Chances of being killed in action and a Possible Reason for such Chances

Battle of Solferino, courtesy of stmaryscollegehull.co.uk

 
From the Covington Journal of May 25, 1861

I wonder how accurate these statistics were, and if any post-Civil War data that might compare to it exists.  With so many deaths during the war caused by disease (not mentioned in this article, but death by diarrhea is every bit as permanent as death by bullet) and so many shots fired, it might be an interesting comparison. (Of course, I note the story title talks about "killed in war' while the article itself mentions "killed in battle" a big difference - darned headline writers.) I also question if it took into account the weight of artillery fire.

CHANCES OF BEING KILLED IN WAR
Marshall Saxe, a high authority in such things, was in the habit of saying that to kill a man in battle, the man's weight in lead must be expended. A French medical and surgical gazette, published at Lyons, says this fact was verified at Solferino, even with the recent great improvement in fire-arms. The Austrians fired eight million four hundred rounds. The loss of the French and Italians was two thousand killed and ten thousand wounded. Each man hit cost seven hundred rounds, and every man killed cost four thousand two hundred rounds. The mean weight of balls is one ounce; thus we find that it is required, on an average, two hundred and seventy-two pounds of lead to kill a man. If any of our friends should get into a military fight, they should feel great comfort in the fact that seven hundred shots may be fired at them before they are hit, and four thousand two hundred before they "shuffle off the mortal coil."

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Then again, maybe the following article, on the same page of this paper, should be considered when discussing this topic.

THE IGNORANCE OF THE USE OF FIRE ARMS
Many of the northern volunteers, says the Syracuse (NY) Courier, have been presented with revolvers by their friends, and the weapon is doing more injury to the possessor than the enemy. We hear of several cases of accident occurring from the careless use of these "little jokers," a few of which have proved fatal. A volunteer at Lockport shot himself dead on Saturday, through accidental carelessness in handling a pistol. These weapons are being taken away from the volunteers at Albany, as being a very unnecessary weapon for infantry service. Most of the raw recruits are not familiar with any weapon of the fire-arms description, much less pocket revolvers and we caution them to beware how they play with them.

The Introduction of US Arms into Kentucky (long)

Map of KY Civil War sites, courtesy of www.nps.gov

 
Here is a long piece found in the Covington Journal of May 25, 1861. This story expresses some of the tension in the state as Kentucky tried to remain neutral while stuck in the middle of two factions just starting a war, with both sides having much influence and interest within the Bluegrass State.

The  Journal (and the Yeoman of Frankfort) appear again to have been overly optimistic about Confederate support in Kentucky or maybe just a bit naive about how much support for the Union cause remained in the state. The description of "true and loyal men" in the next-to-last line of the story makes me wonder if the paper knew to whom or what these men were actually true and loyal. Even if this optimism was a bit much, however, sentiment in the state was divided and the thoughts and hopes expressed here are probably not too far off base from what many others believed at the time
 

The Introduction of U.S. Arms Into Kentucky
The clandestine introduction of U.S. arms into Kentucky has, naturally enough, created a good deal of excitement.


For six weeks past the leading men as well as the masses of both political parties in Kentucky have been of one mind as to the necessity of arming the State - this is to be done by the State, and as was especially insisted upon by the leaders of the Union Democratic party, by "due course of law,"  - not to assail the United States or Confederate States, but solely for defense.


Gov. Magoffin, in obedience of the unmistakable demand of the people, made an effort to get arms for the State. In this effort his success was indifferent; the arms were not to be had; and although there is a law, with safe and well-defined provisions for the distributions of arms, our Union Democratic friends seemed very uneasy lest the few that were obtained should get into the hands of improper persons.


A short time since a motion was made in the City Council of Cincinnati to provide arms for the police force of that city. Mr. Eggleston, a member of the Council, and a leading business man and politician of the city, said the arms could not be had either of the Government or of individuals in the Northern States or in Canada


Gov. Magoffin, in his message to the Legislature of Kentucky, informed that body that no arms could be had in the North.


