The First Year of the War

Front matter

NOTICE. After this work was announced the publisher received a copy of the Second Edition, with additional and important matter. This Edition is here reprinted. The increased cost necessitates an advance in price. The Second Edition (the First being exhausted) will therefore be $2.00, in Cloth; $1.50, Paper. c^>^^^^^^ SOUTHERN HISTORY OF THE WAR. THE FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR. REPRINTED FROM THE RICHMOND CORRECTED EDITION. NEW YORK: CHAKLES B. RICH AKDSON, 594 & 596 BROADWAY. 1S63. Entered according to Act of ConffHfflSSSfte'fear 1863, ' By CHARLES B. BICHAEDSON, In the Clerk's Office of tbe District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. BENNIE, SHEA 4 LINDSAY, stekeotypers and Electrottpers, R. (JRAIQHEAD, I-rihter, 81, 83 (J- 85 Centre-Street, N. Y. 81, 83, and 85 Ceotre-street, New York.

THE FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR. BY EDWARD A. POLLARD, AUTHOR OF "BLACK DIAMONDS," ETC COEBECTED AND IMPEOVF.D EDITION. RICHMOND: WEST & JOHNSTON, 145 MAIN STREET. 1862. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1862, By WEST & JOHNSTON, In the Clerk's Office ofthe District Court ofthe Confederate States for the Eastern District of Virginia. OHAS. H. WYNNE, PRINTER.

Preface

. It is scarcely necessary to state that the following pages have been written without any thing like literary ambition. They have been composed by the author, with but little aid, within the short period of three months, and in the midst of exacting occupations in the editorial department of a daily newspaper. These explanations are not made to disarm criticism. Their purpose is only to define the claim which the author's work makes at the bar of public criticism. He does not pretend to have written a brilliant or elaborate book ; but he does claim to have composed, without seeking after literary ornaments, or taxiDg his style with intellectual refinements, a compact, faithful, and independent popular narrative of the events of the first year of the existing war. The author acknowledges some assistance from Mr. B. M. DeWitt, in the collection of materials.

He has but little other of obligation to express, except to his publishers, Messrs. West & Johnston, of Richmond, to whom he would make a public acknowledgment for their generous encouragement, liberality, and enterprising endeavors, which have enabled him, under many inauspicious circumstances, to complete his work. Richmond, Virginia, July, 1862.

PREFACE.

TO SECOND EDITION. The author, in presenting to the public a second edition of his work, has taken occasion to correct soj-»€*errors, tq/make material annotations, and to add a supplementary chapter, tracjiig the progress and develori ments of the war from the concluding^point of the first year of its his tory to the period of publication. He desires to make his grateful acknowledgments for the favor with which his work has already been received by the public ; for numerous kind notices of the newspaper press, and for words of encouragement spoken by many whom he is proud to call his friends. The success with which his work has so far met, being unprecedented, he believes, in the literary enterprises of the South, has surprised and gratified the author. He protests, however, that, under any circumstances, he has but little literary vanity to be inflated ; that he composed his work in haste, with neither time nor purpose to polish his style, or to captivate the taste of readers, and that he is content to ascribe the success of his book to the fact that, though rudely written and imperfect in many particulars, it is, as he believes, honest, fair, independent, and outspoken.

While such has been the general character of the reception given his book by the public, the author is sensible -that some attacks have been made upon it from malicious and disappointed sources, and that the honest record which he has attempted of the truth of history, has been encountered by many unjust, ignorant, and contemptible criticisms, emanating mainly from favorites of the government and literary slatterns in the Departments. The author has made no attempt to conciliate either these creatures or their masters ; he is not in the habit of toady ing to great men, and courting such public whores as " official" newspapers; he is under no obligations to any man living to flatter him, to tell lies, or to abate any thing from the honest convictions of his mind. He proposed to write an independent history of some of the events of the existing war.

