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OH, WANTON WIND !
BY MILES O'REILLY.
On, wanton wind ! warm,
kissing, kind,
Thy zephyrs turned my Laura's tresses; Bathed lip and hand with fragrance bland,
And even fanned those deep recesses
Where love is seen, warm-couched, serene,
Asleep between two summer billows ; Oh, heedless wind! to beauty blind,
Where couldst thou find more tempting pillows ?
The lily bell, whose anthers tell
The time so well, by you set ringing ; The rival rose, wherein repose
Queen Mab, and those unto her clinging, The violet sweet, the daisy neat
Should I repeat each fragrant blossom--Oh, careless wind! could all combined So
please thy mind as Laura's bosom?
Insensate still' hence, hence and fill
The idle sail of yon bright vessel !
And yet—ah, stay ! ere hence you stray
Leave me I pray, your right to nestle ; Give me to seek her damask cheek,
And whispering speak what thou ne'er
dreamest ; For me
to he one moment nigh
Her heart and die, were bliss supremest !
PHIL SHERIDAN RIDING TO
THE FRONT.
WE give on our
first page a sketch of
General SHERIDAN'S
arrival on the field October 19. The
victory gained at Cedar Creek that day surpassed in
interest the victory gained precisely one month earlier
at
Winchester. It was a victory following
upon the heels of apparent reverse, and therefore reflecting
peculiar credit on the brave commander to
whose timely arrival upon the field the final success
of the day must be attributed.
The General was at Winchester in the early morning when the enemy
attacked—fifteen miles distant from
the field of operations. General
WRIGHT was in command. The
enemy had approached under cover of a heavy fog, and flanking the extreme
right of the Federal line, held by
CROOK'S Corps, and attacking in the centre, had thrown the entire line into
confusion, and driven it several miles. The stragglers to the rear were
fearfully numerous, and the enemy was pushing on, turning against the Federals a
score of guns already captured from them.
This was the situation a little before noon when
SHERIDAN came on the field,
riding, says one of his staff, so that the devil himself could not have
kept up. A staff-officer meeting him pronounced the situation of the army to be
" awful."
'Pshaw," said
SHERIDAN, "it's
nothing of the sort It's all right, or we'll fix it right !"
SHERIDAN hastened
to his cavalry on the extreme
left. Galloping past the batteries," says the
World
correspondent, " to the extreme left of the line held
by the
cavalry , he rode to the front, took off his hat
and waved it, while a cheer went up from the ranks
not less hearty and enthusiastic than that which greeted him after the battle of
Winchester. Generals
rode out to meet him, officers waved their swords, men threw up their hats in an
extremity of glee.
General CUSTER,
discovering SHERIDAN
at the moment he arrived, rode up to him, threw his
arms around his neck, and kissed him on
the cheek.
Waiting for no other parley than simply to exchange
greeting, and to say, ' This retreat must be stopped !
Sheridan broke loose and began galloping down the
lines, along the whole front of the army. Every
where the enthusiasm caused by his appearance was
the same."
The line was speedily reformed; provost marshals brought in stragglers by the
scores ; the retreating army turned its face to the foe. An attack just about to
be made was repulsed, and the
tide of battle turned. Then
SHERIDAN'S
time was come. A cavalry charge was
ordered against right and left flank of the enemy, and then a grand
advance of the three infantry corps from left to right on the Enemy's
centre. " On through Middletown," says the correspondent above quoted, " and
beyond, the enemy hurried, and the Army of the Shenandoah pursued. The roar of
musketry now had a gleeful, dancing sound. The guns fired shafted salutes of
victory. CUSTER
and
MERRITT, charging in on right and left, doubled up the flanks of the foe,
taking prisoners, slashing, killing, driving as they went.
The march of the infantry was more majestic and more terrible. The lines
of
the
foe swayed and broke before it every where. Beyond Middletown,
on the battle-field fought over in the morning,
their columns were completely
overthrown and disorganised. They fled along the pike and over the fields
like sheep."
Thus on through Strasburg with two brigades of
calvary at their heels. Two
thousand prisoners were gathered together, though there was not a sufficient
guard to send them all to the rear. The guns lost in the morning were
recaptured, and as many more taken, making fifty in all, and, according,
to
SHERIDAN'S
report, the enemy reached Mount
Jackson without an organized regiment.
The scene at
SHERIDAN'S head-quarters at night after the battle was wildly exciting.
"General CUSTER
arrived about 9 o'clock. The first thing he
did was to hug General
SHERIDAN with all his might,
lifting him in the air, whirling him around and around, with the shout : By
----, we've cleaned them out and got
the guns ! ' Catching sight of General
TORBERT, CUSTER went through the same proceeding with him, until
TORBERT was forced to cry out : ` There, there, old fellow ; don't
capture me !'"
