Battle echoes : or, Lessons from the war

Front matter

THE LIBRARY

OF

LOS ANGELES

Preface

IING the dread struggle through which the na-

UF

tion has passed, no conviction was stronger or more universal, than that of God's interference in human affairs. So clear were the revealings of His hand, that even the undevout were compelled to bow before them with awe and reverence. There is ground for the fear, that this impression is becoming weaker with the return of Peace ; and that unbelief and indifference are creeping back to their old seats in the public conscience. Sad, indeed, will it be, if the great teachings, which the Almighty has inscribed, in letters of blood and fire, on the most pregnant page of our history, shall fade away, and leave us as unwise and as unregardful as in the former days. In the hope of contributing,

550224

VI PREFACE.

however slightly, to the prevention of such a result, the writer has been induced to send forth the present volume. The thoughts which it contains were pondered, and, for the most part, written out, while the startling events of the war were still in progress ; or while every heart was yet thrilling with the wonders of its end. Change of circumstances may have lessened their interest, but not their importance ; for the truths to which they relate, are eternal, and, therefore, never inopportune. And, perhaps, at this calmer hour, the momentous questions which the conflict has decided, may be more intelligently and effectively considered, than when that conflict was at its height. To Him, who has so signally come forth for the vindication of His own honor, this feeble attempt to trace the way of His outgoing is humbly committed.

OUR DAY AND ITS WORK , . 282

BATTLE ECHOES.

Chapter I. The War For The Union A Righteous War

"AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WENT UP AND WEPT BEFORE THE LORD UNTIL EVEN, AND ASKED COUNSEL OF THE LORD, SAYING,

SHALL I GO UP AGAIN TO BATTLE AGAINST THE CHILDREN OF BEN- JAMIN SIY BROTHER? AND THE LORD SAID, GO UP AGAINST HIM." — Judges xx. 23.

E geologist, in exploring the earth's crust, finds numerous petrified remains of animals and plants, which are supposed to have lived and perished ages before the creation of man, or of any of the present forms of organized life. These fossilized bodies, though belonging to races long since extinct, have yet so many points of analogy with races now existing on the earth, as to furnish abundant evidence that they were produced by the same Divine Hand, and are included in the same general system. Hence they have for the student of natural science a living interest, and shed an important light on the field of his inquiries.

JO BATTLE ECHOES.

Very similar is the relation which the narratives of the Bible sustain to the facts of to-day. The men and the events to. which they referred have passed away ; but the great principles which they embodied still remain, and are as fresh, as full of meaning, as fruitful in instruction, at the present hour, as in the periods when they were first unfolded to the world.

From the historic treasures of the Old Testament we have extracted a very interesting fragment, relating to an ancient civil war which occurred among the tribes of Israel, soon after their establishment in the inheritance of Canaan. The particular occasion out of which it grew, is to us of little practical moment. Nevertheless, the general features of the transaction are marked with characteristics in which we have a vital concern. The motives which governed it, the spirit in which it was conducted, the recognition of Jehovah's agency, the feeling of dependence upon him, by which every movement was pervaded and inspired, are fraught with lessons ever timely, ever emphatic ; and which reaching down, in their deathless significance, through all the centuries, are as pertinent to our own circumstances as to those of the hosts of Israel, three thousand years ago.

The inhabitants of Gibeah, one of the principal cities of Benjamin, had committed a fearful crime.

A Levite, journeying with his wife from Bethlehem to his home in Mount Ephraim, was compelled to sojourn among them for a night. A band of ruffians assaulted the house in which he lodged, subjected the man to gross abuse, and murdered the woman under circumstances of most revolting atrocity. Intelligence of this shocking act was sent by the husband to all the tribes, accompanied by an appeal for help and vengeance. From city to city, from hamlet to hamlet, from the wooded slopes of Lebanon to the burning plains of Kadesh, from the fountains of the Jordan to " the way of the sea," sped the summons, telling of the outrage which had polluted the land, and calling for its punishment. The whole nation was stirred by the tidings as by an electric shock. All sprung to arms. The crime was so utterly without provocation; it struck so vitally at the foundations of public order and of public safety, that every heart felt that it must be wiped out in blood, and every hand grasped its weapon to aid in the work of retribution. The conviction was universal, that thus only could the national character be vindicated, and even the national existence maintained.