He is willing for his work to be judged by the strict est rule of truth ; he asks no favors for it, in point of accuracy ; he only protests against a rule of criticism, which exalts paid panegyric above honest truth, and reduces the level of the historian to that of the scrubs and scribblers who write poetry and puffs in newspaper corners.

PREFACE.

. The flatterer's idea of the history of the present war would no doubt be to plaster the government with praises ; to hide all the faults of the people of the Southwhile gilding their virtues ; to make, for a consideration, " especial mention" of all the small trash in the army ; to coat his puffs thickly with fine writing and tremendous adjectives ; and to place over the whole painted and gilded mass of falsehood, the figure of Mr. Jefferson Davis, as the second Daniel come to judgment. The au thor has no ambition to gratify in these literary elegances. In the eyes of the historian the person of Mr. Jefferson Davis is no more sacred than that of the meanest agent in human affairs. The au thor has not been disposed to insult the dignity of office by coarse speeches ; he recognizes a certain propriety of style even in attacking the grossest public abuses ; but, while he has avoided indecency and heat of language, and has, on the other hand, not attempted the elegance and elevation of the literary artist, he trusts that he has given his opin ions of the government and public persons with the decent but fearless and uncompromising freedom of the conscientious historian.

He is cer tain that he has given these opinions without prejudice against the Ad ministration in this war. The danger is, in such a contest as we are waging, that we will be too favorably and generously disposed towards the government, rather than prejudiced against it — that we will be blind to its faults, rather than eager and exacting in their exposure. The author is aware thatthe views expressed in this work of the autoc racy of President Davis, and the extraordinary absorption in himself of all the offices of the government, have been resented with much temper by critics in some of the newspapers. He would ask these persons who are so anxious to vindicate the character of Mr. Davis in this respect, for a single instance in the history of the war, where the Cabinet has inter posed any views of its own, addressed any counsel to the government, or been any thing more than a collection of dummies.

In all our experience hitherto of republican government, we hear of views of the Cabinet and the counsel of this or that member. In this war these common observations are lacking ; the Cabinet is dumb or absolutely servile ; we have never heard a syllable from it on a single question of national importance, and the voice of the President alone decides the conduct of the war, distributes the patronage of the government, and forces into practice the constitutional fiction of himself being the commander-in-chief of our armies. These facts are notorious in the streets of Richmond. The Cabinet of President Davis has really no constitutional existence. The Cabinet has many objects to serve in our system of government. It was designed as a check to Executive power; it was intended to cull and collect the wisdom of the country in the management of public as- PEEFACE. 3 fairs ; it shares the qualities of a popular system of representation with the conservatism and virtues of aristocracy ; it constitutes the highest and gravest council in our form of government.

Certainly not one of these constitutional offices has been fulfilled by the Cabinet of President Davis, and history is forced to confess that the harmony of our govern ment has been deranged by striking from it an important, valuable, and essential part. The author is sensible that another ignorant rule of criticism besides that of the professional political flatterer, has been unjustly applied to his work. He is informed that there are persons so childish and contempt ibly ignorant as to have decried his work on the ground that it has ex posed abuses in our administration, and faults in our people, which will be a gratification and comfort to the enemy. The objection is simply absurd and contemptible. Throwing out of consideration the interest of truth, it is surely much better, even on the narrow ground of expediency, to expose abuses, and to let the enemy have what pleasure and comfort he can from them, than to permit them, unnoticed and uncorrected, to sap the strength of our country, and publish their conclusion to the world in the ultimate ruin of our cause.

There are ignoramuses in the Southern Confederacy who think it necessary in this war that all the books and newspapers in the country should publish every thing in the South in couleur de rose ; drunken patriots, cowards in epaulets, crippled toadies, and men living on the charity of Jefferson Davis, trained to damn all newspapers and publications in the South for pointing out abuses in places of authority, for the sage reason that knowledge of these abuses will comfort the enemy and tickle the ears of the Yankees. These creatures would have a history written which would conceal all the shortcomings of our administration, and represent that our army was perfect in discipline, and immaculate in morals ; that our people were feeding on milk and honey ; that our generalship was without fault, and that Jefferson Davis was the most perfect and admirable man since the days of Moses — all for the purpose of wearing a false mask to the enemy.

