and fed him on the best the world could afford and money
buy.

He fought the well-built, thoroughly equipped ambulances, the countless
surgeons, nurses, and hospital stewards, and the best surgical
appliances known to the medical world. He fought the commerce of the
United States and all the facilities for war which Europe could supply,
while his own ports were closed to all the world. He fought the trained
army officers and the regular troops of the United States Army, assisted
by splendid native volunteer soldiers, besides swarms of men, the refuse
of the earth,--Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, Irish, Scotch,
English, French, Chinese, Japanese,--white, black, olive, and brown. He
laid down life for life with this hireling host, who died for pay,
mourned by no one, missed by no one, loved by no one; who were better
fed and clothed, fatter, happier, and more contented in the army than
ever they were at home, and whose graves strew the earth in lonesome
places, where none go to weep. When one of these fell, two could be
bought to fill the gap. The Confederate soldier killed these without
compunction, and their comrades buried them without a tear.

The Confederate soldier fought the cries of distress which came from
his home,--tales of woe, want, insult, and robbery. He fought men who
knew that _their_ homes (when they had any) were safe, their wives and
children, their parents and sisters, sheltered, and their business
affairs more than usually prosperous; who could draw sight drafts, have
them honored, and make the camp table as bountiful and luxurious as that
of a New York hotel. He fought a government founded by the genius of his
fathers, which derived its strength from principles they formulated, and
which persuaded its soldiers that they were the champions of the
constitutional liberty which they were marching to invade, and
eventually to destroy.

The relative strength of armies becomes a matter of secondary importance
when these facts are considered. The disparity of numbers only, would
never have produced the result which the combination of these various
forces did,--the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.

The Confederate soldier was purely patriotic. He foresaw clearly, and
deliberately chose, the trials which he endured. He was an individual
who could not become the indefinite portion of a mass, but fought for
himself, on his own account. He was a self-sacrificing hero, but did not
claim tha