With this view, the forces of Israel assembled at Mizpoh, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword — all binding themselves, by a solemn vow, that they would not look upon their homes again until they had meted out to the offenders the just penalty of their wickedness. That the innocent, however, might not be involved in the same doom with the guilty, they despatched messengers to all the towns of Benjamin, rehearsing the iniquity which had been committed, and demanding the surrender of the criminals. Instead of complying with this reasonable requirement, the entire people of the tribe arrayed themselves on the side of the murderers, and determined to resist the collected might of the land. Thus, by indorsing the infamy, they made it their own, and inaugurated rebellion in its defence.

In this terrible emergency, the army of Israel presented itself before the Lord, and, with many prayers and bitter weeping, asked counsel from Him, saying, " Shall I go up to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother ? " This it was in the impending conflict that made them pause — the fact that it was to be waged, not against a foreign enemy, but against one of the Chosen Tribes, against men of the same blood with themselves, united in the same national bond, and sharers in the same heritage of Divine care and bounty. And well might they pause, and seek guidance from a Wisdom higher than their own ; for civil war is in itself a calamity so dreadful ; there is something so unnatural and shocking in the deadly strife of brother with brother, that nothing short of God's command, either communicated by express revelation, or clearly inferred from His providence, could justify its inception. So they felt — and therefore supplicated the Almighty One, who had led them in the difficulties and perils of former years, to make known to them His will in the new and doubtful crisis that was now upon them. The answer to their petition came back from the Throne of Infinite Power, in the brief but decisive words, " Go up against him." Deplorable as was the shedding of kindred blood ; frightful as would be the struggle between warring legions of the same race ; it were better than that crimes subversive of all law and government should pass unrebuked ; better, aye, a thousand fold better, intestine war with all its horrors, than that profligacy and treason should trample down decency and purity and justice, and render the very name of Israel an abomination in the earth.

The striking similarity between the position occupied by the men of Israel, and that in which the loyal States of America are now placed, must be apparent to all. They stood on the bloody edge of battle with their brethren and fellow-countrymen; and so do we. They were summoned to disregard fraternal ties in the upholding of constituted authority ; and so are we. A portion of the commonwealths composing this great Confederacy, have cast off their allegiance to the General Government ; have risen up in rebellion against it ; and are plotting the overthrow of everything which, as a nation, we hold dear and sacred. The loyal States are sending forth their thousands and hundreds of thousands of brave, patriotic men, to put down this rebellion, and defend from the attack of traitors the glorious institutions which our fathers founded in suffering and blood. Those whom I now address are among the number.1 You have relinquished the joys of home, and the peaceful pursuits of civil life, that you may go to the rescue of your country in this the hour of its sternest need. You go to meet, not the invading legions of a foreign power, but your kindred and late compatriots, transformed by treason into ruthless and implacable foes. It is an awful mission — an exigency in its greatness and in its solemnity unparalleled in the annals of the world. Every just-minded and God-fearing man amongst you cannot but ask, " Is it right ? Is it in harmony with the holy purposes of Him who is sovereign over all?" This thought is, doubtless, agitating many a heart now present ; and from many a lip the question is ready to break forth, " Shall I go up against the children of Benjamin my brother ? "

To this inquiry we cannot expect an answer as direct as that which was given to the men of Israel. 1 10th Regiment, Mass. VoLs.