They would betray our cause while hoodwinking the enemy ; they would make a virtue of falsehood ; they would destroy the independence of all published thought in the country. The author spits upon the criticisms of such creatures. So much the author has thought it necessary to say with reference to two classes of critics, who have attacked not only his book, but every form of free and independent thought in the country. With reference to the public, confident as the author is of the rectitude of their decision, he is content to submit his work to their judgment, without importuning their favor.

PREFACE.

. Finally, the author begs to make, without temper and in tbe fewest words, a plain and summary vindication of the character and objects of his work. Every candid mind must be sensible of the futility of attempting a high order of historical composition in the treatment of recent and in complete events; but it does not follow that the contemporary annal, the popular narrative, and other inferior degrees of history, can have no value and interest, because they cannot compete in accuracy with the future retrospect of events. The vulgar notion of history is, that it is a record intended for posterity. The author contends that history has an office to perform in the present, and that one of the greatest values of contemporary annals is to vindicate in good time to the world the fame and reputation of nations.

With this object constantly in view, the author has composed this work. He will accomplish his object and be rewarded with a complete satisfaction, if his unpretending book shall have the effect of promoting more extensive inquiries; enlightening the present; vindicating the principles of a great contest to the contemporary world ; and putting be fore the living generation, in a convenient form of literature, and at au early and opportune time, the name and deeds of our people. Richmond, September, 1862. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Delusive Ideas of the Union. — Administration of John Adams. — The " Strict Constructionists." — The "State Eights" Men in the North. — The Missouri Eestriction. — General Jackson and the Nullification Question. — The Compromise Measures of 1850. — History of the Anti-Slavery Party. — The " Pinckney Eesolutions." — The Twenty first Rule. — The Abolitionists in the Presidential Canvass of 1852. — The Kansas- Nebraska Bill. — The Eise and Growth of the Republican Party. — The Election of President Buchanan. — The Kansas Controversy. — "Lecompton" and " Anti-Lecomp ton." — Eesults of the Kansas Controversy. — The John Brown Eaid. — " Helper's Book." — Demoralization of the Northern Democratic Party. — The Faction of Stephen A. Douglas. — The Alabama Resolutions. — The Political Platforms of 1860. — Election of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. — Analysis of the Vote. — Political Condition ofthe North.— Secession of South Carolina. — Events in Charleston Harbor. — Disagreements in Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet. — The Secession Movement in Progress. — Peace Measures in Congress. — The Crittenden Resolutions. — The Peace Congress.— Policy of the Border Slave States. — Organization of the Confederate States Govern ment. — President Buchanan. — Incoming of the Administration of Abraham Lincoln. —Strength ofthe Eevolution Pace 11 CHAPTER H. Mr. Lincoln's Journey to Washington. — Ceremonies of the Inauguration. — The Inaugural Speech of President Lincoln. — The Spirit of the New Administration. — Its Fi nancial Condition. — Embassy from the Southern Confederacy. — Perfidious Treatment of the Southern Commissioners. — Preparations for War. — The Military Bills of the Confederate Congress. — General Beauregard. — Fortifications of Charleston Harbor. — Naval Preparations of the Federal Government. — Attempted Reinforcement of Fort Sumter. — Perfidy of the Federal Government. — Excitement in Charleston.— Reduction of Fort Sumter by the Confederate Forces.— How the News was received in Washington. — Lincoln's Calculation. — His Proclamation of War.— The " Eeaction" in the North. — Displays of Eancor towards the South.— Northern Democrats.— Replies of Southern Governors to Lincoln's Requisition for Troops.— Spirit of the South.— Secession of Virginia.— Maryland. — The Baltimore Riot. — Patriotic Example of Missouri.— Lincoln's Proclamation blockading the Southern Ports.— General Lee.— The Federals evacuate Harper's Ferry.— Burning of the Navy Yard at Norfolk.— The Second Secessionary Movement.— Spirit of Patriotic Devotion in the South.— Supply of Arms in the South.— The Federal Government and the State of Maryland.— The Pros pect Page41 CONTENTS, CHAPTER IH.