When these facts are kept in view it is not surprising that the sudden and clandestine introduction of a large number of Northern  muskets into Kentucky should create considerable excitement.


It is certain that these muskets have been sent in considerable numbers to Greenupsburg, Carlisle, Maysville, to Bath County, to Paris, Georgetown, Lexington and Winchester. The Paris consignment reached that place in the middle of the night, by a special train. Armed men were in waiting to take charge of them. Those for Lexington (accompanied by a note from Garrett Davis) were consigned to Mr. Hiram Shaw. Mr. Shaw declined taking charge of them and passed them over to Dr. Dudley, commander of the Lexington Home Guards.


The arrival of the arms in Bath County created great indignation as well as excitement, and at one time an outbreak was feared.


In the interior the recipients of the muskets are required to pay fifty cents a piece, and on the strength of this the plea is set up that they are private property, bought and paid for by the money of individuals, and that it is nobody's business where they came from or how they are to be used. As prices for arms now range, the muskets are worth $25 each.


The Lexington Statesman says:
"Certainly there should be a full and fair understanding between the Administration men of Kentucky and those who will not sustain the Lincoln Government. If citizens for this state are arming for civil war, let it not be done steathily and secretly. Kentuckians, whatever their differences, should never resort to secret measures of domestic strife. In a word, if we are to be plunged into a fratricidal war, let all understand it and prepare for it."

The Frankfort Yeoman, in the course of some reflections on the strange proceeding, says: 
"Thank God, however, the attempt of this infuriate madman [Lincoln] will be frustrated by the good sense, the loyalty and fraternity of the great mass of men who have received these arms. Very far the largest numbers of these musket will be pointed at the breasts of the invader's forces, rather than at the Kentucky brethren of those who may ever pull their triggers. The alarm of the Cincinnati Gazette on this prospect is not groundless. The whole policy of Lincoln in the matter was atrocious; and the execution of it was a  palpable blunder on both sides."


It is said that the guns sent to the interior were delivered only to men sworn to support the Federal Administration. We believe, however, that the Yeoman is about right. We happen to know that many of the guns distributed to the Citizen Guards of Covington are in the hands of as true and loyal men as are to be found on the face of the earth. In no event will these guns be pointed at the breasts of Kentuckians.

"Kentucky" Regiments?

The Covington Journal continues to follow these regiments that were forming in Ohio. Here is their report from May 25, 1861.

Officers have gone from Cincinnati to Cleveland, Ohio, to pick up recruits for the "Kentucky Regiments."  Extra inducements are held out, but evidently the work drags. 

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See previous entries on a similar topic here and here

Milltary Resources of the South

Here is another May 25, 1861 article from the Covington Journal

A common desire to know the resources of the Confederate States for arms and munitions of war, will be gratified to some extent by the following statement.


The Anderson Works, near Richmond, Va., are working their furnaces night and day, casting Dahlgren guns and Columbiads of the heaviest calibre and most approved finish.


The Tredegar Works, near Richmond, are busily employed in casting hollow shot and shell.


The machine shops of the Atlantic and North Carolina R.R. near Newbern, N.C., have been transformed into an arsenal, where several hundred hands are now employed in altering muskets and casting shot and shell. The work is said to be very superior.


There is a foundry near Petersburg, engaged in casting mortars and cannon. A mortar from this foundry, weighing 5,750 lbs., was used at the bombardment of Sumter.


The works at Harper's Ferry turn out two hundred rifles a day.


There is a percussion cap factory at Nashville, and another at Raleigh.


Shot, shell and other projectiles, are cast at Nashville, Natchez and Memphis.


There are cannon foundries in New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, Savannah and Florence.


Powder is made at various points in Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas.


An arsenal for the manufacture of small arms is about to be established at Holly Springs, Miss. It is well understood that there is now no lack of small arms in the South.

Why New York City is for the War: One Opinion

Broadway, New York city, 1860 courtesy of Wikipedia

 
From the Covington Journal of May 25, 1861, comes this piece.

