Posted on 04/22/2021 5:16:46 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
A gentleman who left Washington at half past four o'clock on Saturday morning, informs us that the general belief in that city in the best informed circles, was that JEFFERSON DAVIS was on his way North--at the head of a considerable force, which he was augmenting on the way. As all communication by telegraph with the South has been cut off, it was impossible to procure any positive information on this subject; but it was considered beyond dispute that he was en route for the Capital and not very far from it at the present time.
Our informant states that the railroad bridge at Canton, two or three miles out of Baltimore, on the road to Washington, was burning as he came through, and that the telegraph wires were also destroyed at that place. Baltimore, he states, seemed to be in a perfect whirlwind of excitement. Thousands of people thronged the streets, who appeared to have lost all control of themselves, and were more like fiends than human beings. At that time the military and police had not, apparently, established any authority over the city. At 1 o'clock our informant left Baltimore by a propeller through the Elkton Canal. He met two barges, which seemed to be filled with troops, though not many were visible, as they were all housed. The captains of the barges, on being hailed, denied that they had troops on board, but the gentlemen on the propeller were confident from what they heard that there were not less than 1,700, and that they were of the Pennsylvania Volunteers.
The road from Philadelphia to Baltimore is completely interrupted, no trains passing over it at all.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Thanks Professor.
Im guessing in the next few weeks there will be a CSA and Union armies battle at Bull run (a river if heavy rains). Many of the Washington “elite” came out to watch the “festivities.”. Didn’t go as “choreographed.”
Or, the first Battle of Manassas, depending upon your prospective.
5.56mm
“While our editors here mock alleged Southern braggadocio, they may in time learn respect for the courage & tenacity of Confederate soldiers, along with the canniness of their leaders. And we might notice that while claiming only the highest of motives for our own side, we name only the basest motives for our opponents . . .”
What a thoughtful comment.
Apparently there is another side of you that no one has ever seen.
The Rebs won that one. And the second one too.
They lost the war though.
South got it’s ass kicked.
I'd be ashamed it took that many. Clearly they were almost worth four times your number.
I think he’s quoting someone else. I may be mistaken, but I don’t think those were his words.
I rather suspect that it is your selective vision making a fool of you once again.
I have been a participant in FreeRepublic’s WBTS threads for 15 years or better and I have been witness to one very real constant: while pro-unionists criticize the tactics and strategies of confederate military, we do not disparage the memory of confederate soldiers. It just does not happen. (Here’s where you can post some random tidbit from some long-lost FReeper in a feeble attempt at “the exception disproving the rule” logical fallacy).
From grudging respect to all-out fawning admiration, pro-unionists have paid plenty of deference to the confederate military.
That said I can’t say the same for the other side. One would be hard-pressed to see an admission by pro-confeds of ANY US soldier, from the lowly private to US Grant. It just does not happen. As a matter of fact there is one poster - whose name isn’t worth mentioning - who often posts photographs of dead US soldiers to goad pro-unionists.
My personal favorite is Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was a truly self-made man, an excellent tactician, and a formidable enemy.
Any words I quote are in italics with " " around them and some indication of the source, a link if nothing else.
Anything else are my own words, though I make no claims to "original thinking", and it's very likely that somewhere, some-time in the past I read similar words from somebody a lot smarter than me.
In this particular case, as our FRiend rockrr explains in post #26, I am merely expressing the normal & genuine opinion of nearly all pro-Union posters here, that Confederates made a much better showing than a simple tally of their resources (or lack of) might suggest.
Americans hold in similar high regard other great warriors -- for example, Chief Black Hawk has a helicopter named after him, as does the entire Apache nation.
Our navy has whole fleets named after Indian tribes and individual Indians -- from USS Pawnee & Pocahontas to Sacajawea & Chickasaw.
In 1998 the US named an operation against Iraq for an especially effective German WWII leader: Operation Desert Fox.
The Brits in our Revolutionary War are often referred to as the world's greatest super-power of the time, against whom American Minute-Man farmers were only occasionally able to stand, man for man.
We could name many others...