They lived in the days when Heaven held miraculous converse with earth. To those that feared and sought Hun, God then spoke, in audible accents, as a man with his friend. He made known His will to His ancient people in distinct announcements suited to each separate occasion. Such announcements were given, sometimes in voice-like responses, sometunes in dreams and visions, but more commonly by the symbolic utterances of the Urim and Thummim. This consisted of the twelve precious stones set in the breastplate of the high priest ; and the ordinance of Jehovah was, that when in momentous emergencies His will was consulted, an affirmative reply should be known by the increased brilliancy of the jewels, and a negative by their fading into dimness. It was probably by this method that the answer of God was received in the instance before us.

No such supernatural medium of ascertaining the Divine pleasure is intrusted to our hands. But we are in possession of other means, by which the same end may be secured in a manner not less convincing. Our Urim and Thummim is the Providence of God. His will is declared to us by the out-flashing of events on the bosom of Time, which is God's priest. If, then, we would be assured that, in going forth to battle against our rebellious brethren, we go in accordance with God's designs, and at

God's bidding, we must look on the breast of the stupendous movement which is passing before us, note the features that are prominent in it, and study well their indications. In these we shall find the clearest proofs of the righteousness of our cause, and ample grounds for confidence in the Divine approval.

One feature which stands out conspicuously in this Rebellion, is its utter want of any just pretext. We deny not the right of a people, in certain circumstances, to sever the bonds of constituted rule, and modify or change their political relations. Though governments are ordained by God, and as such are entitled to obedience, yet when, through corruption or tyranny, they become dangerous to the welfare of the subject, they no longer fulfil the end of their appointment, and may lawfully be subverted. But no such justification can be set up on the part of the States which have seceded from the Union , and are now levelling war against it. The Federal Government has never oppressed them. It has never favored other sections to their disadvantage. It has not robbed them of a single immunity, or imposed on them, in one solitary instance, unequal burdens. It has fulfilled to them faithfully, and even jealously, all the provisions and compromises of the Constitution. And not only have they enjoyed every guaranty secured to them by the national compact, but they have been, from the very beginning of the Government, the object of its special patronage and protection. In the revolutionary period, the chains of colonial vassalage were riven from the older of these States by Northern troops. A majority of their people were tories then, as their descendants are traitors now ; and left to their own resources, not one of them, with the exception perhaps of Virginia, would ever have achieved independence.

The territory occupied by the newer of these States was purchased from foreign powers by the General Government, and donated to them. Their very homes were the gift of the Union. In their feebleness and infancy, they were fostered by its care, and defended by its armies ; and in the case of some of them, it has expended for their benefit an amount exceeding a million of dollars for each white inhabitant they now contain. During three fourths of the period since the Government was organized, the administration of public affairs has been in the hands of the South. Her's have been the chief commands in the army and navy ; her's the richest posts in the civil service ; her's the most potential voice in the Senate and on the Bench. To her interests, whether real or imagined, all other interests have been compelled to bow. Though more and more in a minority at each decade, she has managed by insolence and 2 threats always to dominate, and to have her own way in everything. No, no ! the Government has not wronged the South. At no point, and in no relation, has she suffered damage from its control. On the contrary, the Union has been to its Southern members the source of all their social and political blessings. It has given them respectability abroad, peace and security at home. Instead of assailing, it has upheld even their " peculiar institution," — abhorrent as it is to the heart and conscience of the free North, — guarding them from the dangers with which it teems, and interposing the shield of a great nation's influence between them and the moral execration of the world. Thus has the Union been to its rebel children a fond and indulgent mother, lenient to their faults, yielding to their caprices, watchful for their happiness, doing them good — good in their infancy, good in then* manhood, good ever — nothing but good.

Why, then, do these children rise up against their mother, trample her authority under their feet, and plot to expel her from the estate which she has superintended so well — aye, to wound her to the death ? Why? Because, and only because, their Northern brethren, believing slavery to be a sin and a curse, will say so, and will not consent to its extension over the whole domain. Because, and only because, these same Northern brethren, living in the atmosphere of freedom, work, delve the soil, ply manufactures, foster commerce, build cities, grow rich and powerful ; while the Southern branches of the family, nurtured by slavery in idleness and pride, are constantly sinking into greater relative inferiority. This, the consequence of their own vicious system of labor, they ascribe to the Union, and on that account seek its destruction. Insane with envy and ambition, they have conspired to overturn the Government, because they see that the days of theii ascendency in it are passing away.

