CONCLUSION.
Dismissing hope of making my small voice heard in mitigation of the woes of my State, in May, 1873, I went to Europe and remained many months. Returned to New York, I found that the characters on the wall, so long invisible, had blazed forth, and the vast factitious wealth, like the gold of the dervish, withered and faded in a night. The scenes depicted of Paris and London, after the collapse of Mississippi schemes and South Sea bubbles, were here repeated on a greater scale and in more aggravated form. To most, the loss of wealth was loss of ancestry, repute, respectability, decency, recognition of their fellows—all. Small wonder that their withers were fearfully wrung, and their wails piteous. Enterprise and prosperity were frozen as in a sea of everlasting ice, and guardians of trusts, like Ugolino, plunged their robber fangs into the scalps and entrails of the property confided to them.
A public journal has recently published a detailed list, showing that there has been plundered by fiduciaries since 1873 the amazing amount of thirty millions of money; and the work goes on. Scarce a newspaper is printed in whose columns may not be found some fresh instance of breach of trust. As poisoning in the time of Brinvilliers, stealing is epidemic, and the watch-dogs of the flocks are transformed into wolves.
Since the tocsin sounded we have gone from bad to worse. During the past summer (1877) laborers, striking for increased wages or to resist diminution thereof, seized and held for many days the railway lines between East and West, stopping all traffic. Aided by mobs, they took possession of great towns and destroyed vast property. At Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, State troops attempting to restore order were attacked and driven off. Police and State authorities in most cases proved impotent, and the arm of Federal power was invoked to stay the evil.
Thousands of the people are without employment, which they seek in vain; and from our cities issue heartrending appeals in behalf of the suffering poor. From the Atlantic as far to the west as the young State of Nebraska, there has fallen upon the land a calamity like that afflicting Germany after the Thirty Years' War. Hordes of idle, vicious tramps penetrate rural districts in all directions, rendering property and even life unsafe; and no remedy for this new disease has been discovered. Let us remember that these things are occurring in a country of millions upon millions of acres of vacant lands, to be had almost for the asking, and where, even in the parts first colonized, density of population bears but a small relation to that of western Europe. Yet we daily assure ourselves and the world that we have the best government under the canopy of heaven, and the happiest land, hope and refuge of humanity.
Purified by fire and sword, the South has escaped many of these evils; but her enemies have sown the seeds of a pestilence more deadly than that rising from Pontine marshes. Now that Federal bayonets have been turned from her bosom, this poison, the influence of three fourths of a million of negro voters, will speedily ascend and sap her vigor and intelligence. Greed of office, curse of democracies, will impel demagogues to grovel deeper and deeper in the mire in pursuit of ignorant votes. Her old breed of statesmen has largely passed away during and since the civil war, and the few survivors are naturally distrusted, as responsible for past errors. Numbers of her gentry fell in battle, and the men now on the stage were youths at the outbreak of strife, which arrested their education. This last is also measurably true of the North. Throughout the land the experience of the active portion of the present generation only comprises conditions of discord and violence. The story of the six centuries of sturdy effort by which our English forefathers wrought out their liberties is unknown, certainly unappreciated. Even the struggles of our grandfathers are forgotten, and the names of Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Jay, Marshall, Madison, and Story awaken no fresher memories in our minds, no deeper emotions in our hearts, than do those of Solon, Leonidas, and Pericles. But respect for the memories and deeds of our ancestors is security for the present, seed-corn for the future; and, in the language of Burke, "Those will not look forward to their posterity who never look backward to their ancestors."
Traditions are mighty influences in restraining peoples. The light that reaches us from above takes countless ages to traverse the awful chasm separating us from its parent star; yet it comes straight and true to our eyes, because each tender wavelet is linked to the other, receiving and transmitting the luminous ray. Once break the continuity of the stream, and men will deny its heavenly origin, and seek its source in the feeble glimmer of earthly corruption.
INDEX.
Acadian exiles in Attakapas, [105];
their descendants, [106].
