The truth about Bull Run -- The press staggers -- The Blairs
alone firm -- Scott's military character -- Seward -- Mr. Lincoln
reads the Herald -- The ubiquitous lobbyist -- Intervention --
Congress adjourns -- The administration waits for something to
turn up -- Wade -- Lyon is killed -- Russell and his shadow --
The Yankees take the loan -- Bravo, Yankees! -- McClellan works
hard -- Prince Napoleon -- Manassas fortifications a humbug --
Mr. Seward Improves -- Old Whigism -- McClellan's powers enlarged
-- Jeff. Davis makes history -- Fremont emancipates in Missouri
-- The Cabinet.
The truth about Bull Run will, perhaps, only reach the people when it
becomes reduced to an historical use. I gather what I am sure is true.
About three weeks ago General McDowell took upon himself the
responsibility to attack the enemy concentrated at Manassas. Deciding
upon this step, McDowell showed the determination of a true soldier,
and a cool, intelligent courage. According to rumors permeating the
whole North; rumors originated by secessionists in and around
Washington, and in various parts of the free States; rumors gulped by
a part of the press, and never contradicted, but rather nursed, at
headquarters, Manassas was a terrible, unknown, mysterious something;
a bugbear, between a fortress made by art and a natural fastness,
whose approaches were defended for miles by numberless masked
batteries, and which was filled by countless thousands of the most
ferocious warriors. Such was Manassas in public opinion when McDowell
undertook to attack this formidable American Torres Vedras, and this
with the scanty and almost unorganized means in men and artillery
allotted to him by the senile wisdom of General Scott. General
McDowell obtained the promise that Beauregard alone was to be before
him. To fulfil this promise, General Scott was to order Patterson to
keep Johnston, and a movement was to be made on the James River, so as
to prevent troops coming from Richmond to Manassas. As it was already
said, Patterson, a special favorite of General Scott, kindly allowed
Johnston to save Beauregard, and Jeff. Davis with troops from Richmond
likewise was on the spot. McDowell planned his plan very skilfully; no
European general would have done better, and I am sure that such will
be the verdict hereafter. Some second-rate mistakes in the execution
did not virtually endanger its success; but, to say the truth,
McDowell and his army were defeated by the imbecility of the supreme
military authority. Imbecility stabbed them in the back.
One part of the press, stultified and stupefied, staggered under the
blow; the other part showed its utter degradation by fawning on Scott
and attacking the Congress, or its best part. The Evening Post
staggered not; its editors are genuine, laborious students, and, above
all, students of history. The editors of the other papers are
politicians; some of them are little, others are big villains. All,
intellectually, belong to the class called in America more or less
well-read men; information acquired by reading, but which in itself is
not much.
The brothers Blair, almost alone, receded not, and put the defeat
where it belonged--at the feet of General Scott.
The _rudis indigestaque moles_, torn away from Scott's hands, already
begins to acquire the shape of an army. Thanks to the youth, the
vigor, and the activity of McClellan.
General Scott throws the whole disaster on politicians, and abuses
them. How ungrateful. His too lofty pedestal is almost exclusively the
work of politicians. I heard very, very few military men in America
consider Scott a man of transcendent military capacity. Years ago,
during the Crimean campaign, I spent some time at West Point in the
society of Cols. Robert Lee, Walker, Hardee, then in the service of
the United States, and now traitors; not one of them classed Scott
much higher above what would be called a respectable capacity; and of
which, as they said, there are many, many in every European army.
If one analyzes the Mexican campaign, it will be found that General
Scott had, comparatively, more officers than soldiers; the officers
young men, full of vigor, and in the first gush of youth, who
therefore mightily facilitated the task of the commander. Their names
resound to-day in both the camps.
Further, generals from the campaign in Mexico assert that three of the
won battles were fought against orders, which signifies that in Mexico
youth had the best of cautious senility. It was according to the law
of nature, and for it it was crowned with success.
Mr. Seward has a very active intellect, an excellent man for current
business, easy and clear-headed for solving any second-rate
complications; but as for his initiative, that is another question.
Hitherto his initiative does not tell, but rather confuses. Then he
sustains Scott, some say, for future political capital. If so it is
bad; worse still if Mr. Seward sustains Scott on the ground of high
military fitness, as it is impossible to admit that Mr. Seward knows
anything about military affairs, or that he ever _studied_ the
description _of any battle_. At least, I so judge from his
conversation.
