Southern nation to be. In the minds of its citizens at least the Confederacy was the confirmed expression of Southern nationalism.
Radical means had yielded the conservative end. Secessions had led to confederation, and confederation to Constitution. That Constitution, if correctly construed, would preserve the Southern world and world view. The government of Jefferson Davis was the political expression of sensible Southerners; the old fire-eating radicals were by now mainly ornaments in the Confederate body politic. The administration had organized itself and conducted the confrontation in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter was a Confederate victory; not only was Charleston Harbor undefiled, but in the aftermath of the crisis the nation had reached its “natural frontiers.”
The victory at Sumter had committed the South to war, but perhaps the revolution had always required blood. The government had been equal to the challenge, and Southern soil and soul were intact. Indeed the most striking thing about the conduct of Confederate statecraft and warfare thus far was its quintessential Southern-ness.
Mobilization for war had been a sort of gathering of the clans, and Davis as warrior chieftain was present to lead them. He had moved his capital to the front and mapped his strategy. Then Davis had been on hand to preside over his victory at Manassas. Success in battle had covered over personal animosities and sins of military administration and supply. Beauregard was once again a hero, although he shared his mantle with lesser heroes such as Jackson and martyrs to the cause such as Bee.
Hindsight, of course, reveals that the Southern celebration following Manassas was premature. Even at the time the Southern soldiers involved in the victory knew better, having learned the hard way that war was no parade and that Yankees were not pasty-faced cowards. Confederate generals, too, had reservations about the victory; they had no illusions about the logistical weaknesses the campaign had revealed. More important, the battle had more or less “happened,” with precious little direction or control. The most significant order given all day had been the near-desperate command, “Go to the sound of the firing!” The battlefield had been broad beyond either Johnston’s or Beauregard’s comprehension, and the numbers of men involved had been too great for either general to control. If their enemies renewed the invasion—and Davis and his generals believed they would—the Confederate army would have to be more than a random collection of autonomous brigades. And commanders would have to do better than guess at the contents of each approaching cloud of dust. Naturally the success at Manassas softened the sting of the critique, but nagging doubts persisted even in the revel of victory. 37
The vivid memories of pain and death that Confederate troops were suppressing and the awareness of failures that the Southern high command was rationalizing loomed small in the nation as a whole. The Richmond
Examiner
caught the spirit of the hour.
This blow will shake the Northern Union in every bone; the echo will reverberate round the globe. It secures the independence of the Southern Confederacy. The churches of this city should be open to-day and its inhabitants should render God their thanks for a special providence in their behalf; for yesterday morning the fate of Richmond, with many other fates, trembled in the balance. 38
By the work of Sunday we have broken the backbone of invasion and utterly broken the spirit of the North. Henceforward we shall have hectoring, bluster and threat; but we shall never yet get such another chance at them again in the field. 39
God was Southern, and the Confederacy would live. It was almost perfect. Even Edmund Ruffin had had a part in the triumph. The old man still belonged to the Palmetto Guards (Second South Carolina Infantry Regiment), and he had rejoined his regiment during the first week of July. With
Radical means had yielded the conservative end. Secessions had led to confederation, and confederation to Constitution. That Constitution, if correctly construed, would preserve the Southern world and world view. The government of Jefferson Davis was the political expression of sensible Southerners; the old fire-eating radicals were by now mainly ornaments in the Confederate body politic. The administration had organized itself and conducted the confrontation in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter was a Confederate victory; not only was Charleston Harbor undefiled, but in the aftermath of the crisis the nation had reached its “natural frontiers.”
The victory at Sumter had committed the South to war, but perhaps the revolution had always required blood. The government had been equal to the challenge, and Southern soil and soul were intact. Indeed the most striking thing about the conduct of Confederate statecraft and warfare thus far was its quintessential Southern-ness.
Mobilization for war had been a sort of gathering of the clans, and Davis as warrior chieftain was present to lead them. He had moved his capital to the front and mapped his strategy. Then Davis had been on hand to preside over his victory at Manassas. Success in battle had covered over personal animosities and sins of military administration and supply. Beauregard was once again a hero, although he shared his mantle with lesser heroes such as Jackson and martyrs to the cause such as Bee.
Hindsight, of course, reveals that the Southern celebration following Manassas was premature. Even at the time the Southern soldiers involved in the victory knew better, having learned the hard way that war was no parade and that Yankees were not pasty-faced cowards. Confederate generals, too, had reservations about the victory; they had no illusions about the logistical weaknesses the campaign had revealed. More important, the battle had more or less “happened,” with precious little direction or control. The most significant order given all day had been the near-desperate command, “Go to the sound of the firing!” The battlefield had been broad beyond either Johnston’s or Beauregard’s comprehension, and the numbers of men involved had been too great for either general to control. If their enemies renewed the invasion—and Davis and his generals believed they would—the Confederate army would have to be more than a random collection of autonomous brigades. And commanders would have to do better than guess at the contents of each approaching cloud of dust. Naturally the success at Manassas softened the sting of the critique, but nagging doubts persisted even in the revel of victory. 37
The vivid memories of pain and death that Confederate troops were suppressing and the awareness of failures that the Southern high command was rationalizing loomed small in the nation as a whole. The Richmond
Examiner
caught the spirit of the hour.
This blow will shake the Northern Union in every bone; the echo will reverberate round the globe. It secures the independence of the Southern Confederacy. The churches of this city should be open to-day and its inhabitants should render God their thanks for a special providence in their behalf; for yesterday morning the fate of Richmond, with many other fates, trembled in the balance. 38
By the work of Sunday we have broken the backbone of invasion and utterly broken the spirit of the North. Henceforward we shall have hectoring, bluster and threat; but we shall never yet get such another chance at them again in the field. 39
God was Southern, and the Confederacy would live. It was almost perfect. Even Edmund Ruffin had had a part in the triumph. The old man still belonged to the Palmetto Guards (Second South Carolina Infantry Regiment), and he had rejoined his regiment during the first week of July. With
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