Confidence of the North.— Characteristic Boasts.—" Crushing out the Rebellion."— Volunteering in the Northern Cities.— The New York "Iuvincibles." — Misrepresenta tions ofthe Government at Washington.— Mr. Seward's Letter to the French Govern ment.—Another Call for Federal Volunteers.— Opening Movements ofthe Campaign. —The Federal Occupation of Alexandria.— Death of Col. Ellsworth.— Fortress Mon roe.—The Battle or Bethel.— Results of this Battle.— Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. — The Upper Potomac. — Evacuation and Destruction of Harper's Ferry. — The Move ments in the Upper Portion of the Valley of Virginia. — Northwestern Virginia.— The Battle of Rich Motjntain.— Carrock's Ford.— The Retreat of the Confederates. — General McClellan.— Meeting of the Federal Congress.— Mr. Lincoln's Message. — Kentucky. — Western Virginia.— Large Requisitions for Men and Money by the Fed eral Government.— Its Financial Condition.— Financial Measures of the Southern Confederacy.— Contrast between the Ideas of the Eival Governments. — Conserva tism of the Southern Revolution. — Despotic Excesses of the Government at Washington Page 70

CHAPTER IV.

The "Grand Army" ofthe North.— General McDowell.— The Affair of Bull Run.— An Artillery Duel.— The Battle of Manassas. — " On to Richmond." — Scenery ofthe Battle-field. — Crises in the Battle. — Devoted Courage of the Confederates. — The Rout. — How the News was received in Washington. — How it was received in the South. — General Bee. — Colonel Bartow. — The Great Error. — General Johnston's Excuses for not advancing on Washington. — Incidents of the Manassas Battle Page 95

CHAPTER V.

Results of the Manassas Battle in the North.— General Scott. — McClellan, " the Young Napoleon."— Energy ofthe Federal Government.— The Bank Loan. — Events in the West.— The Missouri Campaign.— Governor Jackson's Proclamation.— Sterling Price.— The Affair of Booneville. — Organization ofthe Missouri forces, — The Battle of Caethage.— General McCulloch. — The Battle of Oak Hill.— Death of General Lyon. — The Confederate Troops leave Missouri. — Operations in Northern Missouri. General Harris. — General Price's march towards the Missouri. — The Affair at Dry wood Creek. — The Battle of Lexington. — The Jayhawkers. — The Victory of " the Fire Hundred." — General Price's Achievements. — His Retreat, and the necessity for it. — Operations of General Jeff. Thompson in Southeastern Missouri. — The Affair of Fredericktown. — General Price's passage ofthe Usage River. — Secession of Missouri from the Federal Union. — Fremont superseded. — The Federal forces in Missouri de moralized. — General Price at Springfield. — Review of his Campaign. Sketch of General Price.— Coldness ofthe Government towards him Page 124

CHAPTER VI.

The Campaign in Western Virginia.— General Wise's Command.— Political Influ ences in Western Virginia.— The Affair of Scary Creek.— General Wise's Retreat to Lewisburg.— General Floyd's Brigade.— The Affair at Cross Lanes.— Movements on the Gauley.— The Affair of Carnifax Ferry.— Disagreement between Generals Floyd CONTENTS. 7 and Wise.— The Tyrees.— A Patriotic Woman.— Movements in Northwestern Vir ginia.—General Lee.— The Enemy intrenched on Cheat Mountain.— General Rose crans.—Failure of General Lee's Plan of Attack.— He removes to the Kanawha Re gion.—The Opportunity of a Decisive Battle lost. — Retreat of Rosecrans. — General H. R. Jackson's Affair on the Greenbrier. — The Approach of Winter.— The Campaign in Western Virginia abandoned.— The Affair on the Alleghany.— General Floyd at Cotton Hill. — His masterly Retreat. — Review ofthe Campaign in Western Virginia. — Some of its Incidents. — Its Failure and unfortunate Results. — Other Movements in Virginia. — The Potomac Line. — The Battle of Leesburg.— Overweening Confidence of the Sooth Page 159

CHAPTER VII.

