314 The American Civil War [F eb. 25 



believe that they had all along been misled in this matter, they now, 

 in 1921, recognise the existence of the German method here described. 

 And if ever unfortunately we are again engaged in a European 

 war, the lesson to be learnt by it is that concrete, concealment, and 

 the capacity to interpret aerial photography with accuracy, may 

 avert such losses as were incurred in the last. 



[S. J. S.] 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, February 25, 1921. 



Colonel C. H. Grove-Hills, C.M.G. D.Sc. F.R.S., 

 Secretary and Vice-President, in the Chair. 



John Buchan, M.A. LL.D. 

 The American Civil War. 



[Abstract.] 



Mr. Buchan began by explaining the causes which led to the 

 struggle, and which were deeper and more involved than the mere 

 question of slavery. He analysed the extraordinary difficulties before 

 Abraham Lincoln, and showed the peculiar fortitude required to 

 make the decision for war. He then sketched the main features of 

 the campaign. The problem of the North was first to raise armies 

 adequate to her superior man-power, and this was eventually done 

 by Lincoln's policy of the draft. In the second place, she had to use 

 her navy and her economic assets to starve the enemy ; and, finally, 

 she had to find generals who could use her preponderance in numbers 

 and material to the best purposes. Mr. Buchan showed how the 

 policy of the " shrinking quadrilateral" ultimately won— the policy 

 which gradually pressed in the South from four sides till Lee was 

 driven to surrender. He concluded with character sketches of Lee 

 and Lincoln, the latter of whom he considered the greatest man born 

 in modern times of our common blood. 



