the cars now became general. My lady friend arose, declaring that she also would leap from the car. I caught and held her till the danger was over, and thus prevented perhaps serious injury to her person, as all who jumped from the train were more or less injured. On extricating ourselves from the debris of the cars, an appalling sight met our view. The sick, wounded, dying, and dead, were scattered promiscuously in every direction. Their groans and piercing shrieks were heart-rending. The heavy fragments of the broken cars were thrown upon their mangled limbs, and in many instances this disaster completed what Shiloh had commenced. As we came down, I pa.s.sed through the train amongst the wounded. Some had lost an arm, several an upper lip, as many an under lip. Through the body of one six b.a.l.l.s had pa.s.sed. They were wounded in the feet, the hands, the head, and the body; and some who had not been touched by ball or bullet were paralyzed by their proximity to the exploding sh.e.l.ls. Truly every battle is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood. I remained some time at the destroyed train, aiding in extricating those buried beneath the ruins. The extent of the damage and destruction of life, I never accurately learned. It must, however, have been great. The catastrophe was occasioned by a stick of wood falling from the tender before the wheels of the adjacent car, which, being thrown from the track, precipitated the whole train down the embankment.

For weeks after the battle of Shiloh, little was done by Federals or Confederates. The rebels firmly believed that Corinth could not be taken.

Its evacuation discouraged the people exceedingly. Nothing but disasters had befallen them since the year commenced. Zollikoffer had been slain, and Crittenden defeated, at Fishing Creek. Roanoke Island had been captured. Forts Henry, Donelson, Pulaski, St. Philip, and Jackson had been reduced. Island "No. 10" was taken, and New Orleans had fallen. The b.l.o.o.d.y field of Shiloh had proved disastrous; and now, even Corinth, the boasted Gibraltar of rebeldom, fortified by the "best engineer on the continent,"

and defended by the whole army of the southwest, had been evacuated. What, under these circ.u.mstances, could resist the progress of Halleck to the Gulf? Many saw the cause of these disasters in the fact that the rebel generals had made their attacks upon the Union troops upon the Sabbath; and all history confirms the truth that the army attacking on the Sabbath is almost invariably defeated. Universal gloom and an all-pervading spirit of despondency, brooded over the whole southern people. Had the rebel army been crushed at Corinth, or had Beauregard been vigorously pursued, and forced to fight or surrender, the war in the southwest would have been terminated. General Rosecrans informed me that they could have crushed the rebels at Corinth, and on my asking him why it was not done, he replied: "It would have been done at the cost of many lives on both sides, and it is not our desire to sacrifice life unnecessarily. Let Beauregard go down to the swamps of Mississippi; he can do us no injury. It is not probable that he will ever return to Corinth to attack us, and they must starve out in a section which never produced enough to sustain its own population."

But Beauregard did not remain long in the swamps of Mississippi. He took the flower of his army and hastened on to Richmond, to reinforce General Lee, who immediately gave battle to McClellan, and drove him from the Peninsula. Halleck should never have suffered McClellan to be compelled to fight both Lee's forces and Beauregard's, whilst his own army was merely protecting rebel property and consuming rations. I think General Rosecrans, had he been in chief command, would not have thus acted; and his statement to me was a mere apology for the conduct of his superior, for his policy has ever been vigorous, and the rebels dread him more than any living man. The lamented Lyon also inspired a similar wholesome dread.

I saw much of General Rosecrans. He is a genial, pleasant gentleman. He seems desirous of accomplishing his end by the use of mild means; but if these will not effect the object, the reverse policy is resorted to. The rebels dread, yet respect him. He will do much to oblige a friend. I desired at one time to go with my family beyond the Federal lines. General Rosecrans went in person to General Pope to obtain a pa.s.s; but Pope's orders were that no pa.s.ses should be issued for a specified time. General Rosecrans then asked and obtained permission to send one of his aids with us, who conducted us beyond the pickets, a distance of five miles. This act, the General remarked, was in consideration of the kindness I had shown himself and staff while in Rienzi. The Federal generals committed a great mistake in desiring to overrun the country without destroying the rebel armies. A physician who drives a disease from one limb only to appear in a more aggravated form in another, accomplishes nothing. And when a general permits a hostile army to change its location as a strategic movement, he has accomplished nothing, except giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The rebels estimated their forces at the battle of Shiloh at eighty thousand. Though considerable accessions had been received, yet in consequence of sickness and desertion, their number was about the same at the evacuation of Corinth. They lost about eleven thousand, slain, wounded, and prisoners, in the battle.

War has a tendency to engender great bitterness of feeling between the belligerents. The secessionists hate the northern people, but not with the intensity of hatred which they exercise toward the Union-loving citizens of the South. In South Carolina, in the days of nullification, the nullifiers and Union men were very bitter in their hostility against each other. After the suppression of nullification by General Jackson, the cause being removed, the enmity ceased, and in a short time, the odium attached to nullification became so great, that few would admit that they had been nullifiers. Let the supremacy of the law and the Const.i.tution be enforced, and a few years hence, few, even in the South, will be found willing to admit that they were secessionists. The descendants of the Tories carefully conceal their genealogy; the descendants of the secessionists will do the same. Slavery and secession will perish together; and the cla.s.ses of the South who have been fearfully injured by both these heresies, will be fully compensated for their present distress by the vast blessings which will accrue to themselves and posterity by the abolition of an inst.i.tution which has degraded labour, oppressed the poor white man, opposed progress, r.e.t.a.r.ded the development of the country's resources, taken away the key of knowledge, caused every species of vice to flourish, impoverished the people, enriched a favoured cla.s.s at the expense of the ma.s.ses, caused woes unnumbered to a whole race--in short, has been the prolific parent of fraud, oppression, l.u.s.t, tyranny, murder, and every other crime in the dark catalogue.

"We are living, we are dwelling In a grand and awful time; In an age, on ages telling, To be living is sublime!

Hark! the waking up of nations, Gog and Magog to the fray; Hark! what soundeth--is creation Groaning for its latter day?

Will ye play, then? will ye dally With your music and your wine?

Up! it is Jehovah's rally!