The Position and Policy of Kentucky in the War. — Kentucky Chivalry. — Reminiscences of the " Dark and Bloody Ground." — Protection of the Northwest by Ken tucky. — How the Debt of Gratitude has been repaid. — A Glance at the Hartford Convention. — The Gubernatorial Canvass of 1859 in Kentucky. — Division of Parties. — Other Causes for the Disloyalty of Kentucky. — The " Pro-Slavery and Union" Resolu tions. — The " State Guard." — General Buckner. — The Pretext of " Neutrality," and what it meant. — The Kentucky Refugees. — A Reign of Terror. — Judge Monroe in Nashville. — General Breckinridge. — Occupation of Columbus by General Polk. — The Neutrality of Kentucky first broken by the North. — General Buckner at Bowling Green. — Camp " Dick Robinson." — The " Home Guard." — The Occupation of Colum bus by the Confederates explained. — Cumberland Gap. — General Zollicoffer's Procla mation. — The Affair of Barboursville. — "The Wild-Cat Stampede." — The Virginia and Kentucky Border. — The Affair of Piketon. — Suffering of our Troops at Pound Gap. — The "Union Party" in East Tennessee. — Keelan, the Hero of Strawberry Plains. — The Situation on the Waters of the Ohio and Tennessee. —The Battle of Belmont. — Weakness of our Forces in Kentucky. — General Albert Sidney Johnston. — Inadequacy of his Forces at Bowling Green. — Neglect and Indifference of the Con federate Authorities. — A Crisis imminent. — Admission of Kentucky into the Southern Confederacy Page 183 CHAPTER Vin.

Prospects of European Interference. — The selfish Calculations of England. — Effects ofthe Blockade on the South. — Arrest by Capt. Wilkes ofthe Southern Commission ers. The Indignation of England. — Surrender of the Commissioners by the Lincoln Government. — Mr. Seward's Letter. — Review of Affairs at the Close of the Year 1861. Apathy and Improvidence of the Southern Government. — Superiority of the North on the Water.— The Hatteras Expedition.— The Port Royal Expedition.— The Southern Privateers.— Their Failure.— Errors of Southern Statesmanship.— "King Cotton."— Episodes of the War.— The Affair of Santa Rosa Island.— The Affair of Dranesville.— Political Measures of the South.— A weak and halting Policy.— The Spirit ofthe War in the North.— Administration of the Civil Polity of the Southern Army.— The Quarter-master's Department.— Hygiene of the Camps.— Ravages of the Southern Army by Disease.— The Devotion of the Women of the South .... Page 206

CHAPTER IX.

Prospects of the Year 1862.— The Lines of the Potomac.— General Jackson's Expe dition to Winchester.— The Battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky.— General Crit- CONTENTS. tenden.— Death of General Zollicoffer.— Sufferings of Crittenden's Army on the Retreat.— Comparative Unimportance of the Disaster.— The Battle of Roanoke Island.— Importance of the Island to the South.— Death of Captain Wise.— Causes of the Disaster to the South.— Investigation in Congress. — Censure of the Government. — Interviews of General Wise with Mr. Benjamin, the Secretary of War. — Mr. Benjamin censured by Congress, but retained in the Cabinet. — His Promotion by President Davis.— Condition of the Popular Sentiment Page 220

CHAPTER X.