Suppose that on the green bank of some crystal lake a community of beavers have established themselves, and on a barren crag near by a colony ol rattlesnakes. The sunshine falls alike upon both, without partiality, and without regard to their different natures and habits. The beavers, intelligent, industrious, construct houses, provide food, lay up stores for future needs, rejoice in warm furs, and are happy. The snakes, coiled up in their den, or basking lazily at its mouth, filling their poison bags, and sharpening their poison teeth, live in holes, go naked, and eat dirt. Suppose, further, that the snakes, becoming conscious that the beavers were outstripping them in enterprise, and wealth, and comfort, should attribute the fact to the sun, and accuse it of pouring its beams more profusely on their rivals than on themselves; and, for that reason, should make war on the blessed luminary, and attempt to tear it from the sky? Would you not say that the wisdom of the serpent had forsaken them?

So false, so fatuous, are the charges of the disaffected States against the justice and good faith of the Union. The annals of human wickedness can show no instance of crime more black, more unprovoked, more utterly without the shadow of excuse, than this attempt of the Southern oligarchs to destroy the freest and most beneficent government which the world ever saw. And see we not in this fact a manifest token that God is with us in the struggle? When, in lowly prostration before his throne, we ask, Shall we go up to battle against the conspirators, do we not read, in the very atrociousness of their purpose, the clear and emphatic answer, MGo up against them"? To believe otherwise, would involve the monstrous supposition that the All-Holy could be indifferent to the Right, and sanction and sustain the Wrong.

Another feature of this conflict, giving forth the same reply, may be seen in the great results which it involves. It is not a war based on any of the ordinary questions which disturb the peace of nations — not a war for increase of territory, for political supremacy, for carrying out some diplomatic punctilio — not a war of ambition or of aggrandizement. It is strictly, on the part of the North, a war of self-defence — a grapple for existence. All the momentous interests of Nationality, Freedom, Christianity, and human progress are committed to it. We must roll back these swelling waves of treason, or see the grand old ship of the Government, which heroes launched and sages have piloted, go down, with all its precious freight, into the depths forever.

It has often been asked, Why not recognize the independence of the revolted States, and allow them to try their experiment of a Slave-Confederacy ? To this it is a sufficient answer to say, that, were the lawfulness of secession once acknowledged, the pillars of the Constitution would be undermined, and the whole fabric of the Government must, sooner or later, topple to the ground. With such a right expressly conceded, or constructively established by precedent, the Constitution would not be worth the parchment on which it is written. The claim that a State may withdraw from the Union at pleasure involves a solecism so monstrous, that only a brain drunk with the maddening cup of slavery, could have given birth to it. It was not by the States that the Union was formed, but by the people themselves, acting in their sovereign capacity. And they made, not a Confederation, but a Union — not a League of Independent Sovereignties, but a Nation.

The General Government, as they established it, was not merely the organ of the States, but the central and controlling Power, invested with eminent domain, and crowned with paramount authority. And not only is this supremacy of the Union provided for in the Constitution — it arises necessarily from the very nature of representative government. Without it, such a government would be impossible. On any other basis, we might have an Alliance of States, but no national Oneness, no recognized Sovereignty, that could insure us stability and repose at home, or command the respect of the world.

