"These views and the freedom with which they are presented may be
unusual, so likewise is the occasion which calls them forth.
"I have the honor to be, most respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
J. E. Johnston, _General_."
With a curve of his thin lips and a look of mortal weariness on his
haggard face, the man on whose shoulders rested the burden of the lives
of millions of his people seized his pen and wrote this brief note:
"Richmond, Va., September 14, 1861.
"General J. E. Johnston:
"Sir:
"I have just received and read your letter of the 12 instant. Its
language is, as you say, unusual; its arguments and statements utterly
one-sided, and its insinuations as unfounded as they are unbecoming.
"I am, etc.,
Jefferson Davis."
While the Commander of the victorious Confederacy was sulking in his
tent on the field of Manassas, playing this pitiful farce about the date
of a commission, and allowing his army to go to pieces, George B.
McClellan with tireless energy and matchless genius as an organizer was
whipping into shape Lincoln's new levy of five hundred thousand
determined Northern men.
To further add to his embarrassment and cripple his work the Vice
President of the Confederacy, Alexander H.
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