Mr. Lincoln has already the fumes of greatness, and looks down on the
press, reads no paper, that dirty traitor the New York Herald
excepted. So, at least, it is generally stated.
The enemies of Seward maintain that he, Seward, drilled Lincoln into
it, to make himself more necessary.
Early, even before the inauguration, McDowell suggested to General
Scott to concentrate in Washington the small army, the depots
scattered in Texas and New Mexico. Scott refused, and this is called a
general! God preserve any cause, any people who have for a savior a
Scott, together with his civil and military partisans.
If it is not direct, naked treason which prevails among the nurses,
and the various advisers of the people, imbecility, narrow-mindedness,
do the same work. Further, the way in which many leech, phlebotomize,
cheat and steal the people's treasury, is even worse than rampant
treason. I heard a Boston shipbuilder complain to Sumner that the
ubiquitous lobbyist, Thurlow Weed, was in his, the builder's, way
concerning some contracts to be made in the Navy Department, etc.,
etc. Will it turn out that the same men who are to-day at the head of
affairs will be the men who shall bring to an end this revolt or
revolution? It ought not to be, as it is contrary to logic, and to
human events.
Lincoln alone must forcibly remain, he being one of the incarnated
formulas of the Constitution, endowed with a specific, four years'
lasting existence.
The Americans are nervous about foreign intervention. It is difficult
to make them understand that no intervention is to be, and none can be
made. Therein the press is as silly as the public at large. Certainly
France does not intend any meddling or intervention; of this I am
sure. Neither does England seriously.
Next, if these two powers should even thirst for such an injustice,
they have no means to do it. If they break our blockades, we make war,
and exclude them from the Northern ports, whose commerce is more
valuable to them than that of the South. I do not believe the foreign
powers to be forgetful of their interest; they know better their
interests than the Americans.
The Congress adjourned, abandoning, with a confidence unparalleled in
history, the affairs of the country in the hands of the not over
far-sighted administration. The majority of the Congress are good, and
fully and nobly represent the pure, clear and sure aspirations,
instincts, nay, the clear-sightedness of the people. In the Senate, as
in the House, are many, very many true men, and men of pure devotion,
and of clear insight into the events; men superior to the
administration; such are, above all, those senators and
representatives who do not attempt or aim to sit on a pedestal before
the public, before the people, but wish the thing to be done for the
thing itself. But for _the formula_ which chains their hands, feet,
and intellect, the Congress contained several men who, if they could
act, would finish the secession in a double-quick time. But the whole
people move in the treadmill of formulas. It is a pity that they are
not inspired by the axiom of the Roman legist, _scire leges non est
hoc verba earum tenere, sed vim ac potestatem_. Congress had positive
notions of what ought to be done; the administration, Micawber-like,
looks for that something which may turn up, and by expedients patches
all from day to day.
What may turn up nobody can foresee; matter alone without mind cannot
carry the day. The people have the mind, but the official legal
leaders a very small portion of it. Come what will, I shall not break
down; I shall not give up the holy principle. If crime, rebellion,
_sauvagerie_, triumph, it will be, not because the people failed, but
it will be because mediocrities were at the helm. Concessions,
compromises, any patched-up peace, will for a century degrade the name
of America. Of course, I cannot prevent it; but events have often
broken but not bent me. I may be burned, but I cannot be melted; so if
secesh succeeds, I throw in a cesspool my document of naturalization,
and shall return to Europe, even if working my passage.
It is maddening to read all this ignoble clap-trap, written by
European wiseacres concerning this country. Not one knows the people,
not one knows the accidental agencies which neutralize what is grand
and devoted in the people.
Some are praised here as statesmen and leaders. A statesman, a leader
of such a people as are the Americans, and in such emergencies, must
be a _man_ in the fullest and loftiest comprehension. All the noblest
criteria of moral and intellectual manhood ought to be vigorously and
harmoniously developed in him. He ought to have a deep and lively
moral sense, and the moral perception of events and of men around him.
He ought to have large brains and a big heart,--an almost
all-embracing comprehension of the inside and outside of events,--and
when he has those qualities, then only the genius of foresight will
dwell on his brow. He ought to forget himself wholly and
unconditionally; his reason, his heart, his soul ought to merge in
the principles which lifted him to the elevated station. Who around me
approaches this ideal? So far as I know, perhaps Senator Wade.
