Page:A Memoir of the Last Year of the War for Independence in the Confederate States of America.djvu/137

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Kentucky undertook to assume a neutral position, but she was soon overrun by Federal troops, and her government and a very large proportion of her population took sides with the North. Those of her citizens who were not awed by Federal bayonets, formed a State government and joined the Confederacy—many of her young men going into the Confederate army; but, in fact, whatever may have been the sympathies of the people, her moral influence as well as the benefit of her physical strength were given to the Federal Government. The legitimate Government of Missouri sided with the South, as very probably did the majority of her people, but she was also overrun at a very early stage of the war by Federal troops, and her legitimate Government subverted by force; and the benefit of her resources and physical strength was likewise given to the United States, not-withstanding the fact that a large number of her men joined the Confederate army. Perhaps the number of men added to the strength of the Confederate army from Kentucky and Missouri did not exceed the accession to the Federal army from Western Virginia, Eastern Tennessee, and some other of the Southern States, and that, in estimating the relative strength of the two parties at the beginning, it would be proper to reject Kentucky and Missouri from the estimate of the Confederate strength. The free population of these two States amounted to 1,988,575, and without them there would be left on the Confederate side a free population of 5,581,649 against a similar population of 21,603,460 on the Federal side, which would make the odds against us very nearly four to one. But I will divide the population of these States equally between the parties, and this will give a free population of 6,575,937 Confederates, against a similar population of 20,609,172 Federals, which makes the odds more than three to one against us in the beginning, without considering the fact that the Northern people had possession of the Government, with the army and navy and all the resources of that Government, while the Confederate States had to organize a new government, and provide an army and the means of supplying it with arms as well as everything else. Not-withstanding this immense odds against us, I presume there is scarcely a Confederate, even now, who does not feel confident that if it had been "hands off and a fair fight," we would have prevailed; but an immense horde of foreign mercenaries, incited by high bounties and the hope of plunder held out to them, flocked to the Federal army; and thus was its size continually growing, while the Confederate army had to rely on the original population to keep up its strength. Any accession of troops from Maryland was more than counterbalanced by those obtained from Western Virginia by the Federals, without counting East Tennessee or other quarters. The Federal Government was not satisfied with recruiting its army from abroad, but, as the country was overrun, the southern negroes were forced into its service, and thus, by the aid of its foreign mercenaries and the negro recruits, it was enabled finally to exhaust the Confederate army.

To show the immense strength of the Federal army, the following extracts are