men came from among a people who talked but would not act!
And so in sorrow, disappointment and bitterness ended the second
Maryland campaign.

And with it ended all hopes of carrying the war beyond our own gates in
future; happy could we beat it thence, baffled and crushed as ever
before.

For the short, sharp raid of General Early--penetrating to the gates of
the Capital and with possible capabilities of even entering them--can
hardly be considered an organized scheme of invasion. It was rather the
spasmodic effort by a sharp, hard blow to loosen the tightening and
death-dealing grip upon our throat, and give us time for one long, deep
breath before the final tug for life.

CHAPTER XXX.

THE CONFEDERACY AFLOAT.

Measured by the popular test, success, the Confederate States Navy
would, perhaps, be accorded little merit. Even cursory examination into
the vast difficulties and discouragements with which it contended, will
do it prompt justice.

No men who joined the southern service sacrificed more than her navy
officers. The very flower of the old service, they had grown gray in
their slow promotion to its positions of honor; their families depended
for sole support upon the pittance of pay they received. Still they
hesitated not a moment to range themselves under the banners their
native states had unfurled. Once there, no men labored more
faithfully--and efficiently. Subject to misconstruction, to jealousy,
to petty annoyances--and later, to the most pinching straits of
poverty--they were ever uncomplaining and ever ready.

Many and varied were the calls upon them. They commanded land
batteries, trained raw gunners and drilled lubberly conscripts; they
were bridge-builders, carpenters, wood-cutters, chemists and colliers;
and, at the best, it was hard for the veteran who had, for forty years,
trod the deck of a frigate, to be cooped in the contracted limits of a
razeed tug, or an armed pilot boat. But once there he made the best of
it; and how well he wrought in the new sphere, the names of Hollins,
Lynch, Buchanan and Tucker still attest.

At the time the first Army Bill was passed by Congress, a law was also
made securing to resigned naval officers the same rank they held in the
United States service. But there was scarcely a keel in Confederate
waters, and small indeed was the prospect for the future; so these
impatient spirits, panting for active work, were put into unsuitable
positions at the v