Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 1.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[566] the danger which threatened it, was making analogous efforts. But it soon discovered their inefficiency, and was obliged to resort to other means. During the great operations of 1862 the Federal armies continued to be recruited in the same manner as before; it was far otherwise with the armies of the Confederacy. The former were constantly supplied with volunteers whom the bounties, high pay, and other nobler motives induced to rally around the flag, while the draft which was resorted to at a somewhat later period was productive of utterly insignificant results. This mode of recruiting was, on the contrary, since 1862 the principal resource of the Confederate armies, which before long were entirely composed of conscripts. The three hundred and fifty thousand men who had gradually filled their ranks within the space of one year, and had arrived in time to keep the constantly increasing forces of the Federals in check along an extensive frontier, had suffered greatly for the important service rendered to their cause. In the absence of bloody battles, sickness had already cruelly tried these improvised armies; then they were discouraged by the disasters they had sustained in the West at the outset of the campaign of 1862. Desertion, under the influence of physical and moral prostration, assumed frightful proportions—so much so, indeed, that in February they were already materially reduced. The first moments of enthusiasm had passed away. On one hand, the volunteers whom that enthusiasm had prompted to join the ranks were impatiently waiting for the day when the expiration of their year's term of service should restore them their freedom; on the other hand, those who the preceding year had resisted the pressure of public opinion cared still less to put on the uniform now, when they had a better understanding of the privations and dangers of a soldier's life. Consequently, at the time when every preparation was being made in the North for striking a truly effective blow, the Confederate armies were on the eve of dissolution.

It was a trying hour. It would probably have marked the downfall of the Confederacy if the central government had not boldly thrown aside the mask of pretended respect for the autonomy of the States, which it had worn until then. It turned a deaf ear to the tardy remonstrances of those who, having essayed