owever detached or separated
from him, and correct the organization and discipline of his command. It
was a far less easy task then than ever before. Not only was a
conviction stealing upon the Confederate soldiery (and impairing the
efficiency of the most manly and patriotic) that the fiat had gone forth
against us, and that no exercise of courage and fortitude could avert
the doom, but the demoralizing effects of a long war, and habitude to
its scenes and passions had rendered even the best men callous and
reckless, and to a certain extent intractable to influences which had
formerly been all potent with them as soldiers. Imagine the situation in
which the Confederate soldier was placed: Almost destitute of hope that
the cause for which he fought would triumph and fighting on from
instinctive obstinate pride, no longer receiving from the
people--themselves hopeless and impoverished almost to famine by the
draining demands of the war--the sympathy, hospitality and hearty
encouragement once accorded to him; almost compelled (for comfort if not
for existence) to practice oppression and wrong upon his own countrymen,
is it surprising that he became wild and lawless, that he adopted a rude
creed in which strict conformity to military regulations and a nice
obedience to general orders held not very prominent places? This
condition obtained in a far greater degree with the cavalry employed in
the "outpost" departments than with the infantry or the soldiery of the
large armies. It is an unhappy condition, and destructive of military
efficiency and any sort of discipline, but under certain circumstances
it is hard to prevent or correct. There is little temptation and no
necessity or excuse for it among troops that are well fed, regularly
paid in good money and provided with comfortable clothing, blankets and
shoes in the cold winter; but troops whose rations are few and scanty,
who flutter with rags and wear ventillating shoes which suck in the cold
air, who sleep at night under a blanket which keeps the saddle from a
sore-backed horse in the day time, who are paid (if paid at all) with
waste paper, who have become hardened to the licentious practices of a
cruel warfare--such troops will be frequently tempted to violate the
moral code. Many Confederate cavalrymen so situated left their commands
altogether and became guerrillas, salving their consciences with the
thought that the desertion was not to the enemy. These men, leading