Doc. 168. Buckingham's appeal.
Headquarters Ohio Militia, Adjutant-Gen's office, Columbus, November 16.
To the County Military Committees:
The time has come when the army of Ohio must be completed.
Our gallant navy, which has never yet disappointed the nation, has established a base of operations upon the shores of South Carolina.
Another will be established on the gulf.
Loyal men of Eastern Tennessee invite us to the heart of the rebel confederacy.
The Union men of the South are throwing off the fetters of a tyranny which bound them.
North Carolina having yielded to force, is anxious to return to her allegiance.
Friends everywhere will welcome those who come as their deliverers from despotism.
The day of terrorism is drawing to a close, and the movement of revulsion has commenced.
It needs but the vigorous prosecution of movements already inaugurated to bring it to a happy conclusion, and all the signs promise a brighter to-morrow.
Now is the time to strike.
The deliverance of the nation rests with the people.
In this day, Ohio must do nobly her part.
She has already done much, but much more she is able to do. To the great Northwest belongs the work of opening the Mississippi.
The river is ours, and we need it. No longer should rebel batteries be allowed to cut us off from direct communication with the ocean.
Our honor and interest alike urge us to the effort.
The warm sun of the South invites us to a winter campaign.
Kentucky, and a large portion of Tennessee, will join us in the march.
Union men will hail with delight their deliverance from the pressure of an intolerable despotism, and if we are true to ourselves and them, the spring will open upon a reunited people.
Ten days more can be allowed for the completion of regiments now forming in camps.
Within that time much may be done, and by the 25th of November, Ohio contribute, at least, thirty-five thousand more of her soldiers to the grand column en route for Nashville and New Orleans.
To the accomplishment of this great object, the instant, earnest, and combined efforts of officers, committees, and patriotic citizens, are most urgently invoked.
Companies are now more valuable than regiments will be in the spring, if the rebellion is allowed to survive the winter.
Now, when the rebel confederacy seems to be staggering, is the time to strike, and the blows being vigorously followed up, the victory will be ours, and the stars upon our banner once more represent a united nation. To the County Military Committees:
