216 



CONFEDERATE STATES. 



aspect was presented until the crisis came at 

 once and paralyzed the military strength in the 

 field. The disaster at Gettysburg, the loss of 

 Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the falling back 

 of Gen. Bragg, and the success of Gen. Gillmore 

 at Charleston, demonstrated that the military 

 power in the field was broken. Unless new 

 armies could be created or the reduced ranks 

 refilled, an ultimate failure was certain. The 

 views relative to the capture of Vicksburg 

 were thus expressed : 



If it be fated that, in spite of all human valor and 

 devotion can do, Vicksburg and its defenders should 

 become the prey of the enemy, then, indeed, will come 

 the tus; of war. Then also will come the political cri- 

 sis. Whatever of imbecility and faint-heartedness and 

 downright latent toryism and treason exists in the 

 Confederacy will at once receive a new accession of 

 weakness ; many will again begin to cry out for an 

 " honorable peace," as they call it, by means of submis- 

 sion. 



Thus, Vicksburc is at this moment a point not only 

 of strategic but also of political importance. While 

 our flag flies defiant over the great river, no party of 

 compromise can venture to raise its head; no man 

 will dare to breathe one word of " reconstruction," in 

 whole or in part. All will be good Confederates. The 

 cause which is supposed to be failing and sinking is 

 the one which is likely to be abandoned by the cow- 

 ards and betrayed by the traitors. To the cause that 

 prospers we are always as true as steel. 



In a speech before the Mississippi Legislature 

 President Davis said : " Vicksburg and Port 

 Hudson are the real points of attack. Every 

 effort will be made to capture these places, 

 with the object of forcing the navigation of 

 the Mississippi, of cutting off our communica- 

 tions with the trans-Mississippi Department, 

 and of severing the western from the eastern 

 portion of the Confederacy. Let, then, all who 

 have at heart the safety of the country go with- 

 out delay to Vicksburg and Port Hudson." 



The division of the Confederacy produced 

 by the loss of the Mississippi river, ia shown by 

 the following figures of the area on the west 

 and east sides : 



Square miles. 



Area of Arkansas 52,198 



Area of Louisiana 41,255 



Area of Texas 237,504 



330,957 



That is territory cut off. The following is 

 what remains. 



Alabama 50,722 



Georgia 68,000 



Mississippi 47,156 



South Carolina 29,885 



North Carolina (four fifths) 40,600 



Virginia (two thirds) 41,000 



Tennessee (one half ) 22,800 



Florida (two thirda) 40,000 



829,663 



In this extremity of the Government, a levy 

 en masse of the fighting population was order- 

 ed. It was plain that, unless this order was 

 complied with, the Confederacy would not bo 

 able to contend much longer in the field, ex- 

 oept in Virginia and Charleston, with the 

 forces and material of the North. In this Cri- 



sis President Davis ordered a day of fasting, 

 humiliation, and prayer to Almighty God to 

 be observed At the same time the North 

 failed to push these advantages vigorously, and 

 the campaigns closed for a time both east and 

 west. The response of the Confederacy to the 

 levy of all between eighteen and forty-five 

 years of age was now watched with great in- 

 terest. Meanwhile troops were sent from Vir- 

 ginia to Gen. Bragg, in Tennessee, and also 

 from Gen. Meade, on the Federal side, and 

 the result of the operations was another severe 

 blow to the Confederacy in the loss of East 

 Tennessee. Its effect was thus described : 



By the falling back of Geu. Bragg to the Georgia 

 line, we lost the use of all the extensive mines and iron 

 works of Tennessee and Northern Georgia, which left 

 us but the almost untried ore fields of Alabama and 

 North Carolina; the Western Virginia works being 

 lost to us early in the war. Alabama, though rich in 

 minerals of all kinds, had lacked the necessary energy 

 and enterprise to develop its vast wealth. In the se- 

 lection of \V. R. Hunt to take control of those import- 

 ant interests, the Department at Richmond was fortu- 

 nate in securing the services of one of the most intel- 

 ligent and energetic officers in our service. By his en- 

 ergy and perseverance, Alabama and Georgia mines 

 had been made to meet all the demands of our armies 

 and fortifications, including Charleston. In fact, it is 

 said and believed by many that the city of Charleston 

 would have been in the hands of the Yankees long 

 since, but for the untiring labors of Major Hunt in fur- 

 nishing the founderies and arsenals with ample mate- 

 rial. 



The lack of military supplies created great 

 embarrassment to the operation of the armies. 

 This was increased whenever the blockade was 

 most stringent. Immense numbers of South- 

 ern soldiers were clothed in the Federal uni- 

 forms which had been captured. At the close 

 of the year there were three thousand bare- 

 footed men in Gen. Longstreet's corps. Blank- 

 ets and clothing were asked for with piteous 

 appeals from Gen. Johnston's army, which had 

 been commanded by Gen. Bragg until Decem- 

 ber. The army of Gen. Lee was likewise des- 

 titute of blankets. It was said : "Day by day 

 the clothes made for the soldiers exhibit less 

 wool and more cotton." Supplies could no 

 longer be counted upon from abroad. The 

 prospect for obtaining the raw materials was 

 thus estimated : 



Any one who buys beef has discovered that the quar- 

 ters and sides are rapidly diminishing in size. Young- 

 er cattle are being^ slaughtered every year. It is now 

 thought that we will have to fall back upon milch cows. 

 As cattle diminish, mutton must be substituted, and 

 hence the sources both of leather and wool may be ex- 

 pected to decrease every month. Thus the prospect at 

 home does not encourage the belief that we will be 

 able to clothe armies larger than those which are now 

 shivering in nakedness. 



The prospect for .the subsistence of the army 

 was thus represented : 



Very little bacon is left, beef is going, and mutton 

 will hardly feed great armies, even if iho surmlv wore 

 double what it is. It is said that Gen. Lee, durinc: his 

 late visit to this city, exclaimed that the citizens had 

 no right to indulge themselves while the soldiers were 

 living on a quarter of a pound of meat per day. The 

 hue and cry against the starvation of Yankee prison- 