We have never been at a loss to know why Abolitionists, ambitious men in the military line, and would-be army contractors should favor a "vigorous prosecution" of the war, but we have been at a loss to account for the furor displayed by the city of New York in behalf of measures to "wipe out the South." A New York correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer throws some light on the point. He says: 

"I inquired of a leading citizen what was the cause of New York having on her such an extra military fever? He replied: 'Her bread and butter is in imminent danger now and hereafter. Successful secession of the Southern states would ruin her. She would not be one half what she is now with the Union divided. We all know it, all feel it, all see it. This is what makes our moneyed men shell out so freely. If rebellion is put down New York is made forever. WE COULD STOP THE WAR; BUT TO STOP IT, AND SECESSION SUCCESSFUL, WOULD BE OUR DEATH.' This same gentleman led me into some secrets. Railroad interests have considerable to do with the war. THE MOST SOUTHERN ROUTE LEADING FROM THE GREAT NORTH-WEST TO THE EAST MUST BE DESTROYED - THAT IS THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO ROAD, AND WITH IT BALTIMORE ITSELF. There must be no rival north of 36 36 to New York. You find in that idea the reason for much of the military feeling here, both in the camp and in the bank parlors."

This pocket patriotism will be duly appreciated and remembered by the South. 

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It's kind of interesting that they seem to ridicule New York's apparent self-interest in the war, but make no mention that the reasons for secession also were based on similar motives.

The Position of Kentucky

It affords us great pleasure to say that the lower house of the Kentucky Legislature has passed resolutions to the effect that the State should maintain strict neutrality during the present contest, and approving on the Governor's refusal to furnish troops to the Federal Government. We cannot doubt the concurrence of the Senate.

This was from the Covington Journal of May 18, 1861,.

The Blockade at Louisville

Covington Journal, May 25, 1861

The Courier says "our ware houses are groaning with accumulating products, with no outlet owing to the blockade. Our boats are rotting at the wharves, and the boatmen have nothing to do.This is the result of Black Republican rule, or misrule."
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The "Courier" is the Louisville Courier Journal

It does seem to me that if you were a "boatsman" and you knew a blockage had been applied, your decision to stock your boat and head to the wharves may not have been a wise one. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems doubtful to me that they arrived at the wharves and suddenly realized there was a blockade and national crisis ongoing. I wonder what they really expected at that point.

Southern Mechanics - a Proposal

From the Covington Journal of May 18, 1861 comes this suggestion

Southern Mechanics
Judge Hopkins, of Alabama, advocates the confinement of the negro to the soil, and the elevevation and opening  of the mechanic trades to the non-slave-holding people.  "Dignify the trades to the level of the professions in the common acceptation, and idlings, loafing, lounging, fox hunting, or in other words general dissipation of health, energy and time among the young men of the South, would almost entirely cease, and their places be substituted by general busy industry.

More controversy at Cincinnati

Here is another story of what happened to a shipment that tried to pass by Cincinnati on the Ohio River, a major trade route of the time. It is from the Covington Journal of May 18, 1861, reprinted from the Maysville Express.

We learn that a shipment of bacon made by a firm in this city, to Louisville, was arrested at Cincinnati and sent back to the consignors here. Such conduct is a most unjust, illegal and illiberal interference with our commerce between our own ports and citizens.  The Ohio River belongs exclusively and rightfully to Kentucky - and the transit of our products along it should be free and undisturbed.

--

Here is a link to a previous entry about a similar incident, along with some reaction to that first achievement

Cincinnati, feeling the effects of the crisis

Here are three Covington Journal stories from May 18, 1861 discussing Cincinnati and some of the effects of the ongoing crisis that this paper claims that city was starting to feel and suffer from.  The paper did not title any of these reports. 

One report claims:

Cincinnati has driven off her Southern trade and Decay has already made its withering impress upon her wharves, her stately business houses and immense manufacturing establishments. As if bent upon self-destruction her money changers are now making strenuous efforts to discredit Kentucky currency, and it is not unlikely that they will accomplish the object. Whatever may be the effect of this measure elsewhere, the commercial interests of Cincinnati will suffer in a ten-fold degree. 

