.S96 CopV miiUm AMD Mi.fAL aTUATlON. ■*«fS» KtS nj' AcmiwnmM^'m ••if 0«PR ...J'^„^.J..^ h lUJv W A S H I JSr G T O H J 1604, ilono^ap% xr 6 16 n c06 THE MIUTAKY AND NAVAL SITDATiOl^, AKD THE GLORIOUS ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR SOL DIER8 AND SAILORS. L TEJK a^UKSB AND CONDUCT OF THB WAK A «rise maxim of the greatest general of anility prescribes timt w« ^ould esteem nothing doae rill "1! is done; but it is prc4>abl<; tiiat ife m^mil is rather to point ont tJie da.jger of that indoJent dwe]Ji»g on the -ieeds of the page which shuts out pf new tlie duties and deniKBds ©; ahe prese.f^l, thsji to diti<».oarage (especially whess a, gi'e»t task is l&U apo& a iialion;M«cl» » retrospect of what has already beeu acco» {jlishfid as will inspire co«rage for e^srryiug it ihrongh to the end. The C4JuutiT has lately passed through that trying experifijic^ whicfc aibtO'Y .?hows is enre to come npoR a people plunged into a great wax. ,1 peritjd vfhen the grat popn'a- »^;nthusiaMn hitvJDg died onti the boi^ *ieng flcd the be'eavemeutsof the war are brought keenly home to all and a reaction of general despr.ijds-ney resaltC In this mood of ibe public mind men forget that whiie they have euSered the memv also has snffered in an equal or even gjef.ter degree, and that too, perbap&, without the same ability to sustain his losses; they foiget while dwell- jsg on their own defeats, that «very victc-ry th^-y have won has beec an equally eore defeat to the enemy. When this time c-mes ihei comes ihe tf st of tlte mettle o- a p-ople. If weak they sink under it -. but 'he gre.t-minded rise up stronger for the ordeal. The feeling *>f depression which but lately prevailed regarding the seemingly indefiuite prolongation of the war, and which is still felt by some, is a singular je{)etit.ion of an experience which has freqnenth been felt by other natiuns conducting a long war. It has of en hap pened thai men ott the v^^y tve of the conclusion of a war havf lo-ked upon it as promising' the longest dnratioa ; and it will be in Ibe memory of many that just previous to the termination of the Gri mean war, even as sHgacioua at. obsciver as Mr. Cobden had just COB- •indeii provinj/ \n a p mphlet that it was certain to be pro'onged for many years. It thus frequently happen* that war, which in its prao^ tica! exfecotion deal« so laigely iis deception, is itself the greatest of deceptions. When after years, perhaps, of stiife, grewt anni^s rtill eon- iroDt each otber, it is hard t<. penetrate its outlet or i*.Hue; but some ?uddeu turn of' affaiis precipitatts the catasUophe long prc|)«ring and in the flames of k Wattrioo, a Canna, or a Pultowa, Ja'^ \(6 and sva- lemfa seemingly firm-footed and impeiishable <»r ,. , ^^ aa^Je^ and aoLhingneaa. At the outt)reak of the rebellion the toblic mind became p'^'^esaed rith illusive anticipations that th war would be % sJ-oit one >ij«t ovif vicwjr.oua (joiumi^ sweeping the rebels belorf them in t.*v .jn unphanr. path woaid. m a lev moatiiv at mosc, end by precipitating Jihem into the Gulf of Mexico. This was a grent delusion no doabt ; htat it was not more so than that othwr Beotiment which has arisee m the natural reaction after the rude aho(;k this hope received — the error ?» to the indefinite prolongation of the war. The one fallacy is as pernicioae as the othnr ; for if the first was a great bar bo the effi oient execution of the duty of patting down the rebellion (and there ie no doubt that our illusions aa to the ease and speediness with which i^Jhe work would be accomplished was a serious hindei ance to the veiy preparations needed to make it short,) the other is an error equally fata! ; for the paralysis of ej/'ort produced by the sentiment of the probable longness of the wwr is sure to make it much longer than H vHyuM othervfise he. There is no higher dnty, therefore, thnn for patri otic mtin to fortify themselvee aad others by the consideration of aD the -elements of hope and oonfidence which a retrosp-^t of past prog fsss and a survey of the preheat situation inspire. Snch a survey justifies the conclusion that the end of the war — tht