The Situation in Tennessee and Kentucky. — The affair at Woodsonville. — Death of Colonel Terry.— The Strength and Material of the Federal Force in Kentucky. — Con dition of the Defences on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. — The Confederate Congress and the Secretary of the Navy. — The Fall of Fort Henry. — Fort Donelson threatened.— The Army of General A. S. Johnston.— His Interview with General Beauregard. — Insensibility of the Confederate Government to the Exigency. — General Johnston's Plan of Action. — Battle of Fort Donelson. — Carnage and Scenery of the Battle-field. — The Council of the Southern Commanders. — Agreement to surrender. — Escape of Generals Floyd and Pillow. — The Fall of Fort Donelson develops the Crisis in the West. — The Evacuation of Nashville. — The Panic. — Extraordinary Scenes. — Experience of the Enemy in Nashville. — The Adventures of Captain John Morgan. — General JohnBton at Murfreesboro. — Organization of a New Line of Defence South of Nashville. — The Defence of Memphis and the Mississippi. — Island No. 10. — Serious Character of the Disaster at Donelson. — Generals Floyd and Pillow " re lieved from Command." — General Johnston's Testimony in favor of these Officers. — President Davis's Punctilio. — A sharp Contrast. — Negotiation for the Exchange of Prisoners. — A Lesson of Yankee Perfidy. — Mr. Benjamin's Release of Yankee Hostages Page 235

CHAPTER XI.

Organization of the permanent Government of the South. — The Policy of England. — Declaration of Earl Russell. — Onset of the Northern Forces. — President Davis's Message to Congress.— The Addition of New States and Territories to the Southern Confederacy.— Our Indian Allies. — The Financial Condition, North and South. — De ceitful Prospects of Peace.— Effect of the Disasters to the South. — Action of Congress. — The Conscript Bill. — Provisions vs. Cotton. — Barbarous Warfare of the North. — The Anti-slavery Sentiment. — How it was unmasked in the War. — Emancipation Measures in the Federal Congress.— Spirit ofthe Southern People. — The Administration of Jef ferson Davis. — His Cabinet. — The Defensive Policy. — The Naval Engagement in Hampton Roads.— Iron-clad Vessels.— What the Southern Government might have done. — The Narrative of General Price's Campaign resumed. — His Retreat into Ar kansas.—The Battle of Elk Horn.— Criticism of the Result.— Death of General Mc- Culloch.— The Battle of Valverde.— The Foothold of the Confederates in New Mexico.— Change of the Plan of Campaign in Virginia. -Abandonment of the Potomac Line by the Confederates. — The Battle of Kernstown. — Colonel Turner Ashby.

Appearance of McClellan's Army on the Peninsula.— Firmness of General Magruder. — The New Situation ofthe War in Virginia. — Recurrence of Disasters to the South on the Water. — The Capture of Newbern.— Fall of Fort Pulaski and Fort Macon. Common Sense vs. " West Point." Page CONTENTS. 9

CHAPTER XII.

The Campaign in the Mississippi Valley.— Bombardment of Island No. 10.— The Scenes, Incidents, and Results.— Fruits of the Northern Victory.— Movements of the Federals on the Tennessee River.— The Battle of Shiloh.— A " Lost Opportunity." —Death of General Albert Sidney Johnston.— Comparison between the Battles of Shiloh and Manassas.— The Federal Expeditions into North Alabama.— Withdrawal of the Confederate Forces from the Trans-Mississippi District.— General Price and his Command.— The Fall of New Orleans.— The Flag Imbroglio.— Major-general Butler.— Causes of the Disaster.— Its Results and Consequences.— The Fate of the Valley of the Mississippi Page 291 CHAPTER XHI. CONCLUSION.

