Page images
PDF
EPUB

MUST

-Memphis Appeal, July 30.

Doc. 1111.

nothing else than the gratification of their | MUST FIGHT! I REPEAT IT, SIRS, WE
malignity, or the palliation of their disgrace FIGHT!"
now so manifest to the eyes of foreign powers.
The vast preparations that are now being
made, and the great caution taken in the ef-
ficient organization of the army for the future,
with the unceremonious dismissal of incompe-
tents, are but a few of the indications to fore-
shadow their increased, yet fruitless determi-
nation.

It may be that the half million of men voted Mr. Lincoln by his obsequious parliament may not all be obtained, and certain it is that the five hundred millions of money will come in very tardily, and at great sacrifices on the part of the Government, if at all. But it is quite as evident that men and money will be secured for the prosecution of this atrocious war, even though the one be obtained by drafting, and the other by direct taxation and forced loans. We may expect, and must be prepared to encounter, an army of at least four hundred thousand men, who will be gathered at various points upon the borders of our Confederacy, seeking to force an entrance with the bayonet in less than ninety days. Our preparations for the vast campaign, unequalled by any of modern times, and scarcely overshadowed by Bonaparte's into Russia, must be commensurate with its magnitude and the importance of confronting it with successful resistance.

THE DARK DAY.

BY EDWARD

EVERETT.

THERE probably never was a military disaster, of which the importance was more unduly magnified, than that of the 21st of July in front of Manassas. After a severe and protracted encounter between the two armies, which, it is admitted, was about to terminate in a drawn battle, if not even in favor of the United States, the Confederates were largely reinforced, a panic arose on the part of the teamsters and civilians following in the train of our forces, the alarm gradually spread to the troops, a retreat commenced, and ended in a general rout. The losses of the enemy in the mean time were equal to our own; he was unable to pursue our flying regiments, and they reoccupied, unmolested, the positions from which (from political reasons, and against the judgment of the Commander-in-chief) the premature advance was made. A month has since elapsed; the army of the United States has passed through the terrible ordeal of the return of the three months men, which began simultaneously with the disaster of the 21st of The population of the eleven States, compris- July, and in spite of the disheartening effect of ing the Confederate Government, according to that disaster and the confidence it was so well the census of 1860, is just 5,581,649. A levy calculated to inspire on the part of the Confedof ten per cent. of this amount, which has al-erates, our military position is stronger now ways been regarded as not only practicable but extremely light for military purposes, would give us an army of five hundred and fifty-eight thousand men. Leaving out the disaffected portions of the country, where recruiting might prove somewhat difficult, we may safely calculate on raising 400,000 men with the greatest facility, for it is estimated that we have more than 200,000 armed and equipped in the field. The Confederate Government should at once exercise its energies in this work. While we can readily whip the enemy in an open field and fair fight, where they do not outnumber us in a proportion greater than three to two, we must not place ourselves in such a condition as to render the result the least doubtful. To make assurance doubly sure, it is our bounden duty to meet the invaders man for man, and by the adoption of a vigorous and aggressive policy make this war a brief one. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, is the maxim that should guide us through this revolution.

But, to resume: The point which we most desire to impress upon the minds of the people is the necessity of being prepared yet for the worst. No delusive hope need be entertained for a solitary moment that a peace has been conquered by the result at Manassas. It is only the entering wedge to such a consummation. We may still with propriety advise with Patrick Henry, when he eloquently exclaimed, "WE

than it was before the inauspicious event.

Had this occurred in a campaign in Europe, where it is not the custom to cloud the outskirts of an advancing army with a host of curious non-combatants, even if the military retreat had taken place at all, (which without the civilians' panic might not have happened,) the account given of the day would probably have been that which Mr. Russell, while ignorant of the disaster behind, gave to the affrighted fugitives whom he encountered toward its close: "Oh, it's a drawn battle. The troops are reoccupying the position from which they started in the morning." Unhappily the next night's mails were loaded with accounts, not of course intentionally exaggerated, but written under the influence of the same panic which had indefinitely aggravated, if it did not cause, the disaster. From the necessity of the case, the civilians being in the rear of the forces engaged, the disorderly retreat, and finally the panic rout of the forces was all of which they could have been the eye-witnesses, and in their accounts, accordingly, these disastrous events occupy the chief place, to the exclusion of the military operations of the day. These operations extended over a space of several miles, and the commanding officers themselves were unable for some days to make a full and accurate report of them.