In the contest, therefore, to which we are summoned, our very life as a nation is at stake. The continuance of whatever is valuable to us — of everything that has made us what we are — Depends on the preservation of the Union, and the vindication of its sacredness. Our civil institutions, our political importance, our material prosperity, our religious privileges, the glorious memories of the past, the more glorious hopes of the future — all, all are embarked in the issue. Let the champions of secession succeed in their destructive project, and our coming history will present the spectacle of a once mighty people arrested in its noble career, disintegrated, and split into separate communities, each pursuing its dark way alone, or all rushing and clash-r ing together in wild anarchy, like those nebulous bodies that roam aimlessly over the sky, and which astronomers suppose to be the fragments of shivered planets. Or we shall exhibit the yet sadder spectacle of a universal Slave-Despotism — its throne a cotton bale, its ensigns whips and chains, its trophies a muzzled press, a dumb pulpit, and the groans of chattelized humanity. Where now shines, high up in mid-heaven, the broad, bright sun of American Nationality, the light and the joy of the world, countless meteors will shoot, and glare, and go out in darkness ; or a vast, bloody comet, sweeping them all from the firmament, will blaze along its baleful track, scattering astonishment and affright among the constellations, and dropping mildew over the earth. Woe ! woe ! to the day in which that sun shall set I Woe ! woe ! to us and to our children — woe ! to Civilization — woe ! woe ! to the fettered and struggling nations — if sacrilegious hands shall tear down the pillar of our greatness, put out its beacon-fires, and trail its banner in the dust. When Babylon and Eome fell, the world shook with the concussion. Yet its face retains now no scar to mark where they struck. They were despotisms; and their overthrow could inflict no permanent evil on mankind. But if the American Union falls, the last hope of self-government for our race will fall with it. The grave of this Republic will be the grave of Freedom for the world.

When such issues are depending, can we doubt on which side the help of the Omnipotent stands pledged ? Can we fear that He will permit this noble country, the favored child of His Providence, whose planting was superintended by His agency, whose onward course has been directed by His hand, and with whose future weal the highest interests of His Kingdom are identified, to be rent in pieces by rebellion, and trodden under foot by the most foul and ruthless oligarchy that ever cursed the earth — an oligarchy whose Gospel is human bondage, and whose mission is to spread barbarism and chains over the fairest regions of the globe ? It were blasphemy to think so. There is not an attribute of God that can ally itself with the propagandists of slavery, or rejoice in their success! And here again, in the stupendous consequences involved, we read the answer, "Go up against them."

The glorious uprising of the North in defence of the Union is another indication eloquent with a like response. Scarcely four months have passed since the gloom of doubt and indecision hung, like a deathpall, over all the Free States. The new Administration, which had then just entered upon office, found every channel of Governmental action deranged and obstructed by the weakness or the treachery of its predecessor. Treason battened in all

THE WAR FOR THE UNIOX A RIGHTEOUS WAR. 25

the Departments — raved in the halls of Congress — pervaded the Army and Navy — corrupted every branch of the Public Service. Treason had plundered the nation's treasury, stolen its munitions of war, seized its forts and arsenals, and rendered unavailable its scanty forces on land and sea, by scattering them to remote and widely separated points. State after State was declaring its connection with the Union dissolved. Fortress after fortress was passing into the power of the insurgents. And all this while, a dead torpor, a hideous enchantment, benumbed and stupefied the loyal States. The North was thought to be divided ; the Government seemed paralyzed ; its friends confounded ; its enemies alone awake and jubilant.

At length, the spell was broken. As the first roll of the thunder lays open the cloud and sets free the pent-up shower ; so the first gun at Sumter dissolved the deathlike trance of Northern patriotism. Then outgushed the Northern heart. Then uprose the Northern might, to avenge the dishonored flag. Strife and dissension were abashed into silence. Parties, long hostile, vied with each other in their zeal to sustain the Government. All voices were merged in the one cry, " The Union must and shall be preserved." As the fiery cross sped over the hills of Scotland, summoning the clans to battle ; so from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley, from sea-coast and river, and lake and prairie, over all the vast North, Avent that cry, growing sterner and louder as it went, till it swelled into the shout of twenty millions rallying for the Union. Treasure flowed forth like water. Men volunteered in myriads. An army was extemporized in a day. On, on to the rescue of the Capitol — on, on to the succor of the Government — on, on, to hurl back the traitorous assailants — rushed the shouting legions. And on still they go, regiment after regiment, with steady tramp, and in quick succession, burning to meet the rebels, and drive treason from our shores. The North, which yesterday was palsied by apathy and rent by faction, is erect, energetic, united to-day. The Government, that appeared imbecile, tottering, forsaken, is now firm, strong, buttressed by unnumbered hearts and hands. And the flag, " the dear old flag," that a little while ago was torn by rebel cannon and insulted by rebel scoffs, now waves over three hundred thousand men in arms for their country; while behind them stand countless thousands more, eager to engage in the same glorious service.

