Rebel Letter (May, 1862)

Rebel Letter (July, 1862)

Source: The Friend. Honolulu, July, 1862. 

The following is one of the letters found in the rebel camp after the Pea Ridge battle. It is from a Louisiana Major to his sister, a resident of New Orleans, and bears date, 

LITTLE ROCK, Feb. 27, 1862. 

DEAR SISTER CARRIE:—You asked me, in your last letter, what I thought of our dearly beloved cause. To be candid, I have little hope for its success now, though last December I felt confident we would be recognized before the coming June. I don't like the Yankees a bit; I have been educated to hate them, and I do hate them heartily; but I must acknowledge the South has been sadly mistaken in their character. We have always believed that the Yankees would not fight for anything like a principle; that they had no chivalry, no poetry in their nature. Perhaps they have not; but that they are brave, determined, persevering, they have proved beyond question. 

The trouble with them is, that they never get tired of anything. They lost all the battles at first, and after Manasses we despised them. This year has inaugurated a new order of affairs. We are beaten at all points. We do nothing but surrender and evacuate; and while I hate the Lincolnites more than ever, I respect them—l can't help it for their dogged obstinancy, and the slow but steady manner in which they carry out their plans. 

I have lost heart in our cause. There is something wrong—somewhere. Jeff. Davis and our political leaders are either knaves or fools. They drew us into our present difficulties, and now have no way of showing us out of them. 

If the South had known what would have been the result of secession, no State, unless South Carolina, would have gone out of the Union. We all thought we could go out in peace; I know I did, and laughed at the idea of the North attempting to keep us in the Union by force of arms. It was not possible, we said. We had too many friends in the free States. Such a step would be followed by a revolution in the North, and the turning of old Lincoln and all the abolitionists out of office. 

0 well, it can't be helped, Carrie. We are in for it. It is too late to retreat. We must fight the thing out. * * * I cannot help believing we will be overpowered. We are growing weaker every day, and the North stronger. I fear to look at our future. We can't be subjugated, we all say. I hope not; but if we do not fly the country, I fear we will experience something like subjugation. 

Maybe I'm gloomy to-day; I reckon I am. Who wouldn't be? I intend to fight as hard as I can, but I don't see my way out. * * * Tear up this letter. Don't let mother, or father, or any of our relatives see it. I have expressed my heart to you because you are my dear sister, and I always tell you what I believe. 

EDITORIAL REMARKS. —The whole story of Southern Rebellion, in a nut-shell. Jeff. Davis and his associates, either "knaves or fools." Perhaps both! The South is beginning to understand the true character of the North. It is gratifying to see reason returning. There is no fear for the Union, so long as those in rebellion respect the Federal troops and public officers for their bravery, patriotism and perseverance. A better time is surely coming.