When the smoke had lifted from the field of the Black Battalions,Lee stood in Richmond before a secret meeting of the leaders of theConfederacy. Jefferson Davis presided. The meeting was called by requestof the Commander. He had an important announcement to make.
Facing the anxious group gathered around the Cabinet table he spoke withunusual emphasis:
"Gentlemen, the end is in sight unless I can have more men. So long asI can burrow underground my half-clothed and half-starved soldiers willhold Grant at bay. I may hold him until next spring. Not longer. TheNorth is using negro troops. They have enrolled nearly two hundredthousand. Their man power counts. We can arm our negroes to meet them.
They will fight under the leadership of their masters. I speak as amathematician and a soldier. I do not discuss the sentimental side. Imust have men and I must have them before spring or your cause is lost."Robert Toombs of Georgia leaped to his feet. His words came slowly,throbbing with emotion.
"Any suggestion from General Lee deserves the immediate attention ofthis Government. He speaks to-night as an engineer and mathematician. Hehas told us the worst. It was his duty. I honor him for it.
"But I differ with him. He can see but one angle of this question. Heis a soldier in field. It is our duty to see both the soldier\'s and thestatesman\'s point of view. And our cause is not so desperate as thescience of engineering and mathematics would tell us.
"The war of the revolution was won by Washington in spite ofmathematics. The odds were all against him. We have our chance. This waris now in its fourth year. The outlook seems dark in Richmond. It isdarker in Washington. What have they accomplished in these years ofblood and tears? Nothing. Not a slave has been freed. Not a question atissue has found its solution. The millions of the North are in despairand they are crying for peace--peace at any price. The Presidentialelection is but a few weeks off. They have nominated Abraham Lincolnagain for President. They had to, although he is the most unpopular manwho ever sat in the White House. All the mistakes, all the agony, allthe horrors of this war, they have unjustly heaped on his droopingshoulders.
"McClellan is his opponent _on a peace platform_.
"The Republican Party is split as ours was before the war. John C.
Fremont is running on the Radical ticket against Lincoln. Unless amiracle happens General George B. McClellan will be elected the nextPresident. If he is, the war ends in a draw.
"It\'s a fair chance. We can take it.
"But our chance of success is not the real question before us. It isa bigger one. The question before you is bigger than the South. Itis bigger than the Republic. It is bigger than the Continent. It mayinvolve the future of civilization.
"The employment of these negro troops, clothed in the uniform of theunion, marks the lowest tide mud to which its citizenship has ............