re could be only two alternatives: either the
South would win her independence or the North would have to beat
her into complete submission. Under the circumstances the united
South would win whenever the divided North thought that complete
subjugation would cost more than it was worth. The great aim of
the South was, therefore, not to conquer the North but simply to
sicken the North of trying to conquer her. "Let us alone and we'll
let you alone" was her insinuating argument; and this, as she knew
very well, was echoed by many people in the North. Thus, as regards
her own objective, she began with hopes that the Northern peace
party never quite let die.

Then, so far as her patriotic feelings were concerned, the South
was not fighting for any one point at issue--not even for slavery,
because only a small minority held slaves--but for her whole way
of life, which, rightly or wrongly, she wanted to live in her own
Southern way; and she passionately resented the invasion of her
soil. This gave her army a very high morale, which, in its turn,
inclined her soldiers the better to appreciate their real or imagined
advantages over the Northern hosts. First, they and their enemies
both knew that they enjoyed the three real advantages of fighting
at home under magnificent leaders and with interior lines. Robert
Lee and Stonewall Jackson stood head and shoulders above any Northern
leaders till Grant and Sherman rose to greatness during the latter
half of the war. Lee himself was never surpassed; and he, like
Jackson and several more, made the best use of home surroundings
and of interior lines. Anybody can appreciate the prime advantage of
interior lines by imagining two armies of equal strength operating
against each other under perfectly equal conditions except that one
has to move round the circumference of a circle while the other
moves to meet it along the shorter lines inside. The army moving
round the circumference is said to be operating on exterior lines,
while the army moving from point to point of the circumference
by the straighter, and therefore shorter, lines inside is said
to be operating on interior lines. In more homely language the
straight road beats the crooked one. In plain slang, it's best to
have the inside track.

Of course there is a reverse to all this. If the roads, rails,
and waterways are better around the circle than inside it, then
the odds may be turned the other way; and this happens most often