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THE
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
WE continue in this number our
illustrations of the Army of the Potomac, from sketches by our special artists
in the field.
Mr. Davis has sent us a sketch of
the LOG-HUTS in which the troops proceeded to make themselves comfortable after
the
Battle of Fredericksburg. We reproduce it on
page 33. These rude shanties, built of rough logs, with tall wooden chimneys,
unthatched roofs and leaky walls, present few claims to architectural merit. But
they are a good deal more comfortable than shelter tents, and they can be built
in a few hours. Some Colonels, who take proper care of their men, will have a
whole regiment comfortably hutted in a couple of days.
The TEAMSTERS' DUEL, from a
sketch by Mr. Waud, on
page 33, is one of the humorous scenes in which our camps
abound. When a quarrel arises between two colored teamsters a challenge passes,
and the combatants lash each other with their long whips until one of them
confesses that he can endure no more, and "throws up the sponge." The other is
pronounced the victor, and very frequently admonishes his vanquished foe of the
necessity of better behavior in future, amidst the roars and laughter of the
white spectators.
The
SHELL IN THE REBEL TRENCHES,
drawn by Mr, Homer, is an event of not uncommon occurrence. The secesh chivalry
generally place their negroes in the post of danger; and when our gunners get
the range of their works and drop a well-aimed shell into them, the skedaddle
which ensues is such as Mr. Homer has depicted.
By
the President of the United States of
America.
A
PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, on the twenty-second day
of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two,
a Proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing,
among other things, the following, to wit:
"That on the first day of
January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all
persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the
people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be
then, thenceforth, and forever free, and the Executive Government of the United
States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and
maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such
persons or any of them in any effort they may make for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the
first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts
of States, if any, in which the people therein respectively shall then be in
rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people
thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the
United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the
qualified voters of such State shall have participated shall, in the absence of
strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State
and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States."
Now, therefore, I, Abraham
Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as
Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy of the United States, in time of actual
armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and
as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this
first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for
the full period of one hundred days from the day of the first above-mentioned
order, and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people
thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States the
following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana—except the parishes of St.
Bernard, Placquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension,
Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including
the city of New Orleans—Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina,
North Carolina, and Virginia—except the forty-eight counties designated as West
Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth
City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and
Portsmouth, and which excepted parts are, for the present, left precisely as if
this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power and
for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as
slaves within said designated States and parts of States are and henceforward
shall be free; and that the executive government of the United States, including
the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the
freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the
people no declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary
self-defense; and I recommend to them that in all cases, when allowed, they
labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make
known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed
service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other
places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this, sincerely believed
to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity,
I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty
God.
In witness whereof I have
hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United
States of America the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
HARPER'S WEEKLY.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1863.
HAVE
WE A GENERAL AMONG
US?
THEY say at
Washington that we have some thirty-eight to
forty Major-Generals, and nearly three hundred Brigadiers; and now the question
is, have we one man who can fairly be called a first-class General in the proper
meaning of the term?
Before this war broke out, it was
the prevailing opinion in military circles—more or less inspired by
General SCOTT—that "BOB
LEE," now Commander-in-Chief of the rebel army, was the ablest
strategist in our service. He had been chief of staff to the Conqueror of
Mexico. Next to him,
Albert S. JOHNSTON, who commanded our
expedition to Utah, and was killed on the
battle-field of Shiloh, was understood to rank
in point of military capacity. But it was doubted by General SCOTT whether
either of these two men, or any other officer in the service, was capable of
manoeuvring 50,000 men.
When the rebellion occurred, and
SCOTT, with his rare sagacity, foresaw the nature of the struggle, and that we
must have a HOCHE or a WOLFE to lead our army, himself being too old for the
work, the question arose—who should be the man? LEE and JOHNSTON were with the
enemy. HARNEY was not trusted. Between SCOTT and WOOL a deadly feud reigned.
TWIGGS had played traitor. PATTERSON, like
SCOTT, was superannuated. After much consultation the choice of Government fell
upon IRWIN McDOWELL, a soldier of fair repute, who had been employed for many
years in the bureaux at Washington. The recent court-martials have effectually
silenced the calumnies which at one time obscured
General McDOWELL'S fair fame; no blot now rests
upon his honor. But his original appointment was probably due to political
influence, and his subsequent record at
Bull Run, and in the campaign of 1862, showed
that, while his abilities were respectable, he had no claim to the first place
among Generals.