ernshing of the armed forces of the rebellion — is not only not far off; but th^t it is near at h&nd, and that is in our power to bring it aboni Imost st a blow. It will show tha outlines of a war continental in its proportiona, *aged on a theatre eqnal to the siae of all Eurojie. It will show armies the greatest the world eves saw, raised and jufitained by fche spontaneous patriotism of a firee people. It will show how, by the progress of our arms, the area of the rebelUoi) has, step by step, ^^en diioru of three-fourths of its propor- tidBs. It will show the insurgent territoiy cut off fi-om communication with the outside world by a blockade which dwarfe any on record and at the same time the most perfect of any on record. It will show how every stronghold on tlie coast hjw either beet '.captured or is now closely invested. It will shovs' ohe interior of this territ/ory out up by our great lina of conquest, ji^eeied latteraily and longitudinally, and the dominion of the confederacy left a kingdom o( shreds and patches. It will show a sucoofcsioij of battles of colossal magnitude, in tbre* fffUrthii of whiv>h the Uuioia arms have triamphed, and ail of which, Trhether vicsorief- or reverses, in a purely military point of view, havt redottuded to the advance of the gi'eafc cause. It will show the manhood of a {»opulation defending fi-ee instita dons, vindicating itself against ye irs of the gibes and insolence born of the plantation. It wdl show the fighting papulation of the insurgent States reduced^ hy battle, by disease, and by captures, front three fourths of a million to between a hundred and a hundred and fifty thousand men. It will show this force — the forlarn hope of the rebellion — separated by an interval of a thousand miles, divided into two armies, the one of which driven from Chattanooga to Atlanta, has at length boen eompelled to give up that point, the material capital of the confederate, Tvhile the other is shut up in Riohmond, the politieal capital of the fyOnfederacy. It. will show that the annihilation of both hese armies is a mathe- matical oertaioty, if we pot forth the strength at onr command. It wili reyeal, finally, h» the result of sll this, the radiaat fig'QSt. at Pback hovering not afer off, and plainly visible throngh the cload of war that still overspreads the land. If this be the magnificent result wbieh we have to show for the three years of war for the Union, it will give the people of the loya^" States a crittrion of action in the great issue now before the country— an issue that will determine whether by the maintenance of the Ad- ministration nnder which the wa» has beeis condacted to these results, and which can alone carry it through, we nre willing to crown ant will vindicate and esta blish forever the unity and integrity of the nation ; or whether we shall surrender our destinies into the bauds* of a party Ciommitted to H peace which makes the war for the Union a mockery — » party whose areed throws to the winds all that has been achieved by the toil and blood, the faiih and the self-sacrifice of this nation, in the moat terrible war iT> the world's hii^tory, whose creed casts disgrace on every soldier «ndf»r the sod, makes the heroic bones that on a hundred battle fields 'SBder the cotjtinent sacred the monuments ol folly, whi<^^h makes $yery sailor that hag gone down at his guns for the love of the ©id iag a fool, ac'd every Hian who wears the insignia of a glorious ??«und a poor sisrapletOB ; a creed, finally, the ;,elu8ive pescje resul*^- big frona which oan obIv be the beginning of unending war. n. TBI TASK LAID UPON THE ADMINISTRATION BY THl WAR. When overt wnr, begun by tbe firing un Fort Suniter m Appl, 1861, and brought to a he.nd in tfce bhttle of Bail Run ia the July following, had fairly in.'sngurateiri the rebellion against the constituted iuthorities of the United St«tfs, the Administration found itaeif eom fiiitted to a struggle eontiRei*^-{ in its proportions. The task imposed ftpou it, as described in PresicList Liin^oln'a inaugural, was to *'■ repos sess the forts, places and properi^ which h.