The second article says:

A correspondent of the Cincinnati Times, writing from Camp Dennison says:'

"There have been many depredations committed by soldiers strolling over the country, stealing chickens, calves and hogs. Not a farmer within two miles but has been visited. Many houses are guarded - also Milford and Miamiville. There has been considerable trouble at Milford; there are a good many drinking saloons in it all guarded now however. The villagers are trying to form a guard to protect themselves."

These are the chaps that are going down South to enforce the laws!

A third report:

There are only 15,000 barrels of pork in Cincinnati. The Enquirer says: "As strange as it may appear, if the war continues for over one year, instead of exporting provisions to Europe, we will be compelled to export from there here."


That's a pretty serious shortage for a town then known as "Porkopolis."

 

Some foreign coverage of the Crisis

Another interesting note from the Covington Journal, portraying positive news (or at least opinions) for the Confederacy from foreign countries.

The Havana papers publish in detail the news from the United States and comment voluminously on it. The Prensa says:

The confusion which must reign in the United States, with the calling out of the militia and the preparations for war, can scarcely be conceived. The general dissatisfaction, however, manifests itself in a thousand different ways; because the people will understand that the result of all these sacrifices will be that the drama will end where it ought to have begun, with the recognition of the independence and nationality of the two section into which the old republic is already divided,and the conclusion of treaties of amity and commerce. But, in the mean time, disaster is to succeed disaster without the possibility of remedy. What blindness on the part of the Republican party and President Lincoln!


This newspaper also carried this tidbit: The London Times, the most influential newspaper in the world, evidently sympathizes with the Confederate States.

Federal Usurpations

Nathaniel Lyon, courtesy of www.nps.gov

Here is an article from the Covington Journal of May 18, 1861

Our government, at a single bound, has passed from the limits of a Constitutional Democracy into a Military Despotism.


The executive at Washington has no warrant in law or precedent for calling for volunteers to serve three years, and no shadow of authority to increase the regular force of the Army and Navy.


The St. Louis affair is another example of flagrant usurpation. The cowardly act of firing on a crowd of men, women and children carries with it its own condemnation. It is the assault of the Federal troops on the State troops that demands consideration. The "authority of training the militia" is by the Constitution of the United States expressly reserved to the States respectively. In another article of the Constitution it is declared that a "well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of a people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."  - Missouri is a state in the Union. Her troops were in camp under a State law, in strict accordance with the Constitution of the United States, for training. It is not pretended that they had committed any unauthorized act. In this condition they were surrounded by a federal force, numbering six or seven times their number, forced to surrender, and their arms taken from them. It will be seen that in this movement of the Federal authorities the Constitution of the United States has been flagrantly violated in two essential particulars.


We do not see that the most despotic government of Europe could adopt measures more arbitrary in character, or more destructive of the fundamental rights of the people.

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Here is a report of the St. Louis affair mentioned above.

What the Blockade is Doing for the South

Another Covington Journal article from May 18, 1861

The blockade is doing the South some service, if we are to believe some of its journals. The Richmond (VA) Dispatch says the restriction is working in an exactly opposite direction from that intended by LINCOLN - They are turning their attention to manufacturing, and thus making themselves independent of the North. The Dispatch hears of no less than four important manufactories - two of them being indispensable in time of war - which the blockade had taught them to produce themselves

Slightly off-topic: 1848 views of Cincinnati

I realize this is not a pure "Civil War" post, but I think this is a neat story, and it may be the only photographs to show what the riverfront area of this city - an important trade stop on the Ohio River and around the 6th largest city in the country at time - looked like. Surely it had changed somewhat by the time 1861 rolled around, but perhaps not terribly much

Cincinnati Enquirer story

One of the views of Cincinnati courtesy of the article linked above

Confederate License Plate for Kentucky?

It looks like my state is the latest to deal with this issue and that the usual questions of "heritage versus hate" and "free speech"are appearing again.

It looks like some questions over state Transportation Cabinet laws will be in question as well.

Proposed plate, courtesy of the linked article

Kentucky Regiments

The Covington Journal, this time on May 11, 1861, continued to keep up with troops from Kentucky (and so do I.)

