LESSONS OF THE WAR. 533 than any other race on earth. In the War of Secession there was not a State, not a county, probably not a town, between the great lakes and the Gulf, that was not represented on fields where all that men could do with powder and steel was done, and valor was exhibited at its highest pitch. It was a common saying in the Army of the Potomac that courage was the cheapest thing there; and it might have been said of all the other armies as well. There is not the slightest necessity for lauding American bravery or impressing it upon American youth. But there is the gravest necessity for teaching them respect for law, and reverence for human life, and regard for the rights of their fellow-men, and all that is significant in the history of our country- lest their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood. I would be glad to convince my compatriots that it is not enough to think they are right, but they are bound to know they are right, before they rush into any experiments that are to cost the lives of men and the tears of orphans, in their own land or in any other. I would warn them to beware of provincial conceit. I would have them comprehend that one may fight bravely, and still be a perjured felon; that one may die humbly, and still be a patriot whom his country cannot afford to lose; that as might does not make right, so neither do rags and bare feet necessarily argue a noble cause. I would teach them that it is criminal either to hide the truth or to refuse assent to that which they see must follow logically from ascertained 534 LESSONS OF THE WAR. truth. I would show them that a political lie is as despicable as a personal lie, whether uttered in an editorial, or a platform, or a president's message, or a colored cartoon, or a disingenuous ballot; and that political chicanery, when long persisted in, is liable to settle its shameful account in a stoppage of civilization and a spilling of life. These are simple lessons, yet they are not taught in a day, and some whom we call educated life without mastering them at all. go through It may be useful to learn from one war how to conduct another; but it is infinitely better to learn how to avert another. I am doubly anxious to impress this consideration upon my readers, because history seems to show us that armed conflicts have a tendency to come in pairs, with an interval of a few years, and because I think I see, in certain circumstances now existing within our beloved Republic, the elements of a second civil No American citizen should lightly repeat that the result is worth all it cost, unless he has considered how heavy was the cost, and is doing his utmost to perpetuate the result. To strive to forget the great war, for the sake of sentimental politics, is to cast away our dearest experience and invite, in some troubled future, the destruction we so hardly escaped in the past. There can be remembrance without animosity, but there can not be oblivion without peril. war. INDEX. Acton, Thomas C., in the New York riots, 300 Alabama, the, her career, 400- 403; Sec. Seward's argument Albemarle, the, iron-clad ram, de- Aldie, cavalry fight at, 252 Allen's Farm, action at, 166 Anderson, Gen. Robert, at Forts Andersonville prison, 343-346; Arbitration, international, 412 Arkansas Post, capture of, 277 Asboth, Gen. A. S., at Pea Ridge, Atlanta campaign, the, 418-437; battles around the city, 433, Atlanta, the, iron-clad, captured, Augur, Gen. C. C., in defence of Averell, Gen. William W., at Averysboro, battle of, 509 Bailey, Lieut-Col. Joseph, his Red River dam, 417 Bailey, Capt. Theodorus, at New Baker, Col. Edward D., men- Baldwin, Judge, quoted, 334 Barlow, C. J., quoted, 339 INDEX. Barnes, Gen. James, wounded, 267 Barron, Samuel, at Hatteras, 93 Barton, Clara, hospital services, Bartow, Col., killed, 68 Beecher, Henry Ward, addresses Bell, John, nominated for Presi- Bellows, Henry W., organizes the Benning, Gen., wounded, 375 the Blackburn's Ford, action at, 62 Blair, Rev. Mr., murdered, 336 Blenker, Gen. Louis, 152 Blount's Farm, action at, 320 Bradford, Major W. F., murdered, Bradley, Amy, hospital services, Bragg, Gen. Braxton, at Shiloh, Brandy Station, cavalry engage- Breckinridge, Gen. John C., nomi- nated for President, 35; enters Breckinridge, Robert J., opposes Bright, John, friendly to the Bristoe Station, action at, 179 Brough, John, elected Governor Brown, B. Gratz, service in Mis- Brown, John, his raid, 15 the INDEX. Buckhannon, action at, 84 Buell, Gen. Don Carlos, at Shi- Buford, Gen. John, given com- Bull Run, first battle of, 59, et Bull Run, 60; at South Moun- a regiment to Washington, 54; Byrnes, Col., killed, 396 Calcium lights employed, 315 Calhoun, John C., quoted, 10; 537 Campbell, John A., in the Hamp- Carpenter, Daniel, in the New Carr, Col. Eugene A., at Pea Carrick's Ford, action at, 84 Cass, Gen. Lewis, comes out for Causes of the war, I Cavalry service, turning-point in, Cavander, M., murdered, 336 12 Chalmers, Gen., at Fort Pillow, Chambersburg, Pa., reached by Champion's Hill, battle of, 285 Charles City Cross Roads, battle Charleston, S. C., siege of, 307- Chatfield, Col., killed, 314 |