>ice from fehe whole territory (.jf Uie insurgent St-ates. It is the nf»ture cf war like that of 2. eonfls gration to involve and swallow up everything within its reach. Th;- Southern heart " fired " by a few powerfai leaders, plunged into the ?yar with a recklessness akin to madnees, and fsrom the Ohio to the ^1^ from the Potomac to the Meiican border was all aglow witfc red- hot rebellion. The Government acc8pt y 6 «mm«flt ooald bt iog lo bear on the rt our owu, though oup own levies were uapa»Hli«le<^l in history. To this mubi be adJed the astonishing ftscendancy whuh a smatt minority ol leading men had requijed over the southern population, and by whii-h, when they had once usurped powoi', they were able to wield an Hb'te diiven by the very nature of tliec-ontest was that of ihe ojf«n<^ve. Now military history IB replete with iliusnations of the wnorraous advantage which a peo- ple has when i&bie to g'and at bay (covering its owci comamnicatioat wd holding interior lines) and await in ciiosen positions the aitaokt !>f the enemy. The earewr of Fr OYery where a relative or friend who aids hin! ; the eoinmanders aleo know tbit smmtry, and learoiog immediately the olishtest f th« '>avader ean adopt the be^ meaaures to de^t hi» projeeta" These embarrassments^ enormooslj iacreased by thi/ prodigi0ub es- tmit of the theatre of war, the topography of which u ail agsinst ih.^ «t£fensive and in f.avor of the dt^fensiTe (as witness the immaase dept^ (li the lines of oommunicatioaan any great ao^greastir® movem&Bt&> !Jie imposaibilitj of supplying oar armieii from the ceaatry %s is dcfi$ m Snrope, ete.J entered into the portentous problemwhiob. the ^dmi^' istration had to solve; tmd jet, in face of this aceamulation of dii£<'«j< iee, forming a task tb« gravest that ^ver met an Exeeative, tlie vi-'S 'oas been pushed snecessfiilly Uirougk to ike splendid results we witiids« — tkd armies of the rebailion have been drivea from the vast ezt@£.t 'f territory th^s rebels eiaimed tit! now tke one is shut, up iu tike Btatas i»ordenQg on the OtuM, ^nd tha other h b«gie$^ witJuNxt kop« oJ' »s^- 'tape to J^cknaond. I'ffiS UPEISmo OF THB NATIOK. '^Pkh reiaponse of the people to the eall of PresidSiEit iii&eeln % aen wiih which to exeeate the aulkority of the Government wE liways remiin one of the grandest manifestations of the apontaneoaji aaergy of a free people in tJae vindication of free miri-itutions. It waa iken we saw that suWime " aprising" of tke people, when all party di^ ferenuies were merged in enthusiasuc devotioa to the Union-— or ratk& vken armed loyalty cowed and quelled secret traitors who, driven tc (skeir lurking places, saw tke pradence of awaiting some otker oppoif «unity to ahow their kands. Arter Ball Run had shown that aa arduous aad protracted war "Sfm wefore us, Mr. Lincoln issued his procinmation for 300,000 men. Tke !«sponse of the North to the call was without * parallel in the kistorj oi the world, and it w^ soon evident that more troops would be W ske ueld than the act of Congiess authorized. Within fifteen days it is istamated that 350,000 volunteers offered themselves in defense of om aa&ioQai flag. Aud from first to last, under the different calls, more tkaa « MILLION AND A HALF of men have been under arms ia tke war for the Union. There is in history but one example of a similar aprl»- Ing of tke people in defense of ita nationality, and tkat is ike niakiB|; to arms of tke Frenck during the great revolution when threatened by tke coalition. And yet the comparison only serves to show kow ^ even tkat fell skoit of what we have w taessed ; tor rtiodero kistorlAtts iiave proved that, laotwithstauding all the exaggerations in regard to bke number of men raised by France at that epoch, the figora never i^ceeded 500,000 men. Yet we kave trebled that number. Tke task now before the (jrovernment was kerenleaii, and guck e» rmgkt have mado even Na|>oliiid loea, to be supplied wk^i. aU the Deeds ot a modera army, and that too without even the ekd g^n of a Teteran force on which to build, was indeed a work •&, frightful SQ^nitode. And yet this was accomplished in the space o!' three months — an achievement that ha? extorted the wondet aiMi m- anratioB of military BaeB ti[UX>ughoat th« world. IT. THE FIB8T YEAB OF THE WA&. As (he chief force of the rebellion — the head and from oi tion. offeading — was collected in Virginia, it became a necessity to piM« h«re an army of proportions fitting it to foil the pnr{>ose of the eneamj touching the capture of our capital, at the same time to drive tSx-<: opposing force out of Virginia. With this view a grand ai my of over 200,000 men was collected M Washington and placed undes command of Major General G. B% Mo- {Jlellan, whose name, from a series of successful minor operations ii Western Virginia, which another than he had planned and execated, iiiid scqaired a halo ihat did not properly belong to iU It was Koi antil sometime afterwards that that constitutional inactivity, whitik :>eems to be a part of Gent ral McClellan'e nature, and that secret sjbi. pathy with treason that bae alwsye made him tender of hurting trtw: ton, began to be appieciated, and hence it was that for many moathe oui' avmicB were kept at a dead-iock, thus giving the rebels the oppof '.unity to prepare their plans, and tlie rebellion its best ally, time, ani^ we put in a position of humiliation before the world. Tbere was one result springing from the presence of our army m Virginia, however, which even the generalship of McClellan could nw prevent ; it thwarted the realization of those dreams of invasion thai Qad fired the sonthem imagin- tion. A powerful party of red-hot bei- 'igerents had made the carrying of the war into northern soil their xai fjing cry, Wastiington was in particular the object of their ckosi desires, and their direst hmte. The rebel Secretary of War boasted ad Mon^omery, op the 12 th of April, that "the flag which now flaofit^ the breexe here will float over the dome of the old Capitol at Waafe tngton before the Ist of July." After Bull Run the same ambition fired these men. S^d the Ric^' (Qosd Examiner : ^ From the mountain tops and valleys to the shorot of the sea there is one wild shout of firce resolve to capture Washing- ton city at all and every humaxi effort." But this ** wild shoat o-' Seree resolve" was vain against tfce 200,000 bayonets preseiit to defen«i the capital ; and though the early history of our army in Virginia ww ■»ot of the character the people justly expected and tie army eagerl} desired, it was at lea^t something, in view of these desperate proje«i». of the rebel*, that Washington, by its presence, was rendered w/«. But outside of the immediate influence of the McClellan 8tr&teg;y. a series of operations in the western theatre of war had been inai^> rated, which laid the foundation of the splendid victoiicB of the XJuhm arms in that quarter. While McClellan during the winter of 1861—2, hc?!^ hii» magnifioent a^-mr f twc hundred thousand meii in inactiob, »j»te--*T»ff piwTis whi(>> wr-. T- 1 wi tnred. th^r eiiriy n«ge« of the hi*?' lory of the war were lit up by h sa^cession of brilliant victones on the Atlantic seaboard and weat of the Mississippi river. Chrstmap of 1801 saw the powerful force of rebels, whirb had overrun Missoari, inso- lently proclaiming their purpose of seising St. Louis, driven down to the Arkansas border. G^teneral Grant had begun on a small scale Ae operatioua on the Mississippi, dei^tined to swell into campaigns of colossal proportions. The first oi our series of coast victories had been gained at Hatteras inlet, (August 27,) giving us twn forts, thiily-his gUDA, six hundred and nineteen prisoners, and the key to Albemarle sound. This was followed up, at the end of October, by Dupont'a exploit at Port Koyal, one of the most naemorablo triumt ha ok record of ships over forts. The spoils of this victory included not ie&' thaic fifty cannon. V. THE SECOND YEAR OP THE WAR. The opening of the second year of the w»r was gildet? by two othei /ictoriesoB the coaat — the capture of Roanoke Island by a combiB6*cy and re claim the valley of the Mississippi to the fioveignty of tlie Union. The rebel line of defense on this frontier extended from Columbus,. a powerfully intrenched camp