A gentleman who has lived in Covington for thirty years, and is well acquainted with the people in all this section of Kentucky, visited "Camp Clay," the rendezvous of the "Kentucky Regiments" a few days since. He says he saw at the Camp but two men that he knew to be Kentuckians. He heard that one other was on the ground.


There is a company from Newtown, Ohio. Another company (of Germans) that was formed in the north-western part of Cincinnati. A Mr. P. Cahill is endeavoring to get up another company, in the lower part of Cincinnati, for one of the "Kentucky Regiments." 

Obstructions to Commerce

In the Covington Journal of May 11, 1861 comes this brief article. It's interesting how the "states' rights" point of view did not apply here. This is reprint from an article in the New Orleans Picayune. It refers to Governor Thomas Moore of Louisiana.

Obstructions to Commerce
Governor Moore has received instructions from the Government at Montgomery, through Hon. C.G. Memminger, Secretary of the Treasury, totally disapproving of any obstructions to commerce in ports.


The Collector of New Orleans has also been notified to the same effect; and an order has been sent to Galveston to raise the embargo at that port and to release all vessels, the General Government alone having the power to lay an embargo on commerce.


It is in accordance with these instructions that Gov. Moore ordered the release of the steamship Cahawba.


Gov. Moore in reply to a dispatch relative to the seizure of boats and other Southern property by the authorities of Ohio, has been informed by the Government at Montgomery to wait until these reports shall be confirmed, and then only to retaliate by seizing property belonging to the citizens of Ohio.

More on National Geographic's Centennial coverage

A few days ago, I posted two entries linking some current coverage of the Civil War Sesquicentennial by National Geographic on its website and comparing that to its coverage of the Centennial in a 1961 edition of that magazine. Here is a link to part two of my previous observations- a link to the first part is within part two.

Today, I'm reviewing the coverage they provided two years after the Centennial had stared, this time from the July 1963 edition (volume 124,  number 1.)

This magazine featured two different articles on what had happened 100 years before, focusing on the popular battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

The first article is a brief review of those fights by poet Carl Sandburg, but it focuses mostly on Abraham Lincoln and  Ulysses S. Grant. It particularly focuses on Lincoln's interpretation of those victories, quoting from his famous unsent letter to George Meade about letting Lee "escape" and his Proclamation of Thanksgiving from July 15. The theme of reconciliation, so obvious in the 1961 edition, is not so clear in this article, though the last sentence hints at it when talking about how "we" honor "events that made us not a parcel of quarreling states, but a united Nation."

Following this is a much longer more in-depth article by Robert Paul Jordan entitled Gettysburg and Vicksburg: the Battle Towns Today. In this article, Jordan describes his trips to each battlefield and discussion he has with locals and with tour guides including Frederick H Tilberg and Edwin C. Bearss. Mixed in with pictures from his time as well as wartime images, Jordan's story goes back and forth, describing what he sees in the modern towns, and comparing it to what had happened on that land a century before.

Like Sandburg's piece, Jordan's article does not focus on the concept of reunion or reconciliation, despite occasional glimpses of such thoughts. It pretty much covers his observations about the areas and the people he meets, including comments from local citizens, and a few remarks about battlefield preservation. He does try to find "words" that describe each city and comes up with "All roads lead to Gettysburg" and "We have a long way to go (but had come a long way too)" for Vicksburg.

Both articles are enjoyable, and the pictures definitely add to it. I liked one picture in Jordan's article showing a souvenir table along a road - it had the US flag and Confederate Battle Flag flying from the top of the stand, and the items for sale were similar to what you might see today - bullets (30 cents each), books, small metal busts of Lincoln (I have a couple that resemble the ones on that table), a plastic flute with a Civil War logo glued to it and miniature cannons as well. It really did not look much different than such a table 50 years later does.

Jordan's article does have a picture of a re-enactment of a "Southern ball" from 1862 and though that picture does not look appropriate, it was a recreation of an actual 1862 event. A few pages later, though, is a 1860s picture showing many of the "caves" Vicksburg citizens had dug as shelter during the batter. The contrast of those two pictures - the modern colored photo of people in fancy clothes or uniforms dancing and then the gritty black and white image of rough, muddy shelters is quite impressive. I wish they had been put closer together to make their contrast more obvious, but the differences between the two are still quite stark.