To him succeeded
McCLELLAN, whom every one pronounced the coming
man. Such opportunities as he enjoyed have seldom been vouchsafed to any one in
any country at any time. And it is still an open question whether or no he made
the most of them. For though his delays were exasperating, it is not sure that
greater haste would have been safe: though his peninsular campaign was a
failure, it is not sure that this was not caused exclusively by the refusal of
the Government at the last hour to allow McDOWELL to cooperate with him: though
he wasted a precious month in inaction after
Antietam, and refused to move at the command of
the President, it is not sure that if he had moved he would not have met his
Fredericksburg. It is certain that he possesses
some of the qualities of a first-rate General. As a strategist, he is admitted
to be perfect. His plans are comprehensive, far-reaching, and safe. He never
neglects "lines of retreat." He knows the value of earth-works, and is aware
that cannon-shot hit hard. He has made an army, and, more than that, he has won
their love, as Napoleon won the love of his vieille garde. But, on the other
hand, it is doubted by his critics whether he has the dash and daring which are
essential to the making of a first-class General. He is said never to have made
an attack upon the enemy, but always to have waited to be attacked. In him
caution is said to preponderate over enterprise: he is always prone rather to
exaggerate than to underrate an enemy's strength: a man, it is even said, of
more science than genius. Such a soldier would be admirable and perfect in
command of a fortress, but could not aspire to the first rank among Generals.
BURNSIDE'S place among soldiers is
undetermined. He has hitherto given proof of the very qualities which McCLELLAN
is said to lack, viz., energy and daring. His attack upon the rebel batteries at
Roanoke and Newbern, and the attempt to storm
LEE'S intrenchments at Frcdericksburg, were not at all in the McCLELLAN style.
They remind one more of NAPOLEON'S method. He resembles McCLELLAN in his
perseverance and in his popularity with his men. It remains to be seen whether
he possesses the other great qualities of that eminent commander—his coolness,
his power of combination, his foresight, and his rapidity of conception. If he
does, he will prove the General for the crisis.
The West has been prolific of
Generals of fair merit.
LYON, had he lived, would probably have stood
high.
General POPE, who at one time enjoyed a repute
second to none, struck his name off the list of competitors for fame by the
disastrous campaign ending at
Centreville.
ULYSSES GRANT has given evidence of enterprise,
determination, and personal gallantry which have stood him in good stead. He was
very fortunate at
Fort Donelson. Whether his record at
Shiloh—where he would have been destroyed but
for accidents beyond his control—will bear the test of inquiry, is a question
yet undetermined. However, he has still opportunities of vindicating his claim
to the confidence reposed in him by
General HALLECK. General
W. T. SHERMAN is making his record at
Vicksburg; hitherto he has been known as a
capable officer and a far-seeing man.
General CURTIS did extremely well on the
frontier of Missouri, and showed such adminstrative ability that, when General
HALLECK was called East, he succeeded him at St. Louis. General BLUNT has lately
won laurels in Arkansas; his march to Van Buren is one of the finest exploits of
the war, and if his expedition terminates successfully he will rank high among
our heroes.
At the present moment, however,
the most promising of our soldiers is
WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS. This officer was selected
by General McCLELLAN at the outbreak of the war, and served under him in Western
Virginia. He, like McCLELLAN, had served in the army, resigned, and engaged in
scientific and business pursuits. When McCLELLAN was ordered to Washington
ROSECRANS succeeded him, and thoroughly accomplished his work. He drove the
rebels out of Western Virginia, and enabled the people of that State to organize
a State government in peace. But for an accident he would have "bagged" FLOYD
and his army. After a period of idleness, he was sent to
Corinth, where he spent some weeks in necessary
preparations, knowing that the enemy
must attack him if he remained
still. The attack came, and resulted not only in the repulse, but in the
destruction of the rebel army, and enabled General GRANT to move forward to
Oxford. Promoted then to the command of the Army of the Ohio, he spent six weeks
at
Nashville in concentrating his forces, and
accumulating equipments and supplies for the campaign. He moved on 29th
December, and after five days' desperate fighting, completely defeated, and
"drove" the rebel army under Bragg, which, according to the Richmond papers, was
"to repossess Nashville within a week." As a strategist ROSECRANS has proved
himself second to none. In Western Virginia his combinations were most
ingenious, and his foresight wonderful. So at Corinth, where he alone or his
officers foresaw the battle, and how it would end. His wonderful mathematical
ability, which was remarked at West Point, stood him in good stead. At
Murfreesboro he seems to have developed personal gallantry of the GRANT order.
