Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

the battle with a terrific assault on Thomas's extreme left. It was then discovered that his greater force had enabled Bragg to extend his right much farther than was supposed, and Thomas at once sent to Rosecrans for another division for his extreme left. Negley was immediately ordered to report to Thomas at that point, and Wood's division was drawn from the reserve to fill the place vacated by Negley. These changes were the prelude to two blunders which doubtless determined the result of the day's fighting. Instead of reporting to Thomas, Negley entirely disappeared from the line, and nothing more was heard of him until he turned up at Rossville, though two of his brigades eventually reached the extreme left, but too late to be of much service. The fighting was furious during the early forenoon,- Baird, Johnson, Palmer, and Reynolds being engaged. The persistency and severity of the attack on him led Thomas to call again for a division, as Negley had not reported.

Rosecrans,

however, was ignorant of that fact, and so inferred that the whole Confederate force was massed against the left, and at 10.30 he ordered Van Cleve, the only remaining reserve on the field, and Sheridan, from the extreme right, to go to the assistance of Thomas. About the same time an aide delivered an order to Wood, written in an ambiguous manner, which the latter, resenting a criticism Rosecrans had made of his action earlier in the day, immediately undertook to execute literally, though he well knew "someone had blundered,” and that his movement would take his division out of the battle and place the whole army in peril. By Wood's action a gap of a whole division front was left between Brannan and Davis, who, by the withdrawal of Sheridan, was left in an isolated position on the right. Before he could close up on Brannan, and while considerable confusion existed owing to the efforts of the other three divisions to change their positions, Longstreet suddenly attacked the Union right with six divisions, a part of his force rushing through the gap in the line which Wood had left. The result was almost immediate and irretrievable disaster. In the complete rout of the right which followed, all four divisions were swept from the field, and Rosecrans, cut off from Thomas, was carried away with the flood. Hastening to Rossville, he found part of Negley's di

vision, which he had supposed was on Thomas's left, and so concluded that the day was lost. After a hasty consultation with Garfield, his chief-of-staff, it was decided that Rosecrans should at once go into Chattanooga to prepare for the reception of his shattered army, while Garfield should try to locate and communicate with Thomas. McCook and Crittenden soon joined Rosecrans in the city.

But Thomas was still very much alive and far from beaten. During the early afternoon he had succeeded in massing the fragments of seven divisions on a ridge near the centre of the field, where he stood at bay, "surrounded, two to one." In front and on either flank was now the entire Confederate army, flushed with victory, and eager to complete the destruction of the Union army, which had been so successfully begun. "But close behind our line," says an officer who was in the fight, "rode a general whose judgment never erred, whose calm, invincible will never bent; and around him thirty thousand soldiers resolved to exhaust the last round of ammunition, and then to hold their ground with bayonets. Soldiers thus inspired and commanded are more easily killed than defeated." During the

afternoon Wood with his division atoned, as far as possible, for his treachery of the forenoon, by fighting with more than human fury. Once, while holding an important position on the ridge where Thomas had taken his stand, the assault on his men seemed fiercer and in greater force than they could possibly endure. Thomas immediately sent two more cannon with the message, "The position must be held." "Tell Gen. Thomas," was the reply, "that we will hold the position or go to heaven from it." For five long hours the Confederates hurled their divisions against Thomas's faithful army; but always with the same result,— a decisive repulse with terrible slaughter. About four o'clock Longstreet drew back and asked for reënforcements from the Confederate right, for a final assault; but was answered that the right was SO shattered it could not help him. But there were still some reserves behind the Confederate lines, and, drawing from these, Longstreet re-formed for a last effort. The ammunition of the Union army had been exhausted, though the cartridge-boxes of the dead and wounded had been emptied and this final charge

was met and repulsed with fixed bayonets. The day was now drawing to a close, and the Confederate army was too much exhausted to continue the fighting. The battle was over, and Thomas, the "Rock of Chickamauga," had saved the Union army. "Bragg had torn his columns into useless shreds by dashing them against immovable Thomas."