Indeed, until recent years it was not even controversial to name Navy ships and Army bases or weapons for Confederate leaders.
Sure, in 20-20 hindsight their defeat seems inevitable, but it might also have come much quicker & easier.
Well... only 2.5 to one if you count 4 million Southern slaves, of whom hundreds of thousands served in non-combat roles for the Confederate military.
The rest grew food & worked in factories of wartime production, etc.
Overall, about a million Confederate soldiers served vs. 2.5 million for the Union.
But in many other respects the Union outnumbered Confederates by 4 to 1 and much more -- especially in war materials production and such factors as miles of railroad available.
Consider that standard military theory of that time said an army needed a 3 to 1 advantage to guarantee victory, and the Union had only 2.5 to one, which may help explain why the war lasted so long.
I don’t get it - we’re supposed to be shame-faced because we don’t feel the need to do their job (lavish praise on their team) although we don’t get credit whenever we do?
Then we are supposed to feel chagrined because we employed more soldiers than they did? Possibly because we understood their talents and recognized the threat they posed? There’s no pleasing some people!
An enslaved population was critical to the Confederate war effort.
April 26 is Confederate Memorial Day so I am feeling mighty generous.
Thank you for your comment.
Meanwhile, the other guy threw everything he had into the fight.
Consider that standard military theory of that time said an army needed a 3 to 1 advantage to guarantee victory, and the Union had only 2.5 to one, which may help explain why the war lasted so long.
That, and McClellan appears to have not wanted to fight it at all. I actually don't blame him. It was a war that should not have been fought.
The slaves working for the Union probably were not critical to the Union war effort, but they certainly helped. Of course when you outnumber someone 4 to 1, you don't need as much logistical support as a percentage of your population as the other guys do.
Of all the dumb things you’ve ever said that takes the cake.
If it weren’t for the self-admission that you have Asperger’s Syndrome I be far harsher on you but there for the grace go I.
Curious it is though how every time Bro J K cleans your clock it’s me you come after.
I’m secure in assuming you’re not complimenting me.
I’ve no respect or admiration anything the Confederacy did.
Rending the nation in two, causing the single greatest loss of life in any war this nation fought for the purpose of keeping a people enslaved is nothing to be proud of.
Well good, that's the reaction I was hoping for. :)
Curious it is though how every time Bro J K cleans your clock it’s me you come after.
Most of the time I don't bother to read what BroJoeK writes. I've argued with him before, and he just goes straight into the weeds. It is tedious reading what he has written, and especially so when he simply regurgitates the same stuff he had been corrected on during prior encounters.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
He'll drink when he's ready to do so. In the meantime, I'll keep pointing out all the corruption going on in Washington today and the methodology the Washington corruption cartel uses to stay in power, like calling everyone who threatens their power "racist."
Maybe he'll figure out this is the game they've been playing for a long time.
And then less than 48 hours later we see post 35: “I've no respect or admiration anything the Confederacy did.”
But, I have decided on this Confederate Memorial Day not to invoke post 35 in an attempt to disprove your statement. Were I to do so I would be opening myself to, possible, legitimate criticism that I was being unfair.
For one thing, going beyond three standard deviations to find someone making a goofy comment really is not fair.
I will not fall into that trap.
Your statement, for now, remains unchallenged.
Point by point the man takes your positions and arguments apart and like a child throwing a tantrum you come after me.
Admittedly I'm not the Civil War scholar Joe is. That's why you like to chastise me.
If you’re going to quote me Reb have the courage and the decency to address me directly.
I stand by what I said.
You're making a wise & strong case for why Jefferson Davis should not have started war at Fort Sumter, should not have formally declared war on May 6, 1861 and, having done those things anyway, should then have negotiated peace on much better terms than Unconditional Surrender.
But Davis didn't follow your advice and so here we are.
Actually, just as in WWII, those other 1-1/2 men were not so much "in reserve" as fully employed in producing war materials for our front-line troops.
In that sense they were as important to victory as anyone else.
They were roughly equivalent to the 4 million southern slaves working to support the Confederate war machine.
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