Twice, at least, in the course of those five days' battles, he saved the day,
and repelled the enemy, by galloping into the thick of the fight, and
reanimating his troops by the spectacle of his courage. He is a man of
enthusiasm, as well as a man of calculation: when his army fights, he is with
them. If he pursues the enemy as briskly as he attacked them, none of our
Generals will stand higher than ROSECRANS.
General BANKS'S record as a soldier has thus
far only been illustrated in his successful retreat up the Shenandoah Valley,
and in the
battle of Cedar Mountain. Both operations were
correct, and showed that he understood his new calling. Those who know General
BANKS expect more of him, and believe that before this war ends he will take a
high place among its heroes. West Point has furnished the country with but few
generals-in-chief. Not that a military education naturally unfits a man for
being a great soldier. But war being an art, not a science, a man can no more be
made a first-class general than a first-class painter, or a great poet, by
professors and text-books; he must be born with the genius of war in his breast.
Very few such men are born in a century, and the chances are rather that they
will be found among the millions of the outside people than in the select circle
who are educated at West Point.
THE
LOUNGER.
THE
DUTY OF CHEERFULNESS.
THE Italian Opera is again open,
under the management of Mr. Grau, and the customary winter season of the Academy
is not suspended even by the war. The season begins with a prima dogma of the
sweet and pleasing voice and refined action, Clara Louise Kellogg, who is about
leaving to fulfill her engagement at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. Brignoli,
for whom the operatic public across the sea is sighing, will be the tenor. We
are to have Miss Kellogg in Poliuto, Trovatore, Roberto il Diavolo, and the new
opera, Giovanna d' Arco, of which the manager declares that "the New York public
will have the priority of representation." Of other works there are promised,
Les Vespres Sicilien, Belisario, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Dinorah, as well as
Martha and La Somnambula. It is a brilliant promise.
The German Opera also still keeps
open its hospitable doors, spreading a feast within such as we have never had in
New York. The true enjoyment of opera is not so much a brilliant occasional
performance of a few familiar works as the constant presentation of a certain
school in all its varieties. In a proper metropolis there would be the opera of
each nationality, German, French, and Italian. With us the Italian is spasmodic.
The German is less frequent, but, when it is occasionally tried, it is
persistent; and the present enterprise is one which has been so successful that
we hope it may become permanent. If all the singers are not the best
conceivable, there is an admirable prima donna, and the music is most
conscientiously performed. In fact, a German audience is much more exigent than
any other, as exact musical science is more common in that people.
We ought indeed to be glad that
in the hot stress of the war there can be such recreation as truly fine music
affords. However painfully interested we may be in the struggle, it is
impossible for the public mind to sustain so strict a tension as exclusive
devotion to the war would imply. A proper recreation becomes, under such
circumstances, a tonic. It is not idling to hear music, and to look at noble
pictures, and to read good books, even while our brave boys are encamped and
ready every moment to march and fight. Even they are wise enough to amuse
themselves, as was seen in our late issue, showing the Christmas sports of the
Army of the Potomac. And here we have before us a copy of The New South, a neat
paper, published, written, and edited by our soldiers at Port Royal, South
Carolina. It is a very different sheet from the fuming, feverish Charleston
Mercury. It is, in fact, altogether a more wholesome newspaper than has been
published in our Southern latitudes for many a day. Its comely columns are
devoted to the news of the camp, of the whole army, and of things in general,
and its editorial columns are moral rather than political.
But to the especial point of our
remarks. This number contains an account of the
Thanksgiving amusements of the army at Hilton
Head. By day there were foot-races, rowing matches, target practice, hurdle and
wheel-barrow races, and meal feats, with the greased pole and greased pig's
tail. In the evening there were dramatic performances by a part of the Third
Rhode Island, and a fete by the
officers of the Forty-eighth New
York and Company G of the Third Rhode Island. The later holiday amusements were
not less cheerful.
While thus the soldiers smile in
the very face of exposure and danger we need not feel it necessary to look
gloomy or to forswear a wholesome diversion. There is no fear that our minds and
hearts will forget them or the great work before us; while a wise recreation
will fit us all the better to help them and to do the work.
THE
"ESSEX" AND THE "ALABAMA."