About the middle of the afternoon Garfield had reached Thomas, and had at once informed Rosecrans that he was successfully resisting all attacks. Rosecrans immediately ordered Thomas to assume command in the field, and McCook and Crittenden were ordered to join him at once. He was also instructed to take a strong position at Rossville, whither ammunition and rations would be sent. Thomas, however, determined to hold his position until nightfall before retiring; and it was not until about six o'clock that Reynolds was ordered to begin the movement. So perfectly were the plans laid and executed that the entire remnant of the army was transferred to Rossville without the loss of a man, and there reformed to await any further movement by Bragg. The latter, however, was in no condition to follow up the advantage gained on the 20th; and as no further attack was offered, on the 22d the entire Union army was concentrated at Chattanooga. Bragg soon moved his army up and took a strong position on Missionary Ridge, opposite the city, with his centre stretched across Chattanooga Valley, and his left extending over Lookout Mountain and across Lookout Valley. The Army of the Cumberland was shut up in Chattanooga, and in a state of siege.

In these days of frantic jubilation over bloodless skirmishes, and maudlin adulation of the alleged heroism of soldiers who never smelled an enemy's powder, it is refreshing, if we must draw our inspiration from the conflicts of war rather than from the victories of peace, to contemplate the bravery and endurance of American soldiers in a war worthy of the name, and in a cause which merited the devotion and sacrifice given to it. The proportion of killed and wounded in any battle is the accepted test of courage and endurance; and when so regarded the record of the Civil War is without a parallel in history. However we at the North may regard the cause for which the Southern armies risked their all, to them it was sacred; and the

heroism and devotion of both armies is a common heritage. In the two days' fighting at Chickamauga the Union army lost a total-killed, wounded, and missingof 16,136, while the Confederate losses from the same causes were 20,950; or about 30 per cent of the entire forces engaged on both sides. In no battle of the war were the assaults fiercer, or the resistance more stubborn and decisive, than on the second day of this battle; and when the day closed the absolute limits of human endurance had been reached. It was the irony of fate that the results of this terrible sacrifice brought rejoicing to neither side, though its effect upon the Southern cause was more demoralizing, following as it did so closely upon the great Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. No more conclusive testimony to this fact could be given than the statement of Gen. D. H. Hill, who commanded one corps of the Confederate army in the battle. He says:

"There was no more splendid fighting in '61, when the flower of the Southern youth was in the field, than was displayed in those bloody days of September, 1863. But it seems to me that the élan of the Southern soldier was never seen after Chickamauga-that brilliant dash which had distinguished him was gone forever. He was too intelligent not to know that the cutting in two of Georgia meant death to all his hopes. He fought stoutly to the last, but, after Chickamauga, with the sullenness of despair and without the enthusiasm of hope. That 'barren victory' sealed the fate of the Southern Confederacy.»

One can but feel the strongest sympathy for Gen. Rosecrans in the result of this battle. He had been badly beaten in the action, although the Confederates had been so thoroughly worn out that they were unable to follow up their victory. The superb strategy by which he had forced the larger Confederate army out of middle Tennessee and had afterward secured possession of Chattanooga excites the deepest regret that he had not been properly supported and loyally sustained at Chickamauga, and so have been able, by a crushing defeat of the enemy, to win for himself imperishable renown. But his fate was sealed. On October 16 the Military Departments of the Cumberland and of the Ohio were merged into the Military Division of the Mississippi, under Gen. Grant. Rosecrans was removed, and Thomas became leader of the Army of the Cumberland. The latter had richly earned

his promotion, though he was the last one in the whole army who would have taken it at the expense of a brother officer, for he was as modest and generous as he was brave. Summing up the results of the battle of Chickamauga, Gen. Cist, the author of "The Army of the Cumberland," in the "Campaigns of the Civil War " series, says of Gen. Thomas:

"Well was he called the Rock of Chickamauga,' and trebly well for the Army of the Cumberland that George H. Thomas was in command of the left at that battle. On the

M

20th, when the hour of supreme trial came and he was left on the field with less than half of the strength of the army that the day before had been barely able to hold its own against the rebel assaults, he formed his 25,000 troops on 'Horseshoe Ridge,' and successfully resisted for nearly six long hours the repeated attacks of that same army, largely reënforced until it numbered twice his command, when it was flushed with victory and determined on his utter destruction. There is nothing finer in history than Thomas at Chickamauga.»

CHICAGO

(To be continued.)

C. W. CHASE.

THE CENTURY'S ACHIEVEMENTS IN BUSINESS

ORE radical changes have been made in the conduct of business during the century now drawing to a close than in all the eras preceding. In fact, business as to-day conducted is a creation of the last hundred years, or, to be more accurate, of the last fifty years.