Alabama delegates retire from Charleston Convention, [12].
Alberoni, Abbé, [263].
Andersonville Prison, [216].
Antietam a drawn battle, [95].
Antipathy to the South, [238].
Anti-slavery agitation, [10].
Army, Confederate, of Virginia moved to Gordonsville, [42].
Ashby, General Turner, during march to Harrisonburg, [69];
his death, [71];
no disciplinarian, [72].
Attakapas, home of the Acadians, [105].
Bank of Tennessee, its treasure restored, [224].
Banks, General N.P., his ignorance and arrogance, [164];
retreats to Alexandria, [182];
his army demoralized, [187];
his misleading dispatches, [135], [137], [146], [151], [174], [181].
Baton Rouge, Confederates repulsed, [107].
Bayou des Allemands surprised, [111].
Beauregard, General P.G.T., his coolness and courage at Manassas, [19].
Berwick's Bay captured by Confederates, [141];
the prisoners and spoil, [143].
Bisland attacked by Federals, [130].
Blunders of Confederates in first Richmond campaign, [86].
Bourbeau Bayou, Confederate success there, [150].
Boyd, Belle, Confederate spy, [51].
Bragg, General B., occupies Pensacola, [15];
services in United States army, [99];
a strong disciplinarian, [100];
invades Kentucky, [ib.];
his petulance, [ib.]
Brent, Major J.L., Taylor's chief of artillery, [117];
his fertility of resource, [118].
Brown, Joseph, Governor of Georgia, [212].
Bugeaud's "Maxims," [39].
Burton, General, commandant of Fortress Monroe, [246].
Butler, General B.F., in the Charleston Convention, [11]:
puts a stop to marauding, [112].
Canby, General E.R.S., invests the Mobile forts, [221];
the city occupied, [222].
Carpet-baggers, [236].
Cavalry, Confederate, its indiscipline, [60].
Charleston Convention, [10].
Civil War, causes of the, [9].
Cobb, Howell, and the defenses of Macon, [211];
his death, [213].
Cold Harbor, battle of, [84].
Collapse of the Confederacy, [230].
Confederate government at Montgomery, its vacillation, [15].
Conventions called to repeal secession ordinances, [227];
this action punished as rebellion, [228].
Corruption, political and social, [257].
Cotton, Confederate gunboat, [121].
Courtesy to a wounded prisoner, [151].
Creoles of Louisiana not an effete race, [109].
Cushing, Caleb, in the Charleston Convention, [11].
Davis, Henry Winter, [244].
Davis, Jefferson, his amiability, [24];
a prisoner in Fortress Monroe, [246].
Disease in the Confederate Army of Virginia, [23].
Diana, gunboat, captured by Confederates, [128].
"District of Louisiana," its military resources, [108].
Dix, General John A., in the Philadelphia Convention, [253];
the "Vicar of Bray" of American politics, [253].
Embezzlement and breach of trust, [268].
Engineer service unfits for command, [98].
Ewell, Lieutenant-General R.S., his services in the United States army, [37];
his manner and personal appearance, [ib.];
his absence of mind, [78].
Farragut, Admiral D.G., opens the Mississippi to Vicksburg, [125].
Fessenden, General, his account of the Pleasant Hill battle, [171].
Fish, Hamilton, [261].
Forrest, General, by nature a great soldier, [199];
secret of his success, [200];
his kindly disposition,[ ib.]
Fort Butler unsuccessfully attacked, [144].
Fort de Russy captured, [155].
Frazier's Farm, [91].
Freedmen's Bureau and Bank, [251].
Fremont routed at Strasburg, [65];
beaten at Cross Keys, [73].
Front Royal captured by Taylor, [53].
Fuller, Captain, improvises a gunboat, [119];
delays Federal advance up the Teche, [121].
Fusilier, Leclerc, his gallantry and munificence, [109].
Gettysburg battle, [230].
Gibson, General R.L., his defense of Spanish Fort, [221].
