190 



CONFEDERATE STATES. 



purposes over men above forty-five years of 

 age. Thus, every able-bodied white man, be- 

 tween eighteen and forty-five, who was not an 

 officer commanding in the field, would become 

 an arms-bearing soldier. Retired and disabled 

 officers and soldiers, and men above forty-five, 

 would fill all other positions and discharge all 

 other duties. It was further proposed to Con- 

 gress to consolidate existing companies, bat- 

 talions, and regiments, and to officer them by 

 an examining board, appointed to select from 

 all the officers of the organizations commission- 

 ed, those who were best qualified. The officers 

 not selected were to be dropped, and required 

 to organize themselves into companies, battal- 

 ions, and regiments, to be officered from among 

 themselves. 



This measure of consolidation, etc., it was 

 estimated, would add at least ten thousand able- 

 bodied soldiers to the fighting army. It was 

 further contemplated to make some reduction in 

 the list of exemptions, and to create additional 

 guards against the exemption of those fit for 

 service. The proposition to arm the slaves 

 had been incidentally discussed before this 

 period, but was not regarded as a probable 

 measure. 



Meanwhile the public press was most vigor- 

 ous in efforts to rally the military spirit of the 

 people. It called for a prompt and resolute 

 execution of the conscription law, by the ap- 

 prehension of all who were absent without 

 leave, and the summary execution of all de- 

 serters. It declared there was an abundance 

 of bread and meat in the country, but the Com- 

 missary Department, or the railroads, were 

 inefficient, and that the details of the former 

 abounded in peculation and partiality. It 

 clamored from all quarters for the appointment 

 of the best officers to the military command, 

 and denounced the executive officers and Con- 

 gress because its clamors were unheeded, and 

 charged the latter with being predisposed for 

 peace. 



In order to improve the condition of the 

 Treasury, it was proposed in Congress to lay a 

 special export duty on cotton and tobacco. 

 Some members advocated the seizure by the 

 Confederacy of all the cotton and tobacco, on 

 the ground that it was necessary to adopt new 

 measures adapted to the altered situation and 

 circumstances. But two resources remained 

 by which to assist the currency and the coun- 

 try : one was to call upon the States to give up 

 to the Government the benefit of their separate 

 State credit ; the other was to draw upon the 

 mine of wealth which the country possessed in 

 its cotton and tobacco. The time had come 

 when the issue was clearly presented whether 

 the Government should tnke the cotton, or "let 

 the Yankees take it." It was further urged, 

 that the wheat, corn, meat, and other products 

 of the country, had been impressed by the Gov- 

 ernment at rates far below their market value, 

 and there was no reason why cotton and tobacco 

 should be exempted. 



The month of January, however, passed away 

 without any action by Congress upon the im- 

 portant measures for strengthening the army 

 or improving the condition of the treasury, or 

 reviving the confidence of the people, and with- 

 out any vigorous efforts on the part of the Ex- 

 ecutive to recover absentees from the army, or 

 to check the progress of Sherman, who had be- 

 gun his northern march from Savannah. On 

 the contrary, advocates of an honorable peace- 

 ful settlement of the war had arisen in Con- 

 gress, asserting that they were sustained by 

 the volume of sentiment in the country and in 

 the army, and by their own sense of duty, and 

 that they were determined, in some form, the 

 statesmanship of the country should be invoked 

 to an honest effort " to end the carnival of death" 

 by negotiation. In Congress a discussion took 

 place upon the subject of peace, and the true 

 course by which to commence the preliminaries. 

 Views like these soon developed a division of 

 sentiment. Those who opposed them, urged 

 that they led directly to disorganization, dis- 

 traction, and ruin ; the " peaceful settlement " 

 proposed, logically meant a reconstruction and 

 submission on the best terms that could be 

 begged. It was doubtless the existence of these 

 views which led Mr. Davis to consent, against 

 his own convictions of success, to appoint three 

 commissioners to confer with President Lin- 

 coln, together with the belief that such confer- 

 ence would demonstrate to the Southern people 

 again that subjugation or war were still the 

 only alternatives before them. " Better go 

 down fighting," said the public press, "better 

 be subjugated and conquered than live to recol 

 lect that we brought our ruin upon our heads 

 by a deceptive reconstruction." These were 

 the views of Government, the majority of Con- 

 gress, and of all exercising political authority. 

 No step backward had been taken by its stand- 

 ard bearers since the Confederate flag was first 

 raised aloft. If they might fail, they still seem- 

 ed to be resolved to disappear forever as Con- 

 federates, with its folds waving over them to 

 the last. This spirit was exhibited in the in- 

 structions of Mr. Davis to the three commis- 

 sioners, which were, substantially, that nego- 

 tiations should be conducted as between two 

 independent nationalities, and that pending the 

 negotiations an armistice of ninety days should 

 be proclaimed. 



The recent loss of Fort Fisher had produced 

 a mingled feeling of dismay and indignation 

 against the authorities at Richmond. 1; 

 urged that all the disasters of the previous two 

 months had resulted from the policy which per- 

 mitted Geiu_Sherman to march unop; 

 through Georgia; and diverted Hood .- 

 the Tennessee River. This absence of oppo- 

 sition, however, resulted from the misinforma- 

 tion existing in the Cabinet at Richmond in 

 regard to the troops in Georgia who were sup- 

 posed likely to check Sherman, although lie hud 

 one of the finest armies ever in the field. Nei- 

 ther did the authorities at Richmond compre- 