It is a marvellous transformation — the most magnificent outburst of patriotism which human history has ever seen. What has done it? Not politics, not the Press, not the Pulpit, not eloquent harangues

THE WAR FOE THE UNION A EIGHTEOUS WAR. 27

stirring up the passions of the masses. It is the power of God. His finger has touched the hearts of the people, as the rod of Moses struck the rock in the desert. The same energy, which at the creation woke the dead universe into life, has breathed over the stagnant, slumberous depths of popular feeling, and the nation has been born again. It is a resurrection. Love of country, love of liberty, self-sacrificing devotion to the public safety, have come up from the graves in which Mammon and political partisanship had buried them ; and the redeemed land, shaking off the sluggish dreams of a long peace, confronts the rebellion to-day with more than the heroism of Revolutionary times. In view of such a fact — in view of this wonderful upspringing of patriotic unanimity and zeal, which only God's interposition could have produced — can we fail to discern His will ? The regeneration of the North is the great central jewel which Jehovah has set on the bosom of the age ; and in its lustre, which now fills the earth, inspiring the nations with admiration, carrying hope to the oppressed, and flashing dismay on the bandit hordes leagued to stay the march of Freedom, how legibly, how impressively, may we read the command, " Go up against them ! "

That God's hand is in this war, and that His voice calls us to it, is evident from its harmony with the general movements of His providence throughout the world. The scene so sublimely pictured by prophecy — the great Battle of Armageddon — is now enacting on our globe. It is a conflict of principles, in which the antagonistic powers of Light and Darkness have met in final encounter to decide the destiny of our race. On one side are ranged Tyranny, Barbarism, Irreligion — on the other, Civilization, Liberty, Christianity. Wherever and however the combat may be waged, it is the same — the struggle of the Many to break from the domination of the Few, and assert the dignity of their being ; and the effort of the Few to retain their hold upon the victims who have so long worn their fetters. We may call it the war for Independence in Italy, the war for Nationality in Hungary, and the war with Slavery in America. But the battle is one, the cause one, the impulse one. There are volcanic currents underlying the seas, and producing eruptions and earthquakes at the same moment in continents separated by a thousand leagues of ocean. So there are moral currents that reach and influence, at the same tune, populations widely distant from each other. We failed in our Atlantic telegraph. But God has not failed in His ; and along its wires He sends the electric spark of His power to all the nations. It is that spark which has kindled the holy flame now burning within us and around us. The contest with Slavery is a part of the grand warfare which He is carrying on for the moral redemption of the world. It is His purpose that men of all ranks and climes shall finally be free, enlightened, and happy. To the fulfilment of this benevolent design Slavery is one of the chief hindrances. In its nature and in its tendencies, it stands in direct opposition to the humanizing spirit and precepts of the Gospel. Its overthrow is, therefore, essential to the ultimate triumphs of Truth and Salvation. Hence, the connection of our present struggle with the unfoldings of Providence, and the cause of Humanity in all lands, is readily seen. That struggle, though nominally carried on against rebellion, is really against the Slave-power itself, in whose behalf the rebellion has been undertaken. Slavery is our true antagonist. And when we marshal our forces to resist its aggressions, and cripple the despots who would extend its evils over the whole continent, and perpetuate them through all time, do we not see that we work in perfect concert with that Divine Agency, which is everywhere active, "overturning, overturning, till He shall come whose right it is"? Here, then, we again have the answer, "Go up against them."