Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 19.djvu/228

 222 Southern Historical Society Papers.

[Richmond Dispatch, Thursday Morning, June 13, 1861.] Fast Day.

This day, appointed by President Davis as a day of fasting and prayer, will, we trust, be universally observed throughout the Con- federate States. We again repeat our hope that all places of busi- ness and amusement will be closed. No paper will be issued from this office to-morrow.

The Glorious Victory.

We have the satisfaction to-day of publishing reliable accounts of the glorious triumph of our army on the Peninsula. Our letters are from perfectly reliable sources, several of them being from gentle- men connected with this office one of them, Mr. H. C. Tinsley, a member of the Howitzers, who was present in the engagement, and, we learn, bore himself gallantly.

It is one of the most extraordinary victories in the annals of war. Four thousand thoroughly drilled and equipped troops routed and driven from the field by only eleven hundred men ! Two hundred of the enemy killed, and on our side but one life lost ! Does not the hand of God seem manifest in this thing ? From the attack upon Fort Sumter to the present moment the preservation of Southern life amidst such murderous assaults as have been made by the enemy seems little less than miraculous. Surely, in the religious exercises of this day, many a heart will exclaim, wi^h devout thanksgiving to God, " Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy great name be the glory."

The courage and conduct of the noble sons of the South engaged in this battle are beyond all praise. They have crowned the name of their country with imperishable lustre and made their own names immortal. With odds of four to one against them, they have achieved a complete victory, putting their enemies to inglorious flight, and giving the world a brilliant pledge of the manner in which the South can defend its firesides and altars. The North has won its battles on paper the South is content to achieve hers in the field. Let us invoke our heroic soldiers not to permit this splendid success in any way to relax their vigilance and their energy. Let them be as prudent as they are brave, as vigilant as they are determined, and all is secure. Let them omit no preparation, no watchfulness, no precaution which the presence of the bravest enemy might require.