Prospects of the War. — The Extremity of the South. — Lights and Shadows of the Campaign in Virginia. — Jackson's Campaign in the Valley. — The Policy of Concen tration. — Sketch of the Battles around Richmond. — Effect of McClellan's Defeat upon the North. — President Davis's congratulatory Order. — The War as a great Money Job. — Note : Gen. Washington's Opinion of the Northern People. — Statement of the Northern Finances. — Yankee Venom. — Gen. Pope's Military Orders. — Summary of the War Legislation of the Northern Congress. — Retaliation on the part of the Confederacy. — The Cartel. — Prospects of European Interference. — English Statesmanship. — Progress of the War in the West. — The Defence of Vicksburg.— Morgan's great Raid. — The Tennessee-Virginia Frontier.— A Glance at the Confederate Congress. — Mr. Foote and the Cabinet. — The Campaign in Virginia again. — Rapid Movements and famous March of the Southern Troops. — The signal Victory of the Thirtieth of August on the Plains of Manassas. — Reflections on the War. — Some of its Character istics. — A Review of its Military Results. — Three Moral Benefits of the War. — Pros pects and Promises of the Future Page 822 ' CHAFER I. Delusive Ideas of the Union.— Administration of John Adams.— The "Strict Con structionists."—The " State Rights" Men in the North.— The Missouri Restriction.— General Jackson and tbe Nullification Question. — The Compromise Measures of 1850. —History of the Anti-Slavery Party.— The "Pinckney Resolutions."— The Twenty first Rule.— The Abolitionists in the Presidential Canvass of 1852.— The Kansas- Nebraska Bill.— The Rise and Growth of the Republican Party.— The Election of President Buchanan. — The Kansas Controversy. — " Lecompton" and " Anti-Lecomp ton." — Results of the Kansas Controversy. — The John Brown Raid.—" Helper's Book." — Demoralization of the Northern Democratic Party. — The Faction of Stephen A. Douglas. — The Alabama Resolutions. — The Political Platforms of 1860. — Election of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. — Analysis of the Vote. — Political Condition of the North. — Secession of South Carolina. — Events in Charleston Harbor. —Disagreements in Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet. — The Secession Movement in Progress. — Peace Measures in Congress. — The Crittenden Resolutions. — The Peace Congress.— Policy of the Border Slave States. — Organization of the Confederate States Govern ment. — President Buchanan. — Incoming of the Administration of Abraham Lincoln. — Strength of the Revolution.

The American people of the present generation were born in the belief that the Union of the States was destined to be perpetual. A few minds rose superior to this natal delusion ; the early history of the Union itself was not without premoni tions of decay and weakness ; and yet it may be said that the belief in its permanency was, in the early part of the present generation, a popular and obstinate delusion, that embraced the masses of the country. The foundations of this delusion had been deeply laid in the early history of the country, and had been sustained by a false, but ingenious prejudice. It was busily represented, especially by demagogues in the North, that the "Union was the fruit of the Revolution of 1776, and had been purchased by the blood of our forefathers. No fallacy could have been more erroneous in fact, more insidious in its display, or more effective in addressing the passions of the multitude.

The Revolution achieved our national independence, and the Union had no connection with it other than consequence in point of time. It was founded, as any other civil institution, in the exigencies and necessities of a certain condition of society, and had no other claim to popular reverence and attachment than what might be found in its own virtues. But it was not only the captivating fallacy that the Union was hallowed by the blood of a revolution, and this false in spiration of reverence for it, that gave the popular idea of its power and permanency. Its political character was misunder stood by a large portion of the American people. The idea predominated in the North, and found toleration in the South, that the Revolution of '76, instead of securing the independence of thirteen States, had resulted in the establishment of a grand consolidated government to be under the absolute con trol of a numerical majority.

The doctrine was successfully inculcated ; it had some plausibility, and brought to its support an array of revolutionary names ; but it was, nevertheless, in direct opposition to the terms of the Constitution — the bond of the Union — which defined the rights of the States and the limited powers of the General Government. The first President from the North, John Adams, asserted and essayed to put in practice the supremacy of the "Na tional'' power over the States and the citizens thereof. He was sustained in his attempted usurpations by all the New England States and by a powerful public sentiment in each of the Middle States. The "strict constructionists" of the Con stitution were not slow in raising the standard of opposition against a pernicious error. "With numbers and the most con spicuous talents in the country they soon effected the organization of a party ; and, under the leadership of Jefferson and Madison, they rallied their forces and succeeded in overthrow ing the Yankee Administration, but only after a tremendous struggle.