196 



CONFEDERATE STATES. 



cessarily on the railroads. These were never 

 designed or provided with means for the task 

 now upon them. They had, hesides, suf- 

 fered much from inability to command the 

 supplies of iron, implements, and machinery, 

 and from many sacrifices and losses in war. 

 The deficiency in skilled labor was also a great 

 embarrassment in requisite repairs. Some of 

 the shorter and less important lines were thus 

 sacrificed, and the iron and machinery taken 

 for the maintenance of the leading roads, and 

 for the construction of some essential and less 

 exposed interior links of connection. 



The military operations absorbed all the 

 energies of the people, and required the sacri- 

 fice of every private interest to secure their 

 success. If these failed, their cause was lost. 

 But armies could be raised and sustained only 

 while hope invigorated the spirits of the peo- 

 ple. In this respect the year 1864 brought the 

 severest test which had yet been felt. The 

 waning proportions of the military territory 

 and of the armies to resist their foes, depressed 

 the hopes of the rulers and people, and fore- 

 boded what the result would be. Hence un- 

 usual efforts were made to rouse their energies ; 

 political differences and dissensions began to 

 appear ; the subject of peace was openly dis- 

 cussed ; and new and unusual measures of as- 

 sistance, such as the enlistment of negro troops, 

 were advocated. 



On October 17th, the Governors of Virginia, 

 North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala- 

 bama (see ALABAMA), and Mississippi, met to- 

 gether at Augusta, in Georgia, and after a full 

 consultation and expression of opinion, adopted 

 the following resolutions as indicating their 

 views : 



Resolved, That there is nothing in the present 

 aspect of public affairs to cause any abatement of 

 our zeal in the prosecution of the war to the accom- 

 plishment of a peace, based on the independence of 

 the Confederate States. And to give encouragement 

 to our brave soldiers in the field and to strengthen 

 the Confederate authorities in the pursuit of this de- 

 sirable end, we will use our best exertions to increase 

 the effective force of our armies. 



Resolved, That the interests of each of our States 

 are identical in the present struggle for self-govern- 

 ment, and wisdom and true patriotism dictate that 

 the military forces of each should aid the others 

 against invasion and subjugation; and for this pur- 

 pose we will recommend to our several Legislatures 

 to repeal all such laws as prohibit the Executives 

 from sending their forces beyond their respective 

 limits, in order that they may render temporary ser- 

 vice wherever most urgently required. 



Resolved, That whilst it is out purpose to use every 

 exertion to increase the strength and efficiency of 

 our State and Confederate forces, we respectfully 

 and earnestly request that the Confederate authori- 

 ties will send to the field every able-bodied man, 

 without exception, in any of its various departments, 

 whose place can be filled by either disabled officers 

 and soldiers, senior reserves, or negroes, and dis- 

 pense with the use of all provost and post guard, ex- 

 cept in important cities, or localities where the pres- 

 ence of large bodies of troops make them necessary, 

 ind_with all passport agents upon railroads not in 

 the immediate vicinity of the armies, as we consider 

 these agents an unnecessary annoyance to good citi- 

 tend and of no possible benefit to the country. 



Resolved, That we recommend our respective Legis 

 latures to pass stringent laws for the arrest and re- 

 turn to their commands of all deserters and strag- 

 glers from the Confederate armies or State troops ; 

 and that it be made the special duty, under appro- 

 priate penalties, of all civil and military officers to 

 arrest and deliver to the proper authorities all such 

 delinquents. 



Resolved, That the course of the enemy in appro- 

 priating our slaves who happen to fall into their 

 hands to purposes of war, seems to justify a change 

 of policy on our part ; and whilst owners of slaves 

 under the circumstances should freely yield them to 

 their country, we recommend to our authorities, 

 under proper regulations, to appropriate such part 

 of them to the public service as may be required. 



And lastly, we deem it not inappropriate to declare 

 our firm and unalterable purpose, as we believe it to 

 be that of our fellow-citizens, to maintain our right 

 of self-government, to establish our independence, 

 and to uphold the rights and sovereignty of the 

 States, or to perish in the attempt. 



The desertions from the armies, which had 

 reached a hundred thousand men, and the 

 limited force in the field to resist the advance 

 of Gens. Sherman and Grant, were facts which 

 demanded the most stringent measures on the 

 one hand, and expressed the discouragement 

 of the people on the other. Mr. Davis, in a 

 public speech at Macon, in September, closed 

 with these words : 



If one-half of the men now absent without leave 

 will return to duty, we can defeat the enemy. With 

 that hope I am going to the front. I may not realize 

 this hope ; but I know that there are men who havo 

 looked death in the face too often to despond now. 

 Let no one despond. Let no one distrust, and re- 

 member that if genius is the beau ideal, hope is the 

 reality. 



At this time the granary of the State of 

 Georgia was occupied by the army of Gen. 

 Sherman. The loss of this vast agricultural 

 interest, the people of that State and of all the 

 Southern Atlantic States were totally unpre- 

 pared to retrieve and ill-prepared to endure. 

 Its effect was to withdraw from market neces- 

 sary food, to increase the population by refu- 

 gees, thus causing an increased demand on the 

 agriculture of other portions, and to increase 

 the prices, thereby still further depreciating 

 the currency. These considerations were re- 

 plied to by Mr. Davis, at Augusta, in October, 

 as follows : 



Those who see "no hope now, who have lost confi- 

 dence, are to me like those of whose distorted vision 

 it is said they behold spots upon the sun. Such are 

 the croakers who seem to forget the battles that havo 

 been won, and the men who have fought ; who for- 

 get that in the magnitude of those battles, and the 

 heroism of those men, this struggle exceeds all that 

 history records. We commenced the fight without 

 an army, without a navy, without arsenals, without 

 mechanics, without money, and without credit. Four 

 years we have stemmed the tide of invasion, and to- 

 day are stronger than when the war began ; better 

 able now than ever to repulse the vandal who is seek- 

 ing our overthrow. Once we imported the common- 

 est articles of daily use, and brought in from beyond 

 our borders even bread and meat. Now the State 

 of Georgia alone produces food enough not only for 

 her own people and the army within it, but feeds, 

 too, the Army of Virginia. Once we had no arms, 

 and could receive no soldiers but those who came tu 

 us armed. Now we have arms for all, and are beg 



