It Was Impossible To Join In Any
Conversation In The States Without Talking About The Army.
It was
impossible to make inquiry as to the present and future condition of
the people without basing such inquiries more or less upon the
doings of the army.
If a stranger visit Manchester with the object
of seeing what sort of place Manchester is, he must visit the cotton
mills and printing establishments, though he may have no taste for
cotton and no knowledge on the subject of calicoes. Under pressure
of this kind I have gone about from one army to another, looking at
the drilling of regiments, of the manoeuvres of cavalry, at the
practice of artillery, and at the inner life of the camps. I do not
feel that I am in any degree more fitted to take the command of a
campaign than I was before I began, or even more fitted to say who
can and who cannot do so. But I have obtained on my own mind's eye
a tolerably clear impression of the outward appearance of the
Northern army; I have endeavored to learn something of the manner in
which it was brought together, and of its cost as it now stands; and
I have learned - as any man in the States may learn, without much
trouble or personal investigation - how terrible has been the
peculation of the contractors and officers by whom that army has
been supplied. Of these things, writing of the States at this
moment, I must say something.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 205 of 531
Words from 54685 to 54940
of 142339