SHELRIDAN'S
ride to the front, October 19, 1864,
will go down in history as one of the most important and exciting events which
have ever given interest
to a battle-scene ;
and to this event will be attributed the victory of the day, Says
General GRANT,
" Turning what bid fair to be a disaster into a glorious victory stamps SHERIDAN
what I have always thought him, one of the ablest of Generals."
HARPER'S WEEKLY.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1864. THE JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY.
THE call for a
meeting of old Democrats who believe that we should first exhaust the rebel
armies before we attempt " to exhaust all the resources of statesmanship," is
one of the most remarkable signs of the times. It proceeds from old-fashioned
Jacksonian Democrats, who have known no other party name or association; who
voted against
Mr. LINCOLN in 1860, but who see that they must vote for him in
1864, or connive at national dishonor. It comes from men who can not recognize
the Chicago platform as worthy of American patriotism, nor the candidates who
stand upon it as representatives of the American Union. A Major-General who
accepts, without a word of dissent, the nomination of a Convention who see
whole movement proceeds upon the plain declaration that the war is a failure
becomes—as one of his chief supporters calls him—the " creature" of that
movement , and such a Major-General can by no possibility be the candidate of
men whose chief delight is to remember " the days of JACKSON,"
and to call themselves by his name.
The call is signed by some of the most eminent and influential Democrats in the
City and State of New York and in all the loyal States. They feel that the men
who are now controlling the party do not represent its true instincts, and that
the policy to which these men have given the name Democratic is so cowardly and
dishonorable that, in scornfully rejecting it, there is great danger that the
people will always associate it with the party name it bears. This call
substantially asks what future there can be for a party which is led by
VALLANDIGHAM, the SEYMOURS, LONG,
PENDLETON, the WOODS, and HARRIS. It further asks what sort of Jacksonian
Democracy is that of which REVERDY
JOHNSON, ROBERT C. WINTHROP, WASHINGTON HUNT, and HIRAM KETCHUM are
doctors and expounders. It further asks what kind of a Democratic party it is
which excludes JOHN A. DIX, F. B. CUTTING, MOSES TAYLOR, ALEX
T. STEWART, GUSTAVUS A. CONOVER, HENRY
NICHOLL, WILLIAM H. WEBB, PETER COOPER,
A. VANDERPOEL, M. ALSHOEFFER, THEODORE
ROOSEVELT, EDWARDS PIERREPONT, HENRY G. STEBBINS, JAMES R. WHITING,
GEORGE B. BUTLER, D. S. CODDINGTON,
R. B. ROOSEVELT, JAMES
WADSWORTH, A. A. VALENTINE, HENRY T. INGALLS, and J. A. STEWART. If these
men are not Democrats, who are?
But higher than any partisan consideration is the patriotism of this call. These
are men who have always served their country as Democrats. They love their party
name. But they love their country more. And, therefore, they oppose a policy
which is, although falsely, called by the party name. It is another illustration
of the truth that the Chicago infamy is fully understood by the people ; and
that no letters, however painfully labored to obscure the position of the
candidates, can possibly conceal it.
McCLELLAN and PENDLETON are the candidates of compromise with rebellion,
of submission, and surrender. When was that a Democratic policy ? When was
cowardice an American policy? If ANDREW JACKSON had said to the
South Carolina nullifiers as GEORGE B. M'CLELLAN says to the rebels now "
Let us go into an ultimate convention, " or had sweetly sighed with GEORGE H.
PENDLETON, " Let them depart in peace," no body of stanch and unconditional
American patriots would ever have called themselves the Jacksonian Democracy.
If DOUGLAS had lived, instead of whining, " It's a very expensive war, and we're
dreadfully whipped, and Slavery is so very divine : let's ask them for peace,"
he would have cried, with the,
Union men of today--" Let's have emancipation and more uncompromising wars and
he, like LINCOLN, would have carried the country.
SHERIDAN.
GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN differs from the
Chicago Convention That patriotic body, led by
HORATIO SEYMOUR, pronounced the
war a failure, "Do you think so?" cries SHERIDAN, as he and his brave men turn
the tide of battle and win another glorious victory. It is victory
won over the army of EARLY reinforced, from Richmond. It is a victory under
which
LEE must wince and reel, for if he can not hold the Valley he can not hold
Richmond. It is a victory which infinitely increases the spirit of SHERIDAN'S
army and disheartens the enemy, for it was wrung from apparent defeat. It is a
victory which illustrates his military genius, for
few generals have ever done what SHERIDAN did.
It was not only a battle turned, but a defeat retrieved.
The exulting enemy was routed, and lost his trains and guns.
Such victories are won only
by a general who entirely trusts his army ; and by an army which knows and loves
its general, and would gladly follow him where ever he led.