Overall, this 1863 magazine did not focus on reconciliation as the main 1961 article had. Instead, the editors chose to feature the two famous battles that ended in the same month 100 years previously, and chose a good combination of articles and images to convey those towns during the war and during the time of these articles.

Reaction to new appointees

Covington Journal, May 4, 1861

From the Lexington Statesman: 
Mr. S. Kimball has been appointed Mail Agent from this place to Louisville. This man was the only Lincoln voter in the Sixth (Berryman's) precinct.


Mr. Messie, of Jessamine, has been appointed Mail Agent on the Cincinnati route. He is a Republican and Lincoln voter. 


These two appointments are not satisfactory to this community. 



The Louisville Courier added:

Mr. Kimball, it is stated, is one of Cassius Clay's Bereans. He made one trip on the cars, but having been notified that it might not be conducive to his bodily comfort to travel that way again he did not come down yesterday.

Kentucky Troops, North and South

Here are two articles from the May 4, 1861 edition of the Covington Journal

The Kentucky Regiments
During the present week, the Cincinnati papers have had a good deal to say about the Kentucky regiments for the Northern army. They have told us that the Kentucky troops, under the command of Col. Guthrie have been ordered into camp, and that in consequence of the rush of volunteers, measures have been adopted for the formation of another regiment &c.  This sounds formidable enough.


We have taken some pains to learn the facts. The Kentucky regiments exist nowhere, save on paper. In fact, it is questionable whether even a company has been formed. A few individuals, chiefly transient persons have left Kentucky and gone into quarters at a place called "Camp Clay," in the neighborhood of Cincinnati, where they are fed at the expense of the State, and lodged in sheds, stables, &c. It may be possible to make up two or three regiments from people on our border, but the thing has not yet been accomplished


It also published this story from the Nasvhille Gazette.


DEPARTURE OF KENTUCKY TROOOPS
Col. Blanton Duncan's regiment of Kentucky volunteers left this city yesterday on the 3 o'clock train of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, supposed by some to be en route to Virginia. The Kentucky boys have been in our city for several days past, and during their sojourn here, acquitted themselves in a manner deserving of the greatest credit. In such a large body of men it is customary to meet with some disposed to be disorderly; but not so with this gallant band from Kentucky - each man had the appearance of a soldier, and acted like a gentleman.

(Here is a recent article including a brief description of Duncan's troops shortly after the firing at Fort Sumter.) These were known as Blanton's Battalion and eventually merged into the 1st Kentucky Regiment, which fought under J.E.B. Stuart in a battle in Virginia, before disbanding when its 1 year term of service expired in mid-1862.

Youth's Companion: They Never Forget Their Mothers

With Mother's Day coming up this weekend, here is another interesting article from the Youth's Companion, providing one perspective about death and what a dying soldier feels as this event overtakes him. I imagine this sentiment is true in all wars and remains so to this day.

It is from April 21, 1864


Mother
The following incidents were related not long since by a speaker at a public meeting for the benefit of the soldiers:

In one ward of the hospital there was a man who was evidently dying. When I first found the man I goat an old tick and filled it with straw and laid it  upon the bed. I bathed his face and combed his hair, and then took an put him on it. When I went into the tent that morning I saw that there were not many hours left for him on earth. I talked to him of his mother and Jesus. A soldier never forgets his mother; he never forgets her. I have sat by their beds as they breathed their last and I have stooped down to catch the last word that left their lips on earth, and I have heard them whisper, "O, mother," and pass away.

I once stood upon a battle-field and I saw a man die, and he was terribly wounded. his spirit was no longer there on the battle-field; it was away off at home. As I sat there looking  upon the man, a smile passed over his face, and he whispered, "O, mother - O, mother - I am so glad you have come, mother," and he stopped. By-and-by he looked again, and he aid, "it's cold, mother, turn my blanket over me. " I stooped down again and did as he wanted. he said, "That will do, mother," turned over his head and passed from time to eternity. They never forget their mothers. Let me tell you there is no power on earth can so mold a man for good, or that is so terrible for evil, as is the mother's.