I wait and wait for the eagle which may break out from the White
House. Even the burning fire of the national disaster at Bull Run left
the egg unhatched. _Utinam sim falsus_, but it looks as if the slowest
brains were to deal with the greatest events of our epoch. Mr. Lincoln
is a pure-souled, well-intentioned patriot, and this nobody doubts or
contests. But is that all which is needed in these terrible
emergencies?
Lyon is killed,--the only man of initiative hitherto generated by
events. We have bad luck. I shall put on mourning for at least six
weeks. They ought to weep all over the land for the loss of such a
man; and he would not have been lost if the administration had put him
long ago in command of the West. O General Scott! Lyon's death can be
credited to you. Lyon was obnoxious to General Scott, but the
General's influence maintains in the service all the doubtful
capacities and characters. The War Department, as says Potter,
bristles with secessionists, and with them the old, rotten,
respectable relics, preserved by General Scott, depress and nip in the
bud all the young, patriotic, and genuine capacities.
As the sea corrodes the rocks against which it impinges, so egotism,
narrow-mindedness, and immorality corrode the best human
institutions. For humanity's sake, Americans, beware!
Always the clouds of harpies around the White House and the
Departments,--such a generous ferment in the people, and such
impurities coming to the surface!
Patronage is the stumbling stone here to true political action. By
patronage the Cabinet keeps in check Congressmen, Senators, etc.
I learn from very good authority that when Russell, with his shadow,
Sam. Ward, went South, Mr. Seward told Ward that he, Seward, intends
not to force the Union on the Southern people, if it should be
positively ascertained that that people does not wish to live in the
Union! I am sorry for Seward. Such is not the feeling of the Northern
people, and such notions must necessarily confuse and make vacillating
Mr. Seward's--that is, Mr. Lincoln's--policy. Seward's patriotism and
patriotic wishes and expectations prevent him from seeing things as
they are.
The money men of Boston decided the conclusion of the first national
loan. Bravo, my beloved Yankees! In finances as in war, as in all, not
the financiering capacity of this or that individual, not any special
masterly measures, etc., but the stern will of the people to succeed,
provides funds and means, prevents bankruptcy, etc. The men who give
money send an agent here to ascertain how many traitors are still kept
in offices, and what are the prospects of energetic action by the
administration.
McClellan is organizing, working hard. It is a pleasure to see him, so
devoted and so young. After all, youth is promise. But already
adulation begins, and may spoil him. It would be very, very saddening.
Prince Napoleon's visit stirs up all the stupidity of politicians in
Europe and here. What a mass of absurdities are written on it in
Europe, and even by Americans residing there. All this is more than
equalled by the _solemn_ and _wise_ speculations of the Americans at
home. Bar-room and coffee-house politicians are the same all over the
world, the same, I am sure, in China and Japan. To suppose Prince
Napoleon has any appetite whatever for any kind of American crown!
Bah! He is brilliant and intelligent, and to suppose him to have such
absurd plans is to offend him. But human and American gullibility are
bottomless.
The Prince is a noble friend of the American cause, and freely speaks
out his predilection. His sentiments are those of a true Frenchman,
and not the sickly free-trade pro-slaveryism of Baroche with which he
poisoned here the diplomatic atmosphere. Prince Napoleon's example
will purify it.
As I was sure of it, the great Manassas fortifications are a humbug.
It is scarcely a half-way fortified camp. So say the companions of the
Prince, who, with him, visited Beauregard's army. So much for the
great Gen. Scott, whom the companions of the Prince call a
_magnificent ruin_.
The Prince spoke with Beauregard, and the Prince's and his companions'
opinion is, that McDowell planned well his attack, but failed in the
execution; and Beauregard thought the same. The Prince saw McClellan,
and does not prize him so high as we do. These foreign officers say
that most probably, on both sides, the officers will make most correct
plans, as do pupils in military schools, but the execution will depend
upon accident.
Mr. Seward shows every day more and more capacity in dispatching the
regular, current, diplomatical business affairs. In all such matters
he is now at home, as if he had done it for years and years. He is no
more spread-eagle in his diplomatic relations; is easy and prompt in
all secondary questions relating to secondary interests, and daily
emerging from international complications.