Thus the national campaign of 1864 draws to a close more magnificently than any
previous one, while the whole military movement of the
rebellion shows the spasmodic fury of desperation. HOOD'S march to
SHERMAN'S
rear, PRICE'S marauding invasion of Missouri, the raid
upon St. Albans in Vermont, the guerrilla gusts that dash into our lines
and are gone, the serious debate in the rebel papers
upon the arming of slaves, and the loss and
rout with which every rebel plunge is baffled—all these things betray the
fierce and fruitless energy of despair.
And this sudden activity along the rebel lines is in concert with the Chicago
movement. It is meant to vex and harass the public
mind with doubts and fears, to appall the timid, and weaken the feeble.
If the rebels can gain an advantage, however slight, at
any point, they know, and the whole world knows, that they increase the
chances of the election of PENDLETON and McCLELLAN. That alone
shows that the Chicago candidates represent the policy of submission and
surrender. Let the people of the United States elect General McCLELLAN
for their President and they declare that
the war is a failure, and that the country has no hope but in the best terms the
rebels may choose to allow. They own that they are conquered, and they
deliberately decide to supplant
GRANT by FITZ-JOHN PORTER, who, from the days of West Point, has
held a singular ascendency over General McCLELLAN;
to substitute DON CARLOS
BUELL for SHERMAN ;
and some General PATTERSON for PHILIP SHERIDAN.
With Generals of the BUELL school
in the field, with politicians like HORATIO SEYMOUR, WICKLIFFE, COX,
LONG, and Company, in the Cabinet, the overthrow of the essential principle of
the American Government is assured. For the policy they support
is compromise with rebellion, and that is the confession that the
authority of the Government can not be maintained. But while GRANT, SHERMAN,
SHERIDAN, and
FARRAGUT are clearly seen by the American people, those people can
not mistake the issue, and will not vote for their own
disgrace.
AGREEABLE TO
REBELS.
A GREAT
deal of
Copperhead appeal
is to this
point that Mr.
LINCOLN is
a very
distasteful man
to the
rebels, and
they will
never submit
so long
as he
is President
; but
General McCLELLAN
is more
agreeable to
them, and
they will
be much
more disposed
to succumb
to him.
There are
two things
to be
considered in
this astute
argument. The
first is,
that if
citizens refusing
to yield
to the
result of
a Constitutional
election because
of their
personal dislike
of the
candidate elected,
are to
be bribed
into quiet
by having
that man
set aside,
they accomplish
their rebellion
and overthrow
the Government.
And they
overthrow it
upon a
pretense so
utterly puerile
as to
be absurd.
In the
present case
the objection
of the
rebels to
Mr. LINCOLN
is that
he is
identified with
the supremacy
of the
Government, which is the very reason why we ought not to displace him before the
insurgents submit. They should be made to yield to the authority of the
Government in the person of the man under whose administration they defied it,
for then there will be no confusion in their minds. In the rebel view Mr.
Lincoln is identical with the Government, and yielding while he is its
representative they will understand that they are subdued. If they dictate a
choice of persons, and we comply, they will feel, as they ought, that it is not
they, but the people, who have yielded. To urge the defeat of Mr. LINCOLN upon
such a ground as this is to show at once that your sympathy is with the rebels.
The second point is, that if General McCLELLAN is more agreeable to the rebels
than Mr. LINCOLN, it is not an honorable fact for the General. For they can
prefer him only because they believe him to be less inflexibly devoted to the
Union and Government; or because they believe that they can coerce him to their
will ; or because they are grateful for his unwillingness to hurt them. These
are reasons for the rebels to pray for
his success but they are not reasons for
loyal citizens to vote for him.
MR. PENDLETON'S " OLD FAITH."
MR. GEORGE H. PENDLETON, the Chicago candidate for Vice-President, has written a
letter, in which he says that " there is no one who cherishes a greater regard
for the Union, who has a higher sense of its inestimable benefits, who would
more earnestly labor for its restoration by all means which will effect that
end, than myself." He says also that he makes no profession of a new faith ;
that he only repeats that of an old one.
This letter, like General McCLELLAN'S, is intended to confuse the public mind.
Nobody ever charged that Mr.
PENDLETON was opposed to the Union. But he himself frankly tells us that
if any State chooses to secede, the United States Government has no right and no
power to prevent it. This is his "old faith," which this letter assures us that
he has not changed.
Mr. PENDLETON'S speeches and votes in Congress
since
the
rebellion
began,
from his
elaborate
effort
in
the
session
of
1860-'61,
in which
he
declares
for
the extremes
CALHOUN
doctrine of
State
sovereignty,
and
insists
that
the National
Government
has
no authority
to
enforce
its
law,
or
maintain
its
existence---from
the
time when
he said of
the States, "
If your differences are so
great that you can
not or will not reconcile
them, then,
gentlemen, let the seceding States
depart in
peace," down to
the moment when
" he thanked God that he had
not voted a
man or a dollar
for this abolition war," have been frank and
consistent, and this letter shows it.
