Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 04.djvu/289

Rh He should have recollected that an army in battle array is like a complicated machine, in which, when the motor that starts the whole fails to obey the control and guidance of the engineer, all the parts are powerless or are thrown out of joint.

It is a little remarkable that there is such an industrious search after causes for our failure to achieve a great victory at Gettysburg, when there is an all-sufficient cause staring us in the face, patent and palpable, which fully explains and accounts for that failure—namely, the most extraordinary procrastination and delay in carrying out the orders for the attacks on the 2nd and 3rd days, upon which the whole battle hinged. To be hunting for other causes in the miscarriage of dependent and minor operations, is like examining an engine to ascertain whether some of its parts are out of order, when the piston-rod fails to move on opening the valve that lets on the steam, because the fireman has omitted to kindle his fires; or looking into the delicate machinery of a watch with a microscope to discover whether some of the cogs are broken, or dust impedes their working, when the hands cease to move because the main-spring is broken. 1em