to meet the threatened invasion in whatever proportions it may assume; the assurance that their sacrifices and their services will be renewed from year to year with unfaltering purpose, until they have made good to the uttermost their right to self-government; the generous and almost unquestioning confidence which they display in their Government during the pending struggle — all combine to present a spectacle such as the world has rarely, if ever, seen.
To speak of subjugating such a people, so united and determined, is to speak a language incomprehensible to them. To resist attacks on their rights or their liberties is with them an instinct. Whether this war shall last one, or three, or five years, is a problem they leave to be solved by the enemy alone; it will last till the enemy shall have withdrawn from their borders — till their political rights, their altars, and their homes are freed from invasion. Then, and then only, will they rest from this struggle to enjoy in peace the blessings which with the favor of Providence they have secured by the aid of their own strong hearts and sturdy arms.
Jefferson Davis.
Richmond, July 20, 1861.
DISPATCH OF PRESIDENT DAVIS TO THE CONGRESS.
Soon after prayer in the Confederate Congress, on the morning of the 22d,[1] the following dispatch was read to that body:
Manassas Junction, Sunday night [July 21, 1861].
Night has closed upon a hard-fought field. Our forces were victorious. The enemy was routed, and fled precipitately, abandoning a large amount of arms, ammunition, knapsacks, and baggage. The ground was strewed for miles with those killed, and the farmhouses and the ground around were filled with wounded.
Pursuit was continued along several routes toward Leesburg and Centerville until darkness covered the fugitives. We have captured several field batteries, stands of arms, and Union and State flags. Many prisoners have been taken. Too high praise
- ↑ July, 1861.