on the Mississippi, eastward to the Aile ^hany mountains. About midway was Boiling Green, another es- srsnched camp, where Albert Sidney Johnson commanded iu person, iast towards themountains was Zollicofi'er with a large force, whert t^arly in the winter he had taken up a kutified position on the duo b-^Tland river near Mill Spring. Against this line defense Grant and the gunboats under Foote were t'o^'Ofed. :be bjye«t, f«l>«i ^t oDg- JKokis at Coiambtts and Bowling Qreen would be ukeQ to reverse ano their ©TiKiwation made a matter of absolnte cofopnKsion. But thes* rivets wws barred by two -ifcrong works — Fori H^ary on the Tunneaee >iBd Fort [>oD.I«»on on the Cmebarlaud. The {b.-mer fel! 4 prey to tht g.^iS^Qtrj of Poote's n^vsj dttacic, sn/ieodering ob iJne 6th oi F*>bruary with its srmameut: of «ix'oy sfuuiii. A. watk aft^r the aur^eoder of Fort Hearj, Creneral Grant drew hit inea of iaT«»tmf qk ,tr!>ou<' For; Doaeisou, aad .-tfter a condici ruaoiRf 'through tbtur d^y* aad wig-iti, aad reodtfred meroorable bf ih.e hardest ^htiusf thjAt y«^ fK5CHi"-re« »n the war, tb« rnbela w«re forced te aeoede to (Jeaer ai Grant'is dem^ada for tnat ' uncooditioaai suneader '' which has become so insepfivaO'T associated wHb hid aaoie. The sorrend^f ai«(uded liftmen tbottaaod prisoners and forty piijcjes of artillery. The fafl of Fofta r>(>»dij80n and Henry ^-romptiy produced its as dcipai-d «Se<^t ".'oiuiabtis, wfeich the rebeJa k-io. njltzi (.he, "^ Ginralte.! !>f Aaierie ," was imnoedislwly abaadoBed. At the »aaie tioMi JuhruftOi i4vaL-.u*ted hm iutrenchAd ;)ositii:>n at Bowling Greea sad ialluBg back w Nashville, or rather tkroitgk Nnshville, (tor the opening of iti^ OuMberiaod to ouj gunboats which resulted «Voffli the fa'! of the fort t' i>v0r 3ve iaundred miiee iv.-i pushed back from th^ Ohio to the Curaberlaud and the whole state of Kentucky and a third »f Tennessee were, recovered to the dominions of the Union. ftmuitaneoua with th- ^e operations the wat.'s o^ the Mifisissipiifi vere lit op by th« splendoia of Farragat's astoait^hing ct-oioat belov !^9W Orleans with 'lie foris, ^nbo^^.;'-*, steam rarad, floaiiag batteries. ftre rafts, obstmctioua, boom* and chains which the rt bnia had preparer k>t the defense or thsrf great metropoiia of the gulf, ending in thf :all of th;tt city, whoso captufe the London Times, doubcing, with its iitual cynicism its possibility, had declared would be *' putting th* toumequet on the fuain artery of the eonfedeiacy." After their retreat from Colurab»« the rebels under Polk took «p ^ new position on the Mlusisaippi at Island No. Ton. This stronghold was able for maay weeks able to hold out against all the operations i^irected agninst it, tili fiua.!};j thv) gunboits run oh?, gnuntlet of thabilitj, eotopoiled the ev.icuatior> •f this position al»). Thtf result of' tne viotores of 1882 was 'hns io lewve the situation (n this gratifying poiiition : Batier was at Nt«w Orleans, Curtis wai pnshiag his way to Little Rock, the c^tpital of Arkansas, the chief points ■M) tlie coafl. was in our hnn^ls. HaUec-k wh.^ a( Corinth, th^ Unior 11 dag waved over M.^mphis and Nash^iiie, whiia Mucheill vo ^ykibams vas !Klvancing from victory to vieto/y, r This WHB gloiy eQ«JTi«:h Foi' one ye«r, for if we tana our tsye r.o th? Af 'tore of war in the East, we are presented with the spectacle of a uainpaign towards Ricbmood, in which the fiuest quaiit'es of heroisia tn the army, gaimitig victories whererer it met the armed en^my, and driving hira back to hia capital were neutralized nnd reodesed (ruitlesf ijy the imbecility of its \q'^, Turniu^ upon McCk-Uan, Lee termi- nated the offeusive Oif die r^^hela eiu}*'^ 4!tiH8trou!i!y by their retreat iuto Virgiaia. THE THIRD YllAE OF THE WAKr~THB BATTIJE SUMMBR. The first day of the ihird year of the war (1863) w«s nigualized by the b^ttlc of Stone Rivev or Murfreesboro, fought by Genera} Ro8<>- ro-aBs on the UoioR side and by Bragg on the part, of the rebels. Thf most desperate battle of the war up to that period, it inaugurated the year of great actions by asi engagement which resulted in placing our wmy in Murfrewiboro, with the prodigious loss to the enemy of 14^60 men This was to be followed up from this base by a brilliant cam- paign in Tennessee, destined to culminate in the pospession of Chatta aooga, which bad K-ng bfct^n recognized by mUitHry bea/js ::ia the key :o the whole theatre of war in rna Wt«t. in the meanwhile General Grant wa«< dr-twiug bis lines of invest- aaer.t around the last great stroughold of the rebels on tne MissiR- lippi, at Vicksbuvg. A-ltwr many attempts agsinst this point, be BBally, by au audacious stroke of strategy, Uuparalleied save by Na- poleon's passage of the Splugen, crossed his army over the Missis- iippi at Grand Gul^ and, dlvidiag the army of Johnston from thr Qopsib lity of reiuforciug the gsirrison at Vicksborg, beat the rebels in aalf a dozen battles, and ended by throwing his aroiy -^s a besieging force around this position. The siege of Vicksburg will take its place hi history as among the mo^t wonderful engineering operations os (e«ord. Il was epowned by its unconditioaal surrender on the 4th of July, with 31, 720 prisoners and 234 guns. At the same time tht lawisou at Port Hudson surrendered to General Banks, thus adding T,000 prisoners and 40 pieces of artillery to the account. The efl'eei fjf these; *wo victories was to restore the national authority along tbf sirho'e va^v, •^t-h of the Mississippi, and that great continental high- wjiy was thr<- wxi open to its embouchure in the Gulf of Mexico. At the very t;ra« that the right wing of our immense line of battle, stretching from the Potomac lo the Mississippi, was thus engaged, its fefi wing, the array O t >e Potomac, was manoenveriag to meet Lee*s jecond JHvasion of th 'oyvd States. The i.bel ,rioy was broughl lo bay at length at Q^,. "^urg where a t^iiet. daj?8 oattlo, the most >;nlime time on the advance. By a beautiful series of flankieg oao; '.tf- ments, tbf\t commander drove Bragg from his two povrerfully Jiai- trenched positions at Shelbyville and Tulahoma, and advancirjg iiou ihis point, planted his army, at one splendid stroke, in the ce-^'jaJ oitadel of the South — Chattanooga. On the coast, the operations were being pushed on with equal vigoi Glenera! Gill more had eflfected a landing on Morris Island, whence with his long range seige-guns, he was able to batter down Fort Sunt ier, leaving that memorable stronghold, wbose reduction by the rebeifi was the first overt act of the war, a mass of ruins. Assisted by the co-operation of the iron-clad fleet, the works on Morris Islauu — Forte Wae;ner and Gregg — were also reduced, and they with their armamen'll fell iijto our bands. The posseasion of Motris Isiiinu h'^s enabl<^d oui: fleet ever since to keep up a blockade of Charleston which heimeticaliy seals that place. Leaving out of view the single exception of that brief period dar- ing which the Napoleonic war involved all Europe in its conflagva aon, you will search all history in vain for a parallel of that greai battle summer, whether as respects the v&stness of the theatre of war, the proportions of the contending forces, or the substantial greatnesi cf the results. During a single period of thirty days embraced in this titanic epoch, not less than sixty thousand prisoners were captured The losses to the enemy in this respect, added to his prodigious saeii dtes in killed and wounded, left the CoufiuderHCy at the clo^e of thfe year bleeding, prostrate, and exhausted. vn. THE FOUKTH YEAR OF THE WAR. The opening of the fourth year of tJie war saw the forces of ttit rebellion driven from the whole circumference of the Confederacy, and brought to definite points in two armies — the army of BfiAse on the mouutaii'i ridges south of Chattanooga, and the ai my of Lbb on the Rapidan. The former assailed by General Grant in his moun- tain fastnesses, daw himself driven from his stronghold, and his amx^ broken and routed in the most disastrous defeat since Waterloo. He left in our hands 10,000 prisoners and 60 guns, suffered a loss Oi 8,000 i)3 killed and wounded, and sought shelter for his shattered force by a disordered retreat to Dalton. This review brings the catalogue cf Union