The colonists who came here from Europe established general stores, in which was to be found a variety of articles that is not, perhaps, surpassed to-day in the largest department stores. The field of these general stores was naturally a local one, each establishment being confined to its own neighborhood. As the population increased, and it became necessary to keep in stock a larger number of the various articles, stores were established carrying but a single line of goods,-such, for instance, as groceries, hardware, etc. These establishments survive to-day, but are being rapidly overshadowed by the modern department store, which is easily drawing to itself the trade not only of its own neighborhood, but, through the ease with which orders by mail are filled, of communities hundreds of miles away.

The department store is indeed the crowning achievement of the century in the world of business. The idea originated in Paris, where even to-day the Bon Marché stands unsurpassed for its size and volume of transactions. At a recent meeting of merchants in Chicago eight thousand merchants testified that they had suffered from the inroads of these establishments into their business. The tendency of the department store is to eliminate the small merchant altogether, and thus make us return once more to what is really a modified form of the general store.

An

It is not difficult to discern why these stores are making such headway. The convenience of satisfying all one's wants at a single establishment, at prices which ordinary "one-line merchants" cannot hope to approach, explains the situation. other factor is the large amount of advertising which these establishments maintain. Instead of waiting for the public to come to them, they have invited it, through the medium of the public press, to come and view the bargains displayed; and as bargains have a potent attraction for all women the response is enthusiastic.

Advertising is, indeed, one of the great developments of the century. It has revolutionized business and made it possible to accomplish in a few years what otherwise would have taken generations to compass. To-day the advertiser, through the medium of the public press, can introduce his article to the entire public almost literally at a bound. Such a servant at the seller's elbow has naturally made business vastly different from what it was several hundred years ago. It is no longer necessary, as it was in previous generations, to confine one's commercial transactions to a limited area. In fact the manufacturer of to-day regards the world as his field; and there are quite a number of proprietary articles, widely and favorably known in every quarter of the civilized world, which have been introduced during the lifetime of their present proprietors, who are men only in the prime of life! Without advertising, by which it is possible to reach and influence hundreds of thousands of persons simultaneously, such a result could not be accomplished in several generations, if indeed

it could be accomplished at all. Nor has this advertising benefited the seller only. It has brought to the knowledge of the buyer the hundreds of improvements and articles by which life can be made more pleasant; by which the health can be preserved, the palate gratified, the intellect fed and satisfied. It is no exaggeration to say that no force has conduced more to knit the world closely together, nor made our mutual interdependence more apparent. "It is but the simple truth to assert," says a recent writer, "that the loss of the information which the advertisements furnish would be one of the greatest imaginable misfortunes to civilization."

A phase of trade that has differentiated the century from others is the tendency to combine forces, everywhere apparent in the business world. This tendency is due to the increasing magnitude of commercial transactions requiring a large outlay of capital. Corporations, syndicates, and trusts are the result. That the number of these will greatly increase in the future admits of little doubt. Without them business as to-day conducted could not exist.

This tendency to centralization has produced our great department stores, our great mills and factories, and other commercial enterprises. That there are great evils connected with it no rational mind doubts; but at the same time it must be acknowledged that it is one of the crowning achievements in the world of business of the hundred years drawing to a close. To confine it within proper limits, so that the entire extinction of the small merchant may be averted, will be the task of the twentieth century.

One of the latest developments in the commercial world is the realization among business men that south of us, in Latin America, we have a field for trade development that has long been overlooked in spite of its promise. Those who have cultivated this field have naturally made no effort to give others an inkling of its possibilities; and thus it is that only at the end of the nineteenth century are the Americas about to enter into a close and profitable business alliance. The SpanishAmerican war has done much to draw attention to the commercial possibilities so long allowed to lie dormant. The fact that Cuba and Porto Rico will be practically under United States control will do much to develop trade in tropical regions.

One of the century's most gratifying achievements in business is the universal realization on all hands that, regarded merely as a matter of policy, honesty pays best in the end. The recognition of this fact has made merchants chary of selling to customers articles which they cannot recommend, or of putting forth claims which cannot be substantiated. As a result the general exaggeration which prevailed in trade announcements in the early part of the century has almost entirely disappeared, while methods which tended to deceive and rob the customer have fallen into deserved desuetude. Among other things, the practice in retail circles of having no definite price for an article, but depending on the clerk to get as much for it as possible, giving him as a reward one half of all he secured above a certain sum, appears to have been entirely eliminated. The best mercantile ethics to-day provide for plain pricemarks. This is largely due to the influence of the department store, which was the first establishment to base its claim for patronage upon a comparison of "values" offered for specified amounts.

