. Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War . it of liberty which inspiredthe people of the Peninsula inspired, to an even higherdegree, the people of the Confederate States. The Northern States, moreover, were about to make anew departure in war. The manhood of a country has oftenbeen called upon to defend its borders ; but never beforehad it been proposed to invade a vast territory with acivilian army, composed, it is true, of the best blood in theRepublic, but without the least tincture of military experi-ence. Nor did the senior officers, professionals though theywere, appear more fitte
. Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War . it of liberty which inspiredthe people of the Peninsula inspired, to an even higherdegree, the people of the Confederate States. The Northern States, moreover, were about to make anew departure in war. The manhood of a country has oftenbeen called upon to defend its borders ; but never beforehad it been proposed to invade a vast territory with acivilian army, composed, it is true, of the best blood in theRepublic, but without the least tincture of military experi-ence. Nor did the senior officers, professionals though theywere, appear more fitted for the enterprise than the menthey led. The command of a company or squadron againstthe redskins was hardly an adequate probation for thecommand of an army/ or even a brigade, of raw troopsagainst a well-armed foe. Had the volunteers been asso- Even after the Peninsular War had enlarged the experience of theBritish army, Sir Charles Napier declared that he knew but one generalwho could handle 100,000 men, and that was the Duke of THE RESOUECES OF THE SOUTH 135 ciated with an equal number of trained and disciplinedsoldiers, as had been the case in Mexico,^ they would havederived both confidence from their presence, and stabilityfrom their example ; had there been even an experiencedstaff, capable of dealing with large forces, and an efficientcommissfctriat, capable of rapid expansion, they might havecrushed all organised opposition. But only 3,000 regularscould be drawn from the western borders ; the staff was asfeeble as the commissariat; and so, from a purely militarypoint of view, the conquest of the South appeared self-sustaining power was far greater than has beenusually imagined. On the broad prairies of Texas, Arkansas,and Louisiana ranged innumerable herds. The area undercultivation was almost equal to that north of the Potomacand the Ohio. The pastoral districts—the beautiful Valleyof Virginia, the great plains of Georgia, the fertile bo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1898
