Truly yours,
B. F. Wade.
Westminster Palace Hotel,
London, November 29, 1875.
My Dear Miss Carroll:
I remember very well that you were the first to advise the campaign on the Tennessee river in November, 1861. This I have never heard doubted, and the great events which followed it demonstrated the value of your suggestions. This will be recognized by our Government, sooner or later, I cannot doubt. On reaching home I hope to shake you by the hand once more.
Sincerely your friend,
Reverdy Johnson.
Discussions in Congress Showing the Critical Nature of the Situation.
In the House, January 7, 1862.
Mr. Kelley: I think the condition of this Capital to-day invites war. It is environed within a narrow circle of two hundred thousand men in arms, and yet, sir, that short river which leads to the Capital of a great and proud country, thus defended and encircled by patriot troops, is so thoroughly blockaded by rebels that the Government, though its army has not an adequate supply of forage, cannot bring upon it a peck of oats to feed a hungry horse. * * * Call it what you may, it is a sight at which men may well wonder. We have six hundred thousand men in the field. We have spent I know not how many millions of dollars, and what have we done? What one evidence of determined war or military skill have we exhibited to foreign nations, or to our own people? * * * We have been engaged in war for seven months. * * * England does respect power. * * * Let her hear the shouts of a victorious army, and England and the powers of the continent will pause with bated breath. Sir, it was said yesterday the last days had come. My heart has felt the last day of our dear country was rapidly approaching. Before we have reached victory we have reached bankruptcy. We are to-day flooding the country with an irredeemable currency. In ninety days, with the patriotism of the people paralyzed by the inaction of our great army, the funded debt of the country will depreciate with a rapidity that will startle us. In ninety days more the nations of the world will, I fear, be justified in saying to us, "You have no more right to shut up the cotton fields of the world by a vain and fruitless effort to reconquer the territory now in rebellion than China or Japan has to wall themselves in", and in the eyes of international law, in the eyes of the world, and, I fear, in the eyes of impartial history, they will be justified in breaking our blockade and giving to the rebels means and munitions of war. * * * But, sir, in less than ninety days, to come back to the point of time, we shall be advancing in the month of April, when Northern men will begin to feel the effects of heat in the neighborhood of Ship Island and the mouth of the Mississippi. Looking at the period of ninety days, I say it is not a double but a triple edged sword approaching, perhaps, the single thread of destiny upon which the welfare of our country hangs. Bankruptcy and miasmatic pestilence are sure to come within the lapse of that period, and foreign war may add its horror to theirs.
Mr. Wright: We are gasping for life. This great Government is upon the brink of a volcano, which is heaving to and fro, and we are not certain whether we exist or no.