Perhaps the most peculiar achievement of business in the present century is that it has succeeded in outliving the stigma which in former ages attached to commercial pursuits. To-day it is not at all infrequent to find sons of wealthy and refined parents entering mercantile life. Business has been broadened so much within recent years, that to succeed in it requires as great if not greater mental capacities than are called into requisition in the professions. To manage an establishment employing thousands of people; to correctly gauge public wants and supply them at a profit; to seek, discover, and develop new markets, all involve qualities of foresight and execution that the commander of an army or the executive of a nation would find extremely useful. The recognition of this fact has done much to lift mercantile life to the high estimation which it at present enjoys, and as commerce knits the world more closely together business pursuits will become of greater and greater importance, calling into service the highest abilities of the best of our young men. Only the broadening of opinion regarding commercial life which is so distinctive an achievement of the present century makes this a possibility.

[blocks in formation]

EDITORIAL COMMENT

The Dreyfus As we go to press news Court-Martial has been received of the close of the Dreyfus trial and of the decision of the judges. The verdict is guilty, though the court admits extenuating circumstances, but sentences Dreyfus to ten years' imprisonment. The nadir of injustice and wrong has in this case been reached: infamy could hardly have descended to greater depths. That the sentence will be acquiesced in by France we can hardly believe, unless she is willing to see civil right put under the heel of an odious military oligarchy, justice dethroned and dishonored, and tyranny of the most contemptible and menacing kind smugly triumph.

For six weeks the re-trial dragged its slow length at Rennes, to the humiliation of the French army chiefs and the discredit of French justice. Nothing throughout the entire investigation seriously connected Dreyfus with the crime with which he was charged; and though there was a surfeit of testimony for the prosecution, and an infinitude of asseverations on the part of the army generals, not an iota of it was of any incriminatory value, but much, on the contrary, that made for Dreyfus's innocence. The six weeks' proceedings at Rennes before Colonel Jouaust, though devoid of anything like real evidence, were set round with that rigid regard for the buckram proprieties characteristic of a French court-martial, with its slavish deference to high military rank, however great may be its antics and idiotic its retailing of tattle put soberly forward as material for conviction. It was upon this tattle-the retailing of which by a pack of old women generals Colonel Jouaust never restrained-that the court dragged out its proceedings and heaped up a case of the flimsiest character against Dreyfus. The animus against the prisoner, even on the part of the presiding officer, shows the extent of the conspiracy against him, as well as the obsequiousness, even of justice, to military figureheads and the set purpose of the army chiefs, at whatever cost, to sup

port their trumpery affirmations and gratify their class and racial hatred.

as

To those familiar with the legal methods of English and American courts it will be difficult for a moment to suppose that the mass of irrelevant facts, hearsay statements, and arbitrary deductions retailed day by day by partisan witnesses for the prosecution could in any degree have made for the guilt of the accused or have had any weight with the court as evidence. What shreds of fact came to light in the trial, in the evidence of the strutting generals and other adverse witnesses, so far as they implicated Dreyfus, were, under the examination of his able counsel, M. Labori, torn in pieces worthless testimony. Among this hash of so-called evidence, the, untrustworthy character of which was revealed by the interrogating counsel, were the boasted revelations of the bitterly prejudiced Mercier and his fellow-generals and the maunderings of the handwriting expert, Bertillon. On the other hand, the testimony was direct and weighty of credible witnesses for the accused, who fearlessly asserted the innocence of the army chiefs' victim, and gave proof that not Dreyfus, but Esterhazy, was the culpable party. The animus of the court in curtailing this exculpatory testimony and in interfering with counsel when interrogating witnesses for the prosecution, immensely increased the difficulties of an effective defence. The spirit of hostility toward the accused was also signally manifested in the diabolical act - whether suggested by military malevolence or race fanaticism it would be hard to say- which at one time threatened to deprive Dreyfus of the services of his counsel. The shooting of Labori happily, however, miscarried, and the dastardly act only recoiled on those who, if they were not vile enough to instigate it, at least hoped to profit by it.

The army system of France was, with Dreyfus, on its trial; yet despite the lack of incriminating evidence of any real or substantial character, the conspiracy went

« ÎnapoiContinuă »