Governments set up by the military in Southern States, [248].
Grant, General, opposed to advance on Richmond by land, [33];
testimony concerning this point, [34],[ note];
begins operations against Vicksburg, [121];
classed with Marshal Villars and the Duke of Cumberland, [149];
his error at Vicksburg, [149];
his modesty and generosity, [242];
opposed to reconstruction at first, [256];
his part in the election of 1876, [266].
Green, Major-General Thomas, killed, [177].
Gunboats, the terror they at first inspired, [118].
Hancock, Major-General W.S., restores order at New Orleans, [251].
Hardee, Major-General, his modesty, [215].
Hood, Lieutenant-General, his losses at Franklin, [216];
superseded by Taylor, [217];
his army after defeat, [ ib.]
Horsemen strapped to their steeds, [55].
Ignorance claims its victims, [93].
Immigration, how it determined the events of 1860, [10].
Indianola, iron-clad, passes Vicksburg, [123];
sunk by the Confederates, [125].
"Initiative" and "defensive," [20].
Irishmen as soldiers, [76].
Jackson, General T.J. (Stonewall), his appearance and manner, [49];
his care for the ammunition trains, [56];
routs Banks at Winchester, [59];
his inner nature, [79];
ranked with Nelson and Havelock, [80].
Jerome, Leonard, and the New York "Times," [254].
Johnson, Andrew, [240], [242].
Johnston, General Albert Sidney, his services in the United States
Army, [231];
character, [232];
his death an irreparable loss, [233].
Johnston, General Joseph E., his estrangement from Jefferson Davis, [26];
moves his army to Orange Court House, [35];
services in United States army,[ ib.];
a master of logistics, [43];
his neglect of opportunity,[ ib.]
Kellogg, William Pitt, [263].
Kentucky, invasion of, [101].
"King Cotton" a tyrant, [235].
Ku-Klux assassinations, [250].
Labor troubles in the North, [268].
Lee, General R.E., his force at opening of first Richmond campaign, [86];
his strategy commended, [ib.];
place in Southern history, [96];
his mistakes, [97];
his tactics inferior to his strategy,[ ib.];
his surrender proclaimed to Taylor's army, [222].
Lee, General A.L., his account of the battle of Pleasant Hill, [173].
Louisiana secedes from the Union, [13];
temper of the people, [ib.]
Louisiana Brigade, [78];
its losses at Cold Harbor, [85].
Louisiana, the State government overturned, [259]-[262].
Louisiana, Western, its topography and river systems, [103].
Malvern Hill battle, [91].
Manassas, first battle of, encourages the Confederates, [18];
effect at the North, [31].
Mansfield, battle of, [162].
Mechanical resources wanting to the South, [202].
Missouri compromise, [9].
Mobile, its defenses, [201];
occupied by General Canby, [222].
Moore, Thomas O., Governor of Louisiana, [102].
Morton, Senator, [260].
Mouton, Alexander, president of Louisiana Convention, [12];
his zeal for the Southern cause, [108].
McClellan, General George B., assumes command of Potomac army, [31];
his work as an organizer, [32];
his strategy, [33];
his force at beginning of Richmond campaign, [86];
in battle of Cold Harbor, [87];
his topographical knowledge, [ib.];
as a commander, [93];
lacked audacity, [95].
McDowell, Major-General Irvin, his plan of battle at Manassas, [19].
Magruder, General, as a commander, [93].
Malvern Hill, battle of, [92].
Negro slaves, their fidelity, [210].
Office-seeking, the curse of democracies, [269].
Pemberton, General, his services in the United States army, [116];
his unfitness for independent command, [117];
his blunder at Vicksburg, [148].
Philadelphia Convention, [252].
Pleasant Hill, battle of, [168].
Polignac, Prince Charles, [154].
Pope, General, his incapacity, [95].
Port Hudson taken by Federals, [145].
Port Republic, Federal repulse, [16].