Opinion of an Unionist April 27, 1861

From the Covington Journal

The Opinion of a Unionist
Mr. A.J. Morey, long the editor and proprietor of the Cynthiana News, an ardent Union paper, withdraws from its editorial control, in the last issue, and in  his valedictory says:
"We would just as soon expect to see Kentuckians rallying under the Stars and Stripes, if raised by the King of Dahomey, in Africa as to hear that they were taking up arms to support the policy now being pursued by Lincoln. I am now in favor of a Union of the South. Lincoln has driven us to the wall, and Union men must choose whether they will fight the Northern Abolitionists or their home folks. 

Southern Spirit, April 1861

This article in the Covington Journal, April 27, 1861 presents a picture similar to the sentiments of the North at this point in time, as a previous entry tells.

A correspondent of the Tribune says: "I have been through Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The excitement is wild. Railway trains are loaded with soldiers, arms and ammunition. Methodist clergymen are acting as captains. Companies are organized with religious ceremonies.Boys are enlisting, and women are urging on brothers and husbands.

Optimistic Report: France and England Swinging Towards the South

From the Covington Journal, April 27, 1861 comes this overly optimistic article.

There can be no longer any doubt that France, England, and all the leading European powers will promptly acknowledge the independence of the Southern Confederacy. In addition to the utterances of Le Pays, the Moniteur, Napoleon's chief organ, has come out in an article that looks boldly to that end, and says plainly that the interests of France, under the two tariffs are with the Southern States. We have always predicted that England, notwithstanding her Abolitionism, would be compelled by her interest to take the same position; but certainly we had not anticipated that, at this early period, we should see leading English journals catering with ardor into the defense of the Southern character, and criticizing with bitter scorn and irony Mr. Lincoln's inaugural. Thus, for example, the London Athenaeum, the great critic king of the English world of letters, which, a few years ago pitched into Prof. Bledsoe's great article on slavery with such ferocity, has a long review of American affairs, from which we make the following extracts:

"And nothing is more likely to goad the South into an obstinate perseverance, in their present position, than a mere reiteration of the charge that they are mere wordy braggarts. A more foolish calumny than this was never uttered in the heat of political warfare. That which is grandest in the history of the American Confederacy is to be found in the biographies of Southern men. The South has her faults; but cowardice and trickery are not amongst them. The author of "A Memoir of Abraham Lincoln" whose scanty and barren pages have no strength save that of acrimonious partizanship (sic), sneers at the 'bluster' of the hot-blooded South. He may be assured that the English, to whom he especially addresses himself, by no means attribute a preponderance of trans-Atlantic 'bluster' to the South."

And who would ever have expected to find in a London journal such an intelligent and conclusive criticism as that of the Athenaeum upon Lincoln's anti-secession speech at Indianapolis. In fact, we have scarcely seen anywhere a clearer, more concise and comprehensive statement: 


"We must express our astonishment at the use of such language by a lawyer. The American Union is a combination of independent States, leagued for the accomplishment of definite objects, and free to retire on the condition of their Union being violated. What right can a State have to secede? Why, the same right the colonies had to revolt, and a much stronger right - that enjoyed by every partner in a joint stock company. What, asks the President of the United States, is the difference between a State and a county?  Surely no one who needs to be informed ought to be in Mr. Lincoln's place. - What is the difference between the relations of a State to the Union, and that of a county to a State? Why just this - a county has no existence apart from the State. The State was the primary institution, and the county acquired from it only a conditional individuality; whereas, the Union, instead of giving birth to the States was their creation. Far from being the parent power, it is their offspring. Apart from them it ceases to be;whereas apart from it the States continue to be separate communities with distinct constitutions, as they were long before they created that impersonal power - the Union. Indeed, the analogy breaks down at every point. "


The world moves! But yesterday the South had not a hearing in all Europe. Already the leading journals in France and England are vieing with each other in vindicating  her character and principles.