met my eyes at every turn in the road, and to try and think for a while only of its beauties, as a rest from the wild thoughts that filled my mind.
Try as I might, however, I could not avoid thinking of the situation, the prospects of the Confederacy, and the chances of success for the grand scheme, the execution of which I was endeavoring to assist. What if we failed ? or, if we succeeded in our first effort, would we be able to accomplish all we intend ed and expected? These were questions I could not answer. What I dreaded most was, the possible effect of a raid by way of the lakes on the Confederate sympathizers and the anti-war party. Would it stimulate them to make greater exertions than ever to bring the conflict to a close, or would this, bringing the war to the doors of themselves and their neighbors, turn them against us? I confess that I had fears of the latter result, for I had a not ill-founded distrust of these people, who are neither one thing nor the other; and I believed that had the Copperheads wielded their influence, as they might have done, they could either have prevented the war in the beginning, or could have forced a conclusion long ago.
What power the opponents of the war were able to exert would, however, be determined very shortly. A presidential election was coming off in a few weeks, and the greatest excitement with regard to the political battle that was being waged prevailed. Nearly everybody admitted that the defeat of Mr. Lincoln for a second term would mean that a majority of the people of the North were ready and anxious to abandon the contest, and to let the seceding Southern states go in peace. The fact that the Democratic candidate was a Federal general, who had been commander-in-chief of the armies, and who professed to be willing and anxious to carry on the war, did not please me very well, for it indicated to my mind, very plainly, that the anti-war people were afraid to oppose Mr. Lincoln and the war party on a square issue.
I, however, was nothing of a politician, and did not profess to understand the ways of politicians, they being a class of men for whom I had no special admiration. But I could not help thinking that the Confederate government and the people of the South were basing too many hopes on what the Democrats would be able to do at this election. I knew that they in many ways were doing what they could to secure a Democratic victory; but, for my part, I relied far more on bullets than on ballots to give the South the victory, and I expected more
