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157 Chapter 9 Reflections on the War The material in this chapter derives from those occasions when Welles stepped back from the daily rush of events and viewed the war in broader perspective. Section I consists of his reflections on the progress of the war effort (or the lack thereof) and such related questions as how to restore national unity once the war was won and how the defeated leaders of the rebellion should be dealt with (a topic on which his views fluctuated widely). In Section II, he discusses the pro-Confederate attitude of the British aristocracy and of Emperor Louis Napoleon of France and how it could lead to catastrophic consequences for the international order and the ruling elites in Great Britain and on the Continent. Section III contains a single long entry in which Welles criticizes Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the quality of southern political leadership both before and during the war. The chapter concludes with Welles’s reflections on the role of South Carolina’s planter oligarchy in fostering sectional hatred and bringing on the war. Viewed in the light of modern historical scholarship, some of Welles’s reflections are at best dubious (for instance, his claim that Jefferson Davis was a “despot”); and he certainly was not free of bias, most notably regarding England. Yet many of these reflections still resonate 150 years later, despite having been written in the highly emotional atmosphere of a protracted civil war and without the benefit of historical perspective. I December 31, 1862: The year closes less favorably than I had hoped and expected, yet some progress has been made. It is not to be denied, however, that the national ailment seems more chronic. The disease is deep-seated. 158 Reflections on the War Energetic measures are necessary, and I hope we may have them. None of us appear to do enough, and yet I am surprised that we have done so much. We have had some misfortunes, and a lurking malevolence exists towards us among nations, that could not have been anticipated. Worse than this, the envenomed, remorseless and unpatriotic spirit of party demoralizes and weakens the strength of the Government and country. January 10, 1863: In the insurgent States patriotism seems extinguished, the flag and country are hated. There is great suffering on the part of the [southern] people from all the direful calamities which war can bring, yet there is no evidence of returning sense or affection for that union which conferred upon them happiness and prosperity. Greater calamities, greater sufferings must be endured. Some things have taken place which will undoubtedly for a time exasperate the Southern mind, for they will affect Southern society, habits, labor, and pursuits. For a period emancipation will aggravate existing differences, and a full generation will be necessary to effect and complete the change which has been commenced. July 18, 1863: There is some talk, and with a few, a conviction, that we are to have a speedy termination of the war. Blair is confident the Rebellion is about closed. I am not so sanguine. As long as there is ability to resist, we may expect it from Davis and the more desperate leaders, and when they quit, as they will if not captured, the seeds of discontent and controversy which they have sown will remain, and the social and political system of the insurrectionary States is so deranged that small bodies may be expected to carry on for a time, perhaps for years, a bushwhacking warfare. It will likely be a long period before peace and contentment will be fully restored.1 August 22, 1863: The reestablishment of the Union and harmony will be a slow process, requiring forbearance and nursing rather than force and 1 Welles’s concern that after the Confederacy surrendered bitter-enders would continue the struggle by means of guerrilla warfare was shared by Lincoln and some other Union leaders. And Jefferson Davis did advocate such resistance after Richmond fell. For an analysis of why no widespread guerrilla resistance emerged, see George M. Fredrickson, “Why the Confederacy Did Not Fight a Guerrilla War After the Fall of the Confederacy: A Comparative View” (35th Annual Fortenbaugh Memorial Lecture, Gettysburg College, 1996). During Reconstruction, however, the struggle to restore “home rule” and white supremacy often involved the use of violence and intimidation and thus did somewhat resemble a guerrilla insurgency, as Mark Grimsley suggests in “Wars for the American South: The First and Second Reconstructions Considered...

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