Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/147

Rh gray" during the four years of war. The witty editor of the Richmond Christian Advocate, Dr. Lafferty, said of a certain State: "They already have twelve 'universities,' and at our latest advices they were cutting poles for another." Now we did not call our schools "universities," but in the log chapels and log huts of winter quarters, in the camps of summer and even in the bivouacs of active campaigns there were classes taught by scholars who would have graced the chairs of any university or college, and a high standard of scholarship maintained which would have astonished many of the so-called "universities." It was noted in all of our Southern colleges and universities that the classes formed just after the war were the most brilliant they ever had, and the obvious explanation is that the students were prepared for college in these army classes by these able teachers, and were enabled by this preparation, added to native intellect and hard study, to take the very highest stand in their classes.

But perhaps the best evidence of the morale of the Confederate armies is their achievements, notwithstanding the immense odds in numbers, resources and equipment against which they fought. The population of the Northern States was about 20,000,000, while the population of the Confederate States was only 5,000,000 whites. There were enlisted in the Federal armies, as shown by the official reports, 2,864,274 men, while there were mustered in the Confederate armies a total of only 800,000 men. The blockade cut off the Confederacy from the factories and general supplies of the world and shut the South up to its own scant resources; while the Federals had not only the arsenals, the navy yards and the shops of the government, and the numerous factories of the North, but those of the whole world from which to draw their war material. The Federal armies were equipped in complete style, their arms and ammunition were of the most improved patterns, their supplies of every kind