victories up to th« dme of the commencement of the great campaign ef this summer, the events of which are too fresh in the memory of all U:> require anj detailed recital. Dui ing the early days of May the two gr^nd armies of the IJnioB, undei the supreme control of the Lieutenant General commandhag all the armies of the United States. Ugan their advance — ihe oat from Chattanooga the otber fro ntl.e Rapidan. On rs Sherma . a er an «dvan'* froto Cbattftrinr. fW€i'8e« wbicb all wars present. But we ask any dispH»>ioBate obsa- fver, lo* king at the war by the map, and io ti:e fi ry characters in which it is writ a!! over the continent — contrasting the rebellion at th( atart with the n bellion where it now stands — surveying this great struggle for the Union in it« solid and substantial reauits — we a>k such in observer to point out in the annuls of war where more has been done in the spme }>eriod. He will find it hard to foint oat where AS much has l>een done I It is the c< iintnon practi<'e we kuow in war of popular Governments for men to belittle whnt has been done, to criti- cIbc and C( mplain ; but we ask in all seriousness is it the part of dignity or of patiiotisra, in this {risis of our nation's struggle, to depreciat* itn grand and provide ntial achievcmeijts ? There is to a people battling in ^r\y cause a force, purely metaphy- sical in its cbRracler, which is y<-t stronger than tife sinews of war — stronger than the sinews of men's arms. It is cmnrage. Never hat it been more L^eded than of late, when a lata! paralysis has benuml>- vid the public sense, and in the e«!ipse of faith, " the whole noise of tinaorous and flocking birds, with those that love the tviilight, flutter about, and in their eisvious gabble would prognosticate a year of sectr A\iiA schisms." I believe we have already touched t}>e nadir of our fears and our despondency, and that a breath of pauioiism and hope is now vivi^- ing the national pulse. But each man can swell the risiag t^ide. To oiffase the inspiration of fvr»urf*ge is the duty of every patriot. And h.'ippily we nt-ed draw this inspiration fiora no illusive iouuiains; for the more e; rnestly and honesitly we look at the situation, the more [grounds of hope we find. Some of these grounds oan be briefly set down : i. Tbe bf»dy of the rebellion is Booribund. Gt^n. T. Seymour, w'hose critical habit of thought and consei vaiive temper, add a prodigious H^eight to any declarations he makes on this bead, states as the resull of his three months' observation in the interior of the South, that "/Ae rebel c&u^e is fast failwg from exhaustion, ^^ This is profoundly true^ syhether it has regard to the material resources in the Souih, or to the atill more vital resonrcea in men, of which the fit Id is now rej'p d and (•are. Every man and every hf)y is now in the field ; there is nothing behind. In a private letter lately wiitlen by General Grant, he used the pungent expression that the rebels have "'robbed tlie cradle and. the (/rave to reinforce their ttrmte*." 2. It ie true, in inflicting on the itbtis V e iium'^ns' damage they have received in the gie.-tt ca>i;paigua of Grnnt a«(] Stieimnn, we also have lost quit.*^ hs severely — p< rh pneveii Uiore 8»; but (if it ift lawftil to .^jeak thus of so grave a m;*ttet) we can njford it. We c^n stand to lose man for man, til) every maa in the armies of the rebellion if put /tPr.<( du combat^ and leave behind untouched a I'oice equal to all wf have lost in the war, 3. But I do not believe it will be nef dful to wade through much an ooean of blood as this. All tb t, is needed ia a blow that will disrupt the two main rct»el armies. It is worthy of note, that the merciless conscriptions that have swept over the S^uth have even simplified the probleoB for u , The war has no longer those thousand-fold embar^ rasani-nts tV> t attend a 7MiftOf(«i war, or war on populations. Thuj^ it -■<■> pofmJation^ Our fast ^ /' 1866 «o*tt «/*me nptm a rf.gen*;r«iied lamA^ 5. The war is leftlly 'iCfT it* dose. The p^"es*>Bt troBt 'd the reM roc, men«Gmg tiiough it be, i« neeliy nothing more iJ^aR a sr.