pale face of the student and the marks of
a deep thinker. To gaze at him in repose, the casual spectator would
suppose, from his neglect of dress, that he was a planter in moderate
circumstances, and of course not gifted with extraordinary powers of
intellect; but let him open his mouth, and the delusion vanishes. At the
time alluded to he was surrounded by the rest of the cabinet, in our
office, and the topic was the policy of the war. He was for taking the
initiative, and carrying the war into the enemy's country. And as he
warmed with the subject, the _man_ seemed to vanish, and the _genius_
alone was visible. He was most emphatic in the advocacy of his policy,
and bold almost to rashness in his denunciations of the merely defensive
idea. He was opposed to all delays, as fraught with danger; the enemy
were in the field, and their purposes were pronounced. Why wait to see
what they meant to do? If we did that, they would not only invade us,
but get a permanent foothold on our soil. We must invade or be invaded;
and he was for making the war as terrible as possible from the
beginning. It was to be no child's play; and nothing could be gained by
reliance upon the blunders and forbearance of the Yankees. News had been
received of the occupation of Alexandria and Arlington Heights, in
Virginia; and if we permitted them to build fortifications there, we
should not be able to expel them. He denounced with bitterness the
neglect of the authorities in Virginia. The enemy should not have been
permitted to cross the Potomac. During the month which had elapsed since
the passage of the ordinance in Virginia, nothing had been done, nothing
attempted. It was true, the vote on ratification had not been taken; and
although that fact might shield the provisional government from
responsibility, yet the delay to act was fraught with danger and perhaps
irreparable injury. Virginia alone could have raised and thrown across
the Potomac 25,000 men, and driven the Yankees beyond the Susquehanna.
But she, to avoid responsibility, had been telegraphing Davis to come to
the rescue; and if he (Toombs) had been in Davis's place, he would have
taken the responsibility.
The Secretary of War well knew how to parry these thrusts; he was not
responsible. He was as ultra a man as any; and all he could do was to
organize and arm the troops authorized by Congress. Some thirty odd
thousand were mustered in already; and at least five thousand volunteers
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