f a
great cause, and a gallant people. At that period the veteran Federal
army of the West was numerically much inferior to what it ever was
again; and even after the accession of the recruits hastily collected at
Louisville, it was much less formidable than it subsequently became.

The Confederate army was composed of the veterans of Shiloh, and the
soldiers formed in the ordeal of Corinth. It was as nearly equal to the
Federal army, in numerical strength, as there was any chance of it ever
being, and the character of its material more than made up for any
inequality in this respect. No man, who saw it in Kentucky, will doubt
that it would have fought up to its full capacity. Never was there a
more fiery ardor, a more intense resolution pervading an army, than that
one felt, when expecting a battle which should decide whether they were
to hold Kentucky, or march back again, carrying the war once more with
them to their homes and firesides. Not even on the first day of Shiloh,
when it seemed that they could have charged the rooted hills from their
bases, were those troops in a temper to make so desperate a fight. But a
doting AEolus held the keys which confined the storm. It will be
difficult for any one who will carefully study the history of this
period, to avoid the conclusion that it was the crisis of the war. First
let the military situation be considered. While at almost every point of
subordinate importance the Confederates were holding their own, they
were at those points, where the war assumed its grand proportions, and
the issue was vital, carrying every thing before them.

The Confederate Government had at length adopted the policy of massing
its troops, and the effect was instantly seen. In Virginia, General
Lee's onset was irresistible. His army burst from the entrenchments
around Richmond, like the lava from the volcano, and the host of
McClellan, shrank withered, from its path. Driving McClellan to his new
base, and leaving him to make explanations to his soldiery, "Uncle
Robert" fell headlong upon Pope, and Pope boasted no more. Forcing the
immense Federal masses disintegrated and demoralized back to Washington,
General Lee crossed the Potomac and pushed into Maryland. Jackson took
Harper's Ferry, while General Lee fought the battle of Antietam with
forty thousand men, and again crippled McClellan.

Although the Confederate army recrossed the Potomac on the 18th of
September, McClellan did not follow,