«sk, eon- -ealing the hoUown^st and rott*'>riess witbia The South is Hteffiilj' dxiiausied — exKaHsied ^ tbat wii,.ho«t ^hJch ii, is iaspoasibi* ta-earry •3)3 wsr— exkaastesi of men. Tfee field, i»- iIk iiT'praRsivp expressiom ■it' Ni.poleoD regHiding J'mfice after her thref cc>nsc! ip' i««8, is reape« ■lOwa !«• the stubble. Oi;t of an avail ablt fighting popnlatioo ^ i>pw-^rdp (^ three- qua* ters oi a Bailiion vri;h wlpch the war was ina«|^ tjratedj tihf y have saved as tflfe^tive force of ne hnudred or one bau ired and fifty ihousartd m('3i, Tb« rest are w iheir giave^, ia tht -vospitalfe, d sabled, or prisoaere ii. onr haijdfi Thf?s«:: are tii« forl®ii> .lope of the ixbeirion. 6. Our ttriitor as ( oft^uerte hftve reciwBcied iixveu-foHrths of the aijea •/rigix»aiiy cbim«-d in tbf Simiis of the Cocfedftraxiy. Tb« CoQfi-deraoy staads wow thrice hiseo'ed— its grv-at iines (4 communicatiosa cat oi •.ji onr htUKk,, B< gid' *.j its .n^« r^ — they ray ic '.' while oppose a formidable fiofot t« oot blows — but ihe rebe iion i? doomed. Its straggles will bf- tie fvs>»t1« fisal efforts of the gladiat^d b«ioi« he ftills fiown ejJbf.ofit^d and exara tmate •" 7 The k'.'devs of thf. r« be'liiro have et!5^'e any hope toi their cause ib the aicna of -war. They are looking now Ui the aremi <^ pontic*. A p«rty K»8 beer* s-et np vshoee crted and sime havf; jheif enti»e sympathy aoot roo>M sHjpo't The pktfcTtri of ih«t pa.ityha* aothing but pxptessi< nn of ronmroe'y e moo<;Tit«ii8 (^nestior) ^ dei'rRMning by th^fe ..ction wheth<-T they will justify all ihepreciuHfi bh>od shed w. this wm »j carrying it, triumpbfii.t*.y thiwigh ana crowning it wilfe a gloriow .^nd hoBorabh? pea^ e, orwiHi'bev by a base soiivndeT ihej wili pw>ject it into fcistor. as he mtman^tint i-f f> natioTi's folly LIbRftRY OF CONGRESS 013 673 526 3 PttESIOESTlAl CAMPftIGS OF ISM. ONION EXECUTIE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEl aoft. K. a MORGAN, of New York j Hob. E. R WASHBITRNE. of niinoii. '= JA3. HARLAN, of iowa. " B. B VAN VALKENBURG, N. T ' L. M. MORRILL, of Maine - J. A. OARFIELD, of Ohio. {Senate.) ' I Q. BLAINE, of Maine. 1 House of Representatives. 4 if. MORGAN, OhaimKin. J&A. HARLAN, l^easurer. D. N. OOOLEY, /8«?> OoMMrrTEE Rooms, Washin^gton.^ D. C, Sept.., % 1864. Dbab Sir ; The Union Congressional Committee, in addition te the documents already published, propose to iBsue immediataly file following documents for distribution among the people. 1. McOlellau's Military Career Reviewed and Exposed. 2. George H. Pendletxju, his Disloyal Record and Antecedent®. %. The Chicago Copperhead Convention, the men who oompoeed and controlled it 4. Base surrender of the Copperheads to the Rebels in armfi. 5. The Military and NavaJ Situation, and the Glorious Achieve meuts of our Soldiere and Sailors. 6. A Few Plain Words with the Private Soldier. 7. What Lincoln's Administration has done, 8. The History of McClellan's " Arbitrary Arrest " of the Mary land Legislature. 9. Can the Country Pay the Expenses of the War i 10. Doctrines of the Copperheads North identical with those of * the Rebels South. 11. The Constitution Upheld and Maintained. 13. Rebel Terms of Peace. 13. Peace, to be Enduring, must be Conquered. 14. A History of Cruelties and Atrocities of the Rebellion. 16. Evidences of a Copperhead ConspirS'cy in the Northwest. The above documents will be printed in English and Germai. in eight or sixteen page pamphlets, aud sent, postage free, aooord sng to directions at the rate of one or two dollars per hundred copies. The plans and pui-poses of the Copperheads having been disclosed by the action of the Chicago Convention, they should al once be laid before the loyal people of the country. There is but two months between this and the election, and leagues, clubs, and individuals should loose no time in sending in their orders- Remittances should be made in Greenbacks or drafts on New York City, payable to the order of James Harlan. Address — Free. Hon. JAMES HARLAN, WfLshingUm^ D. G. V^ery respectfully, yours, &c., D. N. COOLEY, SeareUury. ' ■ ■ . . « Prtjoted by L«ra^';' To-werg, for th« Urion Congit««oaal OoramitVe*.