During my residence in London, I had sev

eral very interesting conversations with the Duke of Wellington on the subject of the battle of Waterloo. One of them took place in the ball-room at Devonshire House, as we stood watching the dancers. He informed me that he had lately received a letter from a person about to write an account of the great battle, asking some information as to its details. "I answered him," said the Duke, "that by comparing and studying the almost innumerable printed descriptions of the battle, English, French, and German, a man of sense could acquire a better knowledge of it at the present day than any body, even the commander-inchief, could get at the time, from personal observation. Suppose any one," he added, "should ask us to-morrow morning to describe the position and movements of all the groups of dancers in this small space before us, we should not be able to report any thing beyond what concerned a few of the more prominent personages on the floor. Much less can any individual observation extend to the detailed movements of numerous bodies of men extended over several miles." If such was the modest reserve with which so consummate a chief as Wellington habitually spoke of his personal knowledge of the details of the great event of his life the memorable engagement fought under his own orders-how little can be expected of the most intelligent and active spectator, who necessarily occupies a post of safe observation, who is borne away in a tumultuous retreat, and writes a hurried report by the next mail!

alarm," says Alison, "spread like wildfire from rank to rank; the Guard even was shaken; the victors for a moment doubted the fate of the day. The ranks presented the appearance of a general rout, and yet the whole was occasioned by a single squadron of the Archduke John's cavalry, which had been far advanced toward Wagram, and seeking to regain, as he retired, the road to Presburg, had cut down some French marauders in one of the villages on the east of the field." Such was the effect of panic on the veterans of Napoleon, reposing in his presence after a mighty victory!

Justly does the same historian exclaim, "Experience in every age has demonstrated, that, after the protracted excitement of a great battle, the bravest soldiers become unstrung, and at such a moment the attack of a few fresh troops often produces the most extraordinary results. It is this which has so often chained success to the effort of a reserve in the close of an obstinately disputed day; which made Kellerman's charge at Marengo snatch victory from the grasp of the triumphant Austrians; and the onset of Sir Hussey Vivian's brigade, on the flank of the old guard at Waterloo, overthrow at once the military fabric of the French empire!"

But it will be said, Gen. McDowell's army was not only worsted, it fled in wild disorder from the field. I apprehend most defeated armies do that. The Roman veterans of the army of Pompeius did it at the battle of Pharsalia, and when those of them who had escaped to the neighboring mountain capitulated the There is reason to think that, though the next day, they threw down their arms, and United States forces engaged on the 21st of wept as they begged for their lives. A greater July under almost every conceivable disadvan- than Pompeius was vanquished at Waterloo; tage (raw troops to a great extent, whose term but the French writers all but unanimously of service was expiring, coming under fire for claim that they had the advantage till the arthe first time, after a weary march beneath a rival of the Prussian reinforcement at the close blazing sun, contending on strange ground with of the day. Then, says the English historian fresh opponents sheltered by field-works, that of the battle, "the whole French army became had been in course of construction for weeks)-one mass of inextricable confusion. The chausée nothing happened beyond the average ill-luck was like the scene of an immense shipwreck, of unsuccessful battles. If such battles, instead covered with a vast mass of cannon, caissons, carof being described from carefully returned off-riages, baggage, arms, and articles of every kind. cial returns, were habitually narrated in glow- All the efforts of the guard to stem the flight or ing newspaper reports from the first impres- arrest the progress of the victors were fruitless. sions of civilians who have hovered in the rear They were swept away by the torrent, which of the army, they would, I apprehend, in most streamed in resistless force over the whole cases exhibit similar scenes of panic and dis- plain. Never had such a ront been witnessed order. in modern war. * ** *Before the pursuit ceased, from the inability of the British through absolute exhaustion to continue it, 150 pieces of cannon, 350 caissons, and 6,000 prisoners had been captured; and of the vast French army, that morning so brilliant, not two companies were to be found together. ** The Prussians continued the pursuit during the whole night. Seven times the wearied French, ready to drop down, formed bivouacs; seven times they were roused by the dreadful sound of the Prussian trumpet, and obliged to continue their flight without intermission. Such was the fatigue, that the greatest part of the

After the fate of Wagram was decided by the retreat of the Archduke Charles, and Napoleon had retired to rest for the night, he was roused by an alarm which seemed of the most formidable character. The rear of his victorious army was thrown into confusion. Artillery, baggage-wagons, stragglers, and camp followers fled in disorder toward the Danube. The plain was covered with fugitives, the entrance to the bridges was blocked up with carriages, and many, even after crossing the river, continued their flight, and never halted till they were safe within the walls of Vienna. "The

foot soldiers threw away their arms, and the | cavalry utterly dispersing, rode every man for his life across the country. The dejection was universal and extreme. At Gemappe some resistance was attempted, and a brisk fire of musketry was kept up for a few minutes from behind a barricade of overturned cannon and carriages. But a few shots from the Prussian horse artillery soon dispersed the enemy, and the town was taken amidst loud cheers, and with it Napoleon's travelling carriage, private papers, hat, and sword."