Hitherto the war policy of the administration, as inspired and
directed by Scott, was rather to receive blows, and then to try to
ward them off. I expect young McClellan to deal blows, and thus to
upturn the Micawber policy. Perhaps Gen. Scott believed that his name
and example would awe the rebels, and that they would come back after
having made a little fuss and done some little mischief. But Scott's
greatness was principally built up by the Whigs, and his hold on
Democrats was not very great. Witness the events of Polk's and
Pierce's administrations. His Mississippi-Atlantic strategy is a
delirium of a softening brain. Seward's enemies say that he puts up
and sustains Scott, because in the case of success Scott will not be
in Seward's way for the future Presidency. Mr. Lincoln, an old Whig,
has the Whig-worship for Scott; and as Mr. Lincoln, in 1851, stumped
for Scott, the candidate for the Presidency, the many eulogies
showered by Lincoln upon Scott still more strengthened the worship
which, of course, Seward lively entertains in Lincoln's bosom. Thus
the relics of Whigism direct now the destinies of the North. Mr.
Lincoln, Gen. Scott, Mr. Seward, form a triad, with satellites like
Bates and Smith in the Cabinet. But the Whigs have not the reputation
of governmental vigor, decision, and promptitude.
The vitiated impulse and direction given by Gen. Scott at the start,
still prevails, and it will be very difficult to bring it on the right
track--to change the general as well as the war policy from the
defensive, as it is now, to the offensive, as it ought to have been
from the beginning. The North is five to one in men, and one hundred
to one in material resources. Any one with brains and energy could
suppress the rebellion in eight weeks from to-day.
Mr. Lincoln in some way has a slender historical resemblance to Louis
XVI.--similar goodness, honesty, good intentions; but the size of
events seems to be too much for him.
And so now Mr. Lincoln is wholly overshadowed by Seward. If by miracle
the revolt may end in a short time, Mr. Seward will have most of the
credit for it. In the long run the blame for eventual disasters will
be put at Mr. Lincoln's door.
Thank heaven! the area for action and the powers of McClellan are
extended and increased. The administration seems to understand the
exigencies of the day.
I am told that the patriotic and brave Senator Wade, disgusted with
the slowness and inanity of the administration, exclaimed, "I do not
wonder that people desert to Jeff. Davis, as he shows brains; I may
desert myself." And truly, Jeff. Davis and his gang make history.
Young McClellan seems to falter before the Medusa-_ruin_ Scott, who is
again at his tricks, and refuses officers to volunteers. To carry
through in Washington any sensible scheme, more boldness is needed
than on the bloodiest battle-field.
If Gen. Scott could have disappeared from the stage of events on the
sixth of March, his name would have remained surrounded with that halo
to which the people was accustomed; but now, when the smoke will blow
over, it may turn differently. I am afraid that at some future time
will be applied to Scott * * * _quia turpe ducunt parere minoribus, et
quae imberbi didicere, senes perdenda fateri_.
Not self-government is on trial, and not the genuine principle of
democracy. It is not the genuine, virtual democracy which conspired
against the republic, and which rebels, but an unprincipled, infamous
oligarchy, risen in arms to destroy democracy. From Athens down to
to-day, true democracies never betrayed any country, never leagued
themselves with enemies. From the time of Hellas down to to-day, all
over the world, and in all epochs, royalties, oligarchies,
aristocracies, conspired against, betrayed, and sold their respective
father-lands. (I said this years ago in America and Europe.)
Fremont as initiator; he emancipates the slaves of the disloyal
Missourians. Takes the advance, but is justified in it by the
slowness, nay, by the stagnancy of the administration.
Gen. Scott opposed to the expedition to Hatteras!
If it be true that Seward and Chase already lay the tracks for the
Presidential succession, then I can only admire their short-sightedness,
nay, utter and darkest blindness. The terrible events will be a
schooling for the people; the future President will not be a schemer
already shuffling the cards; most probably it will be a man who serves
the country, forgetting himself.
Only two members in the Cabinet drive together, Blair and Welles, and
both on the right side, both true men, impatient for action, action.
Every day shows on what false principle this Cabinet was constructed,
not for the emergency, not in view to suppress the rebellion, but to
satisfy various party wranglings. Now the people's cause sticks in the
mud.