The New York Daily
News, the leading peace organ in
this country, says, with perfect truth :
"Mr. PENDLETON'S letter
can take its place upon his
record in perfect accord
with his
antecedents as
a consistent
and earnest leader of the
Peace
Democray...... Mr.
PENDLETON has never been evasive or equivocal in his expressions
of opinion. His political past has been of
too
sincere and emphatic a nature to permit of misconstruction.
Therefore when he reaffirms his regard for the
Union of our fathers, when he expresses his
belief that the Union
is the guarantee of peace, the
power, the prosperity of the people,' we appreciate that he is but
uttering the sentiments of peace
men generally
; for
we know well enough
that he alludes to no constrained Union,
no political
companion ship enforced at
the bayonet's point,
no system
of government upheld by armies
and navies, but
a
Union based
upon the acknowledgment of
the sovereignty of the
States, and dependent on the
consent of the people."
Mr. PENDLETON does not praise the Union
half as warmly as JEFFERSON DAVIS used
to; and, like JEFFERSON
DAVIS, he
is very careful
to avoid saying that
he thinks it
can be restored
by force of arms. "By all means
which will effect
that end," says Mr. PENDLETON
; but
as he thanks God that
he has never favored the war,
it is clear
that war is not one of the
means. But
" an immediate cessation of
hostilities" is
a means; compromise is a means ;
negotiation is a means. And if all such means
fail, then—" let the seceding States depart in peace." This is Mr. GEORGE
H. PENDLETON'S " old faith ;" and when it
is the new faith of the American people he and General McCLELLAN will
be President and Vice-President—but not
before.
THE TENNESSEE TEST OATH.
IN his Augusta speech JEFFERSON DAVIS says " We must beat SHERMAN ,
we must march into Tennessee—there
we will draw
from twenty thousand to thirty thousand to
our standard."
It is to prevent these very persons from voting that the " Tennessee test oath"
is proposed. The loyal citizens of
that State intend that the rebels shall not regain at
the polls what they lose in the
field, and shall not obtain possession of the State either by
arts or arms. Does any truly faithful citizen of this country object to
any stringency of oath which secures that result, and defeats DAVIS'S purpose ?
COLONEL LOWELL.
AMONG the killed at the late great battle and victory in the Shenandoah Valley
was Colonel CHARLES R. LOWELL, Jun.,
of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, commanding one of MERRITT's
brigades. Entering the service at the beginning of the war, he was commissioned
Lieutenant in the Sixth regular cavalry, and soon rose to be Captain. During the
Peninsula Campaign he served upon the staff of General M'CLELLAN, and his great
military skill and commanding character led Governor ANDREW to appoint him
Colonel of Volunteers. When his regiment was ready for the field Colonel LOWELL
was intrusted with the cavalry in the District of Columbia to watch
MOSBY in
front of Washington. From this duty he welcomed the summons to the Valley at the
opening of SHERIDAN'S campaign, during which, in his daring and victorious
assaults, for which his name was mentioned with constant honor, no less than
twelve horses were shot under him.
At the battle of Cedar Creek, at about
eleven o'clock in the morning, Colonel LOWELL was struck by a spent ball in the
breast. Removed from the saddle, but refusing the urgent request
of Generals TORBERT and MERRITT that he would allow himself to be carried
to the rear, he remained lying upon the
field awaiting the order to charge. At three o'clock in the
afternoon the
order came.
He caused
himself to he lifted
into the
saddle, and
although his voice was gone,
so that
he could
whisper merely,
he placed himself
at the
head of
the column
to which every
whisper of
their beloved leader was
an inspiration.
In the
assault into the
little town
Colonel LOWELL
was shot in the
back, probably
from an
ambush, and his frame was instantly
paralyzed. But
his mind
was perfectly clear,
and he at
once prepared to die.
Nothing was
forgotten in those last hours by
the tenderest
husband, the most
faithful son, the
truest friend. Every final disposition
was calmly
made, and
he asked to
be buried upon
the field
where he had
fallen--a request which
was overruled,
and he yielded. Without pain,
gradually sinking, he
lingered through the night
and died
the next morning, as only good men
and heroes die. He was
in his thirtieth year.
Gentle, brave, and generous;
of a rarely blended manliness and
tenderness ; carefully
educated at
Harvard College, and thoroughly
trained to practical affairs
by wide
travel and
much experience
of men ; of a singular purity
and nobility
of nature,
and entirely devoted to the cause
for which he fought, he falls like
his only
brother, Lieutenant JAMES
LOWELL,
killed upon
the Peninsula, and his brother-in-law,
Colonel
ROBERT
G. SHAW, killed at
Fort Wagner (Next
Page)
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