Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 7.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

But what the effect might have been of an offensive war, pushed boldly into the Northern States, when their people were divided in sentiment, and before their armies had been trained and prepared for battle, I leave to the student of military operations to discuss and decide. If I were called on to describe in brief our conflict, I should write thus: the North succeeded because law and constitution were made to bend to every military necessity, while time and West Point discipline made of Northern men the best soldiers in the world. The South failed because the most pressing military necessities were diregarded when in conflict with constitution and law, while West Point discipline chilled the ardor and time destroyed the advantages of the best natural soldiers that ever lived. But I am not here to mourn over what might have been.