Let me remind the reader that this was the panic flight, not of volunteers, who that day heard the roar of hostile cannon for the first time; nor of young men fresh from their offices, counting-rooms, workshops, and farms; but of veterans seamed with the scars of a hundred battles; some of whom had followed the victorious eagles of the greatest of modern commanders from Cairo to Austerlitz.

another letter, "wrought so powerfully on
some, and worse arguments on others, that the
town is now in the hands of the rebels."
What bubble burst, when the forces of the
Pretender, a few days later, met the royal ar-
my at Preston? the numbers about equal, but
the Highlanders without artillery or cavalry,
while the royalists were provided with both-
troops that had triumphed under George II. at
Dettingen two years before, and had suffered a
defeat scarcely less glorious than a triumph in
the spring of this year, at the memorable bat-
tle of Fontenoy? At four in the morning the
young Pretender roused himself from his pillow
of pease straw, beneath the open canopy of
heaven, and the fight began; and "in less than
five minutes," says the Chevalier de Johnstone,
who was in the battle, "we obtained a com-
plete victory, with a terrible carnage on the
part of the enemy. It was gained with such
rapidity, that in the second line, where I still
was by the side of the Prince, we saw no other
enemy on the field of battle than those who
were lying on the ground, killed and wounded,
though we were not more than fifty paces be-
hind our first line, running always as fast as we
could to overtake them, and near enough never
to lose sight of them." Not a bayonet was
wet, nor is it in one battle out of a hundred.
Artillerymen and dragoons fled at the approach
of the Highlanders, who threw away their
guns-those who had guns-and with terrific
screams rushed on with the claymore. "All
remedies," says Rolt, a royalist, "in every
shape, were exerted by General Cope and his
brother officers, among whom was the Earl of
Loudon, (afterward commander-in-chief in this
country,) to regulate the disorder, but in vain.
Neither the example nor the entreaty of the
officers could animate the dastardly dragoons to
the charge; the other body of dragoons joined
in the flight; they opprobriously fled without
wielding their swords, through the town of
Preston." A portion of the infantry made a
momentary resistance under the brave Colonel
Gardiner, who, after the flight of the dragoons,
dismounted and placed himself at the head of
the foot, "where he gloriously perished." Like
the noble Lyon, the other day, in Missouri, see-
ing a detachment of infantry fighting without a
leader, he exclaimed, "These brave fellows will
be cut to pieces for want of a commander,"
placed himself in their front, cheered them on,
and was soon cut in two with a Highland

The English press, with scarce an exception, finds in the recent panic at Bull Run not merely a theme for the bitterest taunts, but the completion of the proof that "the bubble of democracy has burst," as if a drawn battle, or, if you please, an ignominious rout, suffered by an army of raw volunteers at the commencement of a war, proved any thing one way or another, in reference to the comparative stability of different forms of government. What bubble burst when Charles Edward, on the 25th of July, 1745, landed from “a little bark” of eighteen guns, (furnished by a private gen- | tleman in France,) on the western coast of Scotland, for the conquest of Great Britain, and the overthrow of the House of Brunswick? At the head of a handful of clansmen, of whom half were armed with scythes and bludgeons, the youthful adventurer marched upon the ancient capital of Scotland-an object, one would have thought, to England, in the middle of the last century, not so much of fear as of pity. A monarchy consolidated by ages, whose virago queen two centuries before had brought the royal beauty of Scotland to the block-whose armies, under Marlborough, in the preceding generation, had humbled the pride of Louis XIV. in the dust-quailed before an unbreeched rabble of two thousand men from the Highlands. Panic fear marched in their van; the royal army blundered up to the north, while the Pretender was hurrying southward; the gates of Edinburgh flew open, and on the 17th of September, just three weeks after his land-scythe. Not above 170 of the royal infantry ing, the heir of the Stuarts was seated on the throne of his ancestors in Holyrood House. "That two thousand men," wrote the Marquis of Tweedale from Whitehall to Lord Milton, who had escaped from Edinburgh, "and these the scum of two or three highland gentlemen, the Camerons, and a few tribes of the Macdonalds, should be able in so short a time to make themselves masters of Edinburgh, is an event which, had it not happened, I should never have believed possible." "The PANIC," says

escaped, all the rest being killed or taken prisoners. Twenty captains, twenty-four lieutenants, twenty-nine ensigns, with all the train of artillery, baggage, tents, colors, and military chest, containing £6,000, a valuable acquisition for the Pretender, who, as he had only two captains and thirty men killed, and eighty-three wounded, made a triumphal entry into Edinburgh, carrying all the wounded prisoners, with the colors and baggage, in procession through the city, guarded by the Highlanders, and at

tended by all the bag-pipes of the rebel army, | in London was long remembered as the BLACK playing their favorite air," The king shall enjoy his own again."