THE exploits of the
Alabama are very annoying, but the accusation
of imbecility against the Government for nut capturing and destroying her off
hand is childish. A privateer, or any single ship, always has the advantage of a
squadron. She roams the boundless ocean at her will, and defies capture, as a
solitary incendiary may for months baffle the police of a great city. The feats
of the Alabama are like the cavalry raids of the rebels. Nothing is easier for a
few daring horsemen than to skirt the flanks of an invading army. With a perfect
knowledge of the country they can pierce the open points of a line which can not
be effectively maintained from the Chesapeake to the Mississippi, taking the
risk of a safe escape. Such raids upon the land and saucy privateering upon the
sea are most annoying; but we need not suppose that the nation is gone because
Stuart dashes into Maryland or
Morgan upon a lonely railroad station, or
because
Raphael Semmes captures the Ariel and eludes
pursuit for months.
The performances of the Alabama
are nothing compared with those of the
Essex, under
David Porter, in the war of 1812. A few days
after the declaration of war Porter sailed from New York in the Essex, a frigate
of 32 guns. In a very short cruise he took a large number of British
merchantmen. He took one of a fleet of transports convoyed by a frigate and bomb
vessel; so if we hear that our California treasure ships have fallen a prey to
Semmes, spite of armed guardians, it will not be an act without precedent.
Presently Porter captured in an action of eight minutes the English ship-of-war
Alert. By-and-by a British Government packet, with fifty thousand dollars in
specie, fell into his hands. Then he sailed into the Pacific ocean to prey upon
the British whale-fishery. Here, having learned that Peru had sent out ships
against our commerce, he captured a Peruvian privateer which had taken two
American whale-ships. For ten months the Essex cruised in the Pacific protecting
our commerce, capturing twelve British ships, taking four hundred prisoners, and
for the time destroying the British fishery.
During all this time Porter lived
upon the enemy. In February, 1814, he arrived at Valparaiso, and a week later
the British frigate Phoebe, of 36 guns, and the sloop Cherub, of 20, entered the
port and anchored near the Essex. They were a part of the force which the
British Government had sent to scour every sea in search of the Essex. They had
ships in the China seas, off New Zealand, Timor, and New Holland; and a frigate
was off the river La Plata. After getting supplies the Phoebe cruised off
Valparaiso for six weeks, and the Essex tried to engage her alone. But the
Phoebe was too wary. On the 28th March the Essex attempted to get to sea, but in
doubling a headland she was struck by a squall which carried away her
main-topmast and destroyed several men. Thus crippled, she anchored three miles
from the town and a pistol-shot from the shore, and was here attacked by the
Phoebe and Cherub. The Essex junior, which was a tender of her namesake, could
be of no service with her 18-pound carronades, and after a fierce fight of two
hours and a half the Essex surrendered, with a loss of 58 killed, 66 wounded,
and 31 missing. The British loss was trifling—5 killed and 10 wounded.
There is no reason for surprise
if the Anglo-rebel pirate Alabama continues for some time longer her predatory
career. Happily, as yet, Semmes has not added murder to robbery. Indeed the
fascinated passengers of the Ariel report the marvelous "politeness" which is
traditional in the manner of pirates who, as every boarding-school knows, are
the most "gentlemanly" of men. The fact of his crime remains unchanged, that,
without the warrant of any recognized power in the world, ho is waging war upon
American commerce.
EDITORIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
A VETERAN editor suggests that it
might have been better if the newspapers had been suppressed during the war;
upon which another editor of experience remarks that every newspaper would have
done whatever the Government required, but that when the Government undertook
the censorship it virtually allowed the publication of every thing it suffered
to pass the wires.
But there is certainly a duty
beyond this devolving upon editors. There is the one fact, conceded by every
body, that the statements in the newspapers were never so untrustworthy as they
have been during the war. Here, for instance, are two papers taken at random.
One is last evening's, the other this morning's. The evening paper says that
another paper has a special dispatch which is believed to be trust-worthy, that
General Stuart has made a raid into Maryland, but that "plans are completed for
the capture of the whole rebel force," The morning paper says that the rebels
have not made a raid into Maryland; and in another place states that a previous
positive statement, greatly to the injury of a distinguished General, "we are
now satisfied was wholly erroneous."
It is no reply to such things to
say that correspondents are not infallible, and that mistakes will be sometimes
made. Is it not the truth that mistakes have been so habitually made, that
whenever there is a very positive personal statement every sensible reader
instantly disbelieves it, until it is proved to be true? Why should not editors
take it common-sense view as readers do? For instance, Stuart is said to be in
Maryland. Very well, that is possible. But when it is said that ample
arrangements are made to bag him, why does not the (Next
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