To make victory complete it is the sounder policy to carry the
war into hostile territory. A nation endures with comparative
equanimity defeat beyond its own borders. Pride and prestige may
suffer, but a high-spirited people will seldom be brought to the
point of making terms unless its army is annihilated in the heart of
its own country, unless the capital is occupied and the hideous
sufferings of war are brought directly home to the mass of the
population. A single victory on Northern soil, within easy reach of
Washington, was far more likely to bring about the independence of
the South than even a succession of victories in Virginia. It was
time, then, for a strategic counterstroke on a larger scale than had
hitherto been attempted. The opportunity was ripe. No great risk
would be incurred by crossing the Potomac. There was no question of
meeting a more powerful enemy. "The Federals, recruited by fresh
levies; would undoubtedly be numerically the stronger; and the
Confederate equipment, despite the large captures of guns and rifles,
was still deficient. But for deficiencies in numbers and in materiel
the higher morale and the more skilful leading would make ample
compensation.
Pages:
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118