retained all we desired of it, viz., California and New Mexico, and in short, all the Northern part of the country. But to make the whole affair look less like robbery, we paid the Mexicans $10,000,000 for what we kept, which was nearly one-half of the whole country. 14. By this war we very much enlarged our territory, but gained very little milit ry glory, and added noth ing to our character for justice and magnanimity. We a powerful nation, fell upon a weak one, crushed it, and took as much of its territory as we pleased; and that,-A to say the least of it,- for a very trifling cause. little wisdom, a little discreet diplomacy, would h ve averted this war, saved thousands of lives, millions of money, and preserved our character for justice and magnanimity. THE SIXTH WAR. 15. This was by far the greatest, the most expentive, and most bloody war that was ever carried on upon this continent. In magnitude, in expense, in the lives it cost, and in the evil consequences which resulted from it, it surpassed all the preceding wars combined, and verified the old adage that "Civil wars are the worst of all wars." This, as everybody knows, was a civil war; a war between the people of the same country and government, having the same interests and the same destiny. 16. Right here we might expand our remarks to an extent exceeding the whole contents of this volume in tracing the causes, detailing the operations, and noticing the results of this most terrible and cruel war, Then we might dwell long upon the consequences which must inevitably follow in all coming time. But this would be foreign to our purpose. We have only undertaken to give the veriest outlines of our various wars, the time when they commenced, the time of their duration, and the results produced. Just so much we will say of our civil war,-between the North and the South. It was begun on the 12th of April, 1861, by the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. It was closed in April, 1865, by the surrender of Gen. Lee, the Southern Commander-in-Chief, with his army, to Gen. Grant, the Commander-in-Chief of the National Forces, having lasted four years with varied success on both sides. All the details of this desperate struggle have been written and published by many able historians, to whose works I must refer the reader who wishes to peruse a complete history of this great event. 17. Here we will only add, that it is impossible to say how many lives were lost in this devastating war. 500,000 on both sides is probably as correct an estimate as