The Confederate Soldier.
By CARLTON McCARTHY
It should be remembered also that, while the South was restricted to its own territory for supplies, and its own people for men, the North drew on the world for material and on every nation of the earth for men.
The arms and ammunition of the Federal soldiers were abundant and good, so abundant and so good that they supplied both armies, and were greatly preferred by Confederate officers.
The equipment of the Federal armies was well-nigh perfect. The facilities for manufacture were simply unlimited, and the nation thought no expenditure of treasure too great, if only the country, the “Union” could be saved.
The factory and the foundry chimneys made a pillar of smoke by day and of fire by night. The latest improvements were hurried to the front, and adopted by both armies almost simultaneously; for hardly had the Federal bought, when the Confederate captured, and used, the very latest. Commissary stores were piled up all over Virginia, for the use of the invading armies. They had more than they could protect, and their loss was gain to the hungry defenders of the soil.
The Confederate soldier was purely patriotic.
It should be remembered also that, while the South was restricted to its own territory for supplies, and its own people for men, the North drew on the world for material and on every nation of the earth for men.
The arms and ammunition of the Federal soldiers were abundant and good, so abundant and so good that they supplied both armies, and were greatly preferred by Confederate officers.
The equipment of the Federal armies was well-nigh perfect. The facilities for manufacture were simply unlimited, and the nation thought no expenditure of treasure too great, if only the country, the “Union” could be saved.
The factory and the foundry chimneys made a pillar of smoke by day and of fire by night. The latest improvements were hurried to the front, and adopted by both armies almost simultaneously; for hardly had the Federal bought, when the Confederate captured, and used, the very latest. Commissary stores were piled up all over Virginia, for the use of the invading armies. They had more than they could protect, and their loss was gain to the hungry defenders of the soil.
The Confederate soldier was purely patriotic.
He foresaw clearly, and deliberately chose, the trials which he endured. He was an individual who could not become the indefinite portion of a mass, but fought for himself, on his own account. He was a self-sacrificing hero, but did not claim that distinction or any merit, feeling only that he was in the line of duty to self, country, and God. He fought for a principle, and needed neither driving nor urging, but was eager and determined to fight. He was not a politic man, but a man under fervent feeling, forgetful of the possibilities and calamities of war, pressing his claims to the rights of humanity.
The Confederate soldier was a monomaniac for four years. His mania was, the independence of the Confederate States of America, secured by force of arms.
The Confederate soldier was a venerable old man, a youth, a child, a preacher, a farmer, merchant, student, statesman, orator, father,brother, husband, son, the wonder of the world, the terror of his foes !
Amen!
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