As for Sir John Cope, the commander-inchief, who had fought at Dettingen and Fontenoy, he contrived, with the aid of a white rose on his breast, which was the Pretender's badge, to slip through the Highland clans with a few dragoons, and, escaping to Edinburgh, dashed through the streets of the city at full gallop.. They were refused admission, as a pack of cowards, into the castle, by the stout governor, who held it for King George, and "seized with a fresh panic, went off again," says Lord Stanhope, "at full speed towards Coldstream. Even there they did not feel secure, but after a night's rest sought shelter behind the ramparts of Berwick. There they arrived in the most disgraceful disorder, and Sir John Cope was received by his brother officer, Lord Mark Kerr, with the sarcastic compliment, that he believed he was the first general on record who had carried the tidings of his own defeat."

The three generals who commanded the royal forces, while England lay under the paralyzing influence of a six months' panic, were Sir John Cope, Field Marshal Wade, and General Hawley. Their respective shares, in the military operations, were commemorated by the wits of the day (after the danger was past) in the following couplet:

"Cope could not cope, nor Wade wade through the snow, Nor Hawley haul his cannon to the foe."

FRIDAY, and Lord Stanhope sums up the matter
with the opinion that if Charles (whose forces
never exceeded 8,000, and these miserably
armed and clothed, and unprovided with every
thing requisite for success) had marched on-
ward from Derby, he would have gained the
British THRONE! * "It is true," he adds, "I
am far from thinking that he would long have
held it." This may be or may not be, but one
would think that, with the recent memory of
events like these, our brethren beyond the wa-
ter might moderate the scorn with which they
comment on the panic of our volunteers, and
hesitate before they infer from it that "the
bubble of democracy has burst." I say re-
cent memory," for Charles Edward was born
but thirty-six years before Farnham, who was
introduced to the Prince of Wales, in Boston,
last October, and his wife was living in my
time at Florence, where she died in 1824.
BOSTON, August 22.
-New York Ledger.

Doc. 112.

66

PROCLAMATION OF EDWARD CLARK,

GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF TEXAS.

Whereas, There is now a condition of actual hostility between the Government of the "United States " and the "Confederate States of America," and, whereas, the Congress of the latter Government have recognized the existence of war with the United States, except the Ed-States of Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware, and the Territories thereof, except the Territories of Arizona, New Mexico, and the Indian Territories situated between Kansas and the State of Texas; and, whereas, the late intimate commercial and political association of the people of the State of Texas, and their hitherto continuous and extensive intercourse with those with whom Texas, as a member of the Confederate States of America, is now at war, might cause some of the citizens of said State, ignorantly, and others, possibly knowingly, to disregard the relations in which war between said Governments has placed them; and, whereas, I have received information that some of the citizens of Texas have al

What "bubble burst" when Charles ward, flushed with success, his little force now swelled to seven thousand, invaded England, besieged and reduced Carlisle, baffled Field Marshal Wade, and reached Derby on his way to London? "It certainly appears to me," says Lord Stanhope in his interesting monograph on the "Forty-five," "that the prince and his soldiers were right in their reluctance to retreat, and that, had they pursued their progress, they would, in all probability, have succeeded in their object. A loyal writer," (Fielding, the great novelist,)" who was in London | at the time, declares that when the Highlanders, by a most incredible march, got between the Duke of Cumberland's army and the metropolis, they struck a terror into it, scarcely to be credited." An immediate rush was made up-good on the Bank of England, which, it is said, only escaped bankruptcy by paying in sixpences, to gain time. The shops were shut, public business for the most part suspended, and the restoration of the Stuarts, desired by some, but disliked by many more, was yet expected by all as no improbable or distant occurrence. The Duke of Newcastle, the premier, is believed to have hesitated whether he should not embrace the Pretender's cause, and George the Second was said to have packed up his precious effects and sent them to the royal yacht, to be ready for a start. The day on which the approach of the rebels to Derby was made known

ready violated their duty in the premises, as citizens:

Now, therefore, I, Edward Clark, Governor of the State of Texas, do issue this my proclam

*The following description of the army of the Pretend er, on its arrival at Derby, 7,000 strong, with which Lord Stanhope, the first living English historian, thinks if he had marched straight on London he might have driven out King George II. and seized his throne, is from the supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine, a loyal publication, for 1755:

which we have all along had of them, viz. Most of their "They appeared, in general, to answer the description main body-shabby, 1-sy, pitiful-looking fellows, mixed up with old men and boys; dressed in dirty plaids, and as dirty shirts, without breeches, and wore their stockings, made of plaid, not much above half way up their legs, and some without shoes or next to none, and numbers of them so fatigued with their long march that they really com. manded our pity more than our fear."

ation to the people of said State, notifying them that all communication of whatsoever character between them and the citizens of the States and Territories now at war with the "Confederate States of America," must be discontinued; that all contracts heretofore made between them are suspended, and all that may be made during the continuance of said war, and until treaties of reciprocity are established, will be void. It will be regarded as treason against the Confederate States of America, and against the State of Texas, for any citizen of said State to donate, sell, or in any manner exchange any property or commodity whatsoever with any citizen or citizens of either of said States or Territories now at war with said Confederate States, without special permission from proper authority.

It will also be treasonable for any citizen of Texas to pay any debts now owing by him to a citizen or citizens of either of said States or Territories, or to contract with them any new debts or obligation during the continuance of said war.

The statute of limitations will cease to run, and interest will not accrue during the continuance of war.

If there be citizens of the State of Texas owing such debts, the Executive would suggest that they deposit the amount of the same in the Treasury of the State, taking the Treasurer's receipt therefor. The United States are largely indebted to the State of Texas, and it may be determined by the Legislature of said State at Bome future time, that such deposits shall be retained until the United States has satisfied the claims now held by Texas against her.

The Executive deems it proper especially to warn all persons from endeavoring to procure title, in any manner, to property situated in Texas, and now claimed by persons who are citizens of either of said States or Territories now at war with said "Confederate States," or of any of the States or Territories not included among those making war upon said Confederate States, and who have joined her enemies, as the Legislature may hereafter deem it proper to provide for the confiscation of such property.

No act of treason or sedition, whether it shall consist in material aid to our enemies, or in language, written, printed, or spoken, which is intended to comfort or encourage them, will be knowingly permitted within its borders.

The Executive has issued this proclamation, impelled by the belief that public safety required it, and he relies upon the people to sustain him, and to aid him in discovering and bringing to just and lawful punishment any one who may disregard his duty as therein set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, and caused the great seal of the State to be affixed, at the city of Austin, this the eighth day of June, A. D. 1861, and in the year of the independence of Texas the twentysixth, and of the Confederate States the first. By the Governor, EDWARD CLARK,

BIRD HOLLAND, Secretary of State.

Doc. 113.

"CONFEDERATE" RESOLUTIONS.

JULY 22, 1861.

AFTER the despatch from Jeff. Davis relating to the battle of Bull Run was read, the following resolutions were offered by Mr. Memminger, of South Carolina, and unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That we recognize the hand of the Most High God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the glorious victory with which he hath crowned our army at Manassas; and that the people of the Confederate States are invited, by appropriate services on the ensuing Sabbath, to offer up their united thanksgiving and praise for this mighty deliverance.

Resolved, That, deeply deploring the necessity which has washed the soil of our country with the blood of so many of her noblest sons, we offer to their respective families and friends our warmest and most cordial sympathy, assuring them that the sacrifice made will be consecrated in the hearts of our people, and will there enshrine the names of the gallant dead as the champions of free and constitutional liberty.

Resolved, That we approve the prompt and patriotic efforts of the mayor of the city of Richmond to make provision for the wounded; and that a committee of one member from each State be appointed to cooperate in the plan.

Resolved, That Congress do now adjourn.

Doc. 114.

THE CHEROKEES AND THE WAR. THE following is a synopsis of a correspondence which passed between the chief of the Cherokee nation and various rebel authorities and citizens of Arkansas:

Citizens of either of the States or Territories now at war with the Confederate States, will no longer be permitted to visit Texas, during the continuance of such war, without passports issued by authority of the Executive of the Confederate States, or of this State. And if any such persons are now within the limits of Texas, they are hereby warned to depart within twenty days of this date, or they will be arrested as spies; and all citizens of the State of Texas are warned from holding any friendly SIR: It may now be regarded as almost communication whatsoever with such persons.certain that the States having slave property

STATE OF ARKANSAS, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, { LITTLE ROCK, Jan. 29, 1861. } To His Excellency John Ross, Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation :

« PreviousContinue »