Words of Encouragement.
--The tide of war having turned in favor of the
Confederacy, the Charleston
Courier remarks:
‘
The sun burst through the clouds that had for several months hung over the
Southern sky in the opening week of April.
The first Sunday of that month witnessed a brilliant victory, won by the forces under
Johnston and
Beauregard, against large odds and in the face of numerous disadvantages.
The success our troops met with at
Williamsburg was decisive and complete, and though the enemy, as his won't is, boasted of that discomfiture, representing it as a great victory, the truth has reached the ear of the deluded nation, and turned his joy into sorrow, his exultation into mourning.
The intrepid and irresistible
Jackson, who at
Kernstown checked and chastised the foe, though outnumbered ten to one, forced
Milroy to retreat, fell upon the enemy at
McDowell's, and made him flee in hot haste, leaving rich spoils to the victors, drove him from
Front Royal in wild disorder, smote him hip and thigh while retreating from
Strasburg, and marched in triumph to
Winchester with more than three thousand prisoners, capturing vast quantities of ammunition and army stores.
We shall hear of that glorious leader before the young moon has begun to wane, and the tidings will be delightful to the patriot heart.
The skill of our
Generals, and the dauntless and impetuous valor of the men who comprised the splendid army that drove
Buell's command to the banks of the river, has infused a wholesome fear into the bosom of
Halleck, and he hesitates long, dreading to encounter such men again under the leadership of
Beauregard,
Bragg,
Thompson, VanDorr,
Polk, and
Breckinridge.
And unable to thin the compact ranks that stand burning to avenge countless and atrocious wrongs, and maintain a righteous cause,
Halleck writes his name on the roll of eternal infamy by attempting to reduce the number of the brave defenders of their soil and homes through the agency of a fatal and loathsome malady.
The swords of our partizan chiefs have not grown rusty in their scabbards.
Morgan and
Scott, and other brave and active spirits, have been refreshing the hearts of the young and suffering nation by chivalric exploits.
The foe looked for an easy passage over the
James river to
Richmond, but were sorely disquieted on learning that their most powerful iron-clad gunboats had been forced to retreat before three guns that penetrated their metal covering.
Over twelve hundred Federals marched toward
Pocotaligo on last Thursday, with banners waving gaily, treading to the stirring strains of martial music, in full confidence of performing an easy and important achievement.
That well equipped force of infantry, artillery and cavalry was held in check by less than three hundred men, and eventually driven back with loss over the road they had come.
McClellan has had a taste of the mettle of Southern soldiers.
The result of the bloody battle of the
Chickahominy gives promise and assurance of a decisive and complete victory for the side of justice, and received that foretaste of the greater triumph, with grateful hearts, we await in humble reliance upon God, the issue of trial of strength between the embattled hosts.
’