Porter, Admiral D.D., ascends Red River, [155];
assists in taking Fort de Russy,[ ib.];
his report on battle of Pleasant Hill, [174];
his losses in descending Red River, [185];
report on Banks's retreat to Alexandria, [187].
Presidential election of 1876, [266].
Provost-marshals, their exactions, [208].
Queen of the West, gunboat, runs the Vicksburg batteries, [122];
captured by Confederates, [124].
Railroads, inefficiency of the Southern, [203].
Red River opened by the Federals, [136].
Richmond, Dean, in the Charleston Convention, [11].
River systems of Western Louisiana, [103].
Salt mines at Petit Anse, [114].
Selma taken by Federals, [219].
Seward, W.H., [240].
Seymour, Colonel, killed at Cold Harbor, [85].
Sheridan, General P.H., in New Orleans, [262];
his course approved by a renegade Democrat, [263].
Sherman, General W.T., his way of making war, [195].
Shiloh, battle of, [231].
Slavery not the cause of the civil war, [10].
Smith, Lieutenant-General E. Kirby, in command of the "Trans-Mississippi Department," [126];
his military record, [127];
orders reënforcement of Pemberton, [138];
his administration, [153];
his anxiety about safety of Shreveport, [176];
allows Banks and Porter to escape, [190];
compared to Quintilius Varus, [192].
South Carolina delegates in Charleston Convention, [11].
Southern leaders after Lee's surrender, [223].
"Southern Outrages," [249].
Southrons have no aptitude for marching, [36].
Stanton, E.M., [241].
Statesmanship lacking to the Confederacy, [233].
Stephens, Alexander H., his character, [29];
his views concerning military matters,[ ib.];
his tergiversation, [ib.];
neglect of Jefferson Davis, [30].
Stevens, Thaddeus, [243].
Straggling in the Southern army, [36].
Strasburg, affair at, [65].
Sufferings of the people after the war, [236].
Sumner, Charles, [245].
Tactical mistakes of Confederate generals, [93].
Taylor, R. (the author), a delegate to Charleston, [10];
his efforts to promote harmony, [12];
sees war to be inevitable, [13];
commissioned colonel, [16];
brigadier, [23];
habit of noting topography and resources of districts, [40];
disposition for meeting or making an attack,[ ib.];
his Louisiana brigade, [47];
major-general, [93];
in command of District of Louisiana, [102];
lieutenant-general, [196];
supersedes Hood, [217];
his army sent into North Carolina, [218];
his surrender, [226];
return home, [228];
visits Jeff. Davis in Fortress Monroe, [246].
Teche country, [105];
military operations in, [131], [135].
Tents, useless impedimenta, [40].
Toombs, General Robert, takes Georgia "home-guards" out of their State, [215].
Topography, ignorance of, among Confederates, [86].
"Trans-Mississippi Department," its last hours, [229].
Troopers strapped to their horses, [55];
protected by breastplates,[ ib.]
Truce concluded between Generals Canby and Taylor, [224].
Turenne, anecdote of, [64].
Universal suffrage, its effects on a people, [209].
Valley of Virginia, its opulence, [45];
laid waste by General Sheridan, [46].
Vicksburg, attempts to relieve it, [138].
Vicksburg and Fort Hudson, importance of, to the Confederates, [116].
Walker, General W.H.T., his services in the United States army, [22];
joins forces with Taylor, [150].
War, its demoralizing effects on the North, [257].
Washington City after the war, [241].
Weitzel, General, ascends the Teche, [120];
his successes, [121].
Louisiana, its topography, [103].
Wheat, Major, his turbulent battalion, [25];
his checkered career, [26].
Wilson, General, captures Selma, [220].
Winchester, battle of, [56].
Winder, General Charles, [79].
Winston, ex-Governor, his conservatism, [12];
his change of views, [ib.]
Wirtz, his efforts to better the condition of prisoners, [216].
Wyndham, Colonel Percy, [26].
Yancey, William L., his influence in the Charleston Convention, [11].