CHAP. LXIII.] Strength of the ginning of the war. MR. CAMERON'S REPORT. 577 adds Jomini, 'had he thought proper to inaugurate a vast system of defense, would have raised it to 700,000 men by the 1st of September.' At the commencement of this rebellion, inaugurated by the attack upon army at the be- Fort Sumter, the entire military force at the disposal of this government was 16,0061 regulars, principally employed in the West to hold in check marauding Indians. In April, 75,000 volunteers were called upon to enlist for three months' service, and responded with such alacrity that 77,875 were immediately obtained. Under the authority of the act of Congress of July 22d, 1861, the states were asked to furnish 500,000 volunteers to serve for three years or during the war, and by the act approved the 29th of the same month the addition of 25,000 men to the regular army of the United States was authorized. The result is that we have now an army of upward of 600,000 men. If we add to this the number of the discharged three-months' volunteers, the aggregate force furnished to the government since April last exceeds 700,000 men. ... In view of the alacrity and enthu siasm that have been displayed, I do not hesitate to express the belief that no combination of events can arise in which this country will not be able not only to protect itself, but, contrary to its policy, which is peace with all the world, to enter upon aggressive operations against any power which may intermeddle with our domestic af fairs." Rapid development of the military power. in Europe. This report of the Secretary of War made a profound Effect of this report sensation in Europe. Already the unexpected military strength of the republic was a subject of solicitude in the English Parliament, and it was evident that any interference in American affairs would have to be conducted in a very guarded manner. 578 War report of 1862. effect: Strength of the MR. STANTON'S REPORT. [SECT. XIII. Mr. Stanton, as Secretary of War, made a report, December 1st, 1862, to the following He stated that the armies acting under the authority of the United States in those departments that had been the scene of military operations were, during the past year (775,336), seven hundred and seventyarmy at that date. five thousand three hundred and thirty-six officers and privates, fully armed and equipped. Since the date of the returns this number had been increased to over eight hundred thousand men. He adds: "When the quotas are filled up, the force will number a million of men, and the estimates for next year are based upon that number. cesses gained. "From a survey of the whole field of operations, it is apparent that, whatever disasters our arms may have suf fered at particular points, a great advance has nevertheless been made since the commencement of the war. When it began the enemy were in possession of Norfolk and every part of the Southern coast. They held the Mississippi from Cairo to New Orleans. Now the blockGreat military suc- aded ports of Charleston and Mobile alone remain to them on the sea-board, and New Orleans and Memphis have been wrested from them. Their possession of Vicksburg obstructs the Mississippi, but it is to them of no commercial use. Their strongholds on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers have been captured. General Andrew Johnson, as Military Governor of Tennessee, holds Nashville. The enemy have been driven from Kentucky, West Tennessee, Missouri, part of Arkansas, are fleeing before Grant in Mississippi, and all their hopes in Maryland are cut off. In commercial, political, and strategical points of view, more success has attended the Union cause than was ever witnessed upon so large a theatre in the same brief period CHAP. LXIII.] WAR REPORT FOR 1862. against so formidable an enemy. Disloyal practices in the North. 579 . A chief hope of those who set the rebellion on foot was for aid and comfort from disloyal sympathizers in the Northern States, whose efforts were relied upon to divide and distract the people of the North, and prevent them from putting forth their whole strength to preserve the national existence. The call for volunteers and a draft of the militia afforded an occasion for disloyal persons to accomplish their evil purposes by discouraging enlistments, and encouraging opposition to the war and the draft of soldiers to carry it on. "Anxiety was felt in some states at the probable sucMeasures for their cess of these disloyal practices, and the govsuppression. ernment was urged to adopt some measures of protection by temporary restraint of those engaged in these hostile acts. To that end provost-marshals were appointed in some of the states, upon the nomination of their governors, to act under the direction of the state executive, and the writ of habeas corpus was suspended by your (the President's) order. By the order of the department, arrests were forbidden unless authorized by the state executive or by the judge advocate. Some instances of unauthorized arrests have occurred, but when brought to the notice of the department the parties have been immediately discharged. By a recent order, all persons arrested for discouraging enlistments, or for disloyal practices in states where the quotas of volunteers or militia are filled up, have been released. Other persons arrested by military commanders, and sent from departments where their presence was deemed dangerous to the public safety, have been discharged upon parole to be of good behavior, and do no act of hostility against the gov ernment of the United States. While military arrests of disloyal persons form the subject of complaint in some states, the discharge of such persons is complained of in 580 MAGNITUDE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. [SECT. XIII. other states. It has been the aim of the department to avoid any encroachment upon individual rights as far as might be consistent with public safety and the preservation of the government. But reflecting minds will per ceive that no greater encouragement can be given to the enemy, no more dangerous act of hostility can be perpetrated in this war, than efforts to prevent recruiting and enlistments for the armies upon whose strength national existence depends. The expectations of the rebel leaders and their sympathizers in loyal states that the call for volunteers would not be answered, and that the draft could not be enforced, have failed, and nothing is left but to clamor at the means by which their hopes were frustrated, and to strive to disarm the government in future, if in the chances of war another occasion for increasing the military force should arise. Magnitude of the military opera tions. "The successful movement of the various expeditions by sea, the transportation of such large bodies of troops and their regular supply at distant points of the coast, afford striking proofs of the greatness of the military resources of the nation. These movements have been upon a scale of great magnitude. The collection of the vast armies which have been raised, and their transport to the field of operations in so brief a period, would not have been possible but for the extent of our system of steam transport by railroad, river, and sea. "In general terms, it may be stated that the issues by the Ordnance Department include 1926 field and siege, and 1206 fortification cannon; 7294 gun-carriages, caissons, mortar-beds, traveling forges, and battery wagons; 1,276,686 small-arms; 987,291 sets of equipments and accoutrements, and 213,991,127 rounds of ammunition for artillery and small-arms, still leaving large supplies of ordnance stores at the arsenals and dépôts. CHAP. LXIII.] THE SLAVE ELEMENT. 581 "It appears from the report of the acting paymaster general that during the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1862, the sum of $5,550,039 was paid to the regu lar troops; that $91,116,610 were paid to volunteers; and that $38,597,819 have been paid since the 30th of June, 1862. the army. From this report "it is seen that a force has been Great strength of placed by the people of the United States at the command of the government to maintain its authority more mighty in all the elements of warfare than was ever before arrayed under one banner. How shall that force be employed? To smite the enemy on every hand, to attack his armies and strong-holds, to occupy his ports, clear the great rivers of the West from his obstructions, and pause not until he is subdued, is our great duty. Above all, it is our duty to disdain Necessity of using no legitimate aid that may save the lives of the slave element. our gallant soldiers, diminish their labors, provide for their wants, and lessen the burdens of our people. No aphorism is more universally received than that 'the sole object of a just war is to make the enemy feel the evils of his injustice, and by his sufferings amend his ways; he must therefore be attacked in the most accessible quarter.' The power of the rebels rests upon their peculiar system of labor, which keeps laborers on their plantations to support owners who are devoting their time and strength to destroy our armies and destroy our government. Whenever that system is in hostility to the government, it is, in my opinion, the duty of those conducting the war to strike down the system, and turn against the rebels the productive power that supports the insurrection. Rightly organized in the recoverAdvantages of its ed territory, the laborers of the rebel states military use. will not only aid in holding fortified positions, but their labor will, as in India, free the white sol |