imilar reverses on the Confederates. No
blow that we have received--and many blows have been dealt upon us--has
been followed by any loss of territory, any decrease of the means of
warfare, or any diminution of our purpose to carry on the contest to the
last piece of gold and the last greasy greenback. The enemy have taken
of our men, our cannon, our stores, and our money, more than once, but
not one of their victories produced any "fruit" beyond what was gleaned
from the battle-field itself. Our victories, on the contrary, have been
fruitful, as the position of our forces on the enemy's coast, and on
much of their territory, and in many of their ports, most satisfactorily
proves. As an English military critic said, the Rebels might gain
battles, but all the solid advantages were with their opponents. A Union
victory was so much achieved toward final and complete success; a
Confederate victory only operated to postpone the subjugation of the
Rebels for a few days, or perhaps weeks. We could afford to blunder,
while they could not; and the prospect of the gallows made the brains of
Davis and Lee uncommonly clear, and caused them to plan skilfully and to
strike boldly, in order that they might get out and keep out of the road
that leads to it,--the road to ruin.

The movement in April, under General Hooker, which led to the Battle of
Chancellorsville, was a failure, and for some time the country was much
depressed in consequence; but our failure, there and then, proved to be
really a great gain. Had General Hooker succeeded in defeating General
Lee in battle, the latter would, it is altogether probable, have
succeeded in retreating to Richmond, behind the defences of which he
would have held our forces at bay, and the Peninsular campaign of 1862
might have been repeated; for we had not men enough to render the
capture of Richmond certain through the effect of regular and steady
operations. The death of Stonewall Jackson, one of the incidents of the
April advance, was a severe loss to the enemy, and promises to be as
fatal to their cause as was that of Dundee to the hopes of the House of
Stuart. General Lee's success was really fatal to him. It compelled him
to make a movement in his turn, in June, and at Gettysburg we had ample
compensation for Chancellorsville; and the capture of Morgan and his
men, in Ohio, following hard upon Lee's retreat from Pennsylvania, put
an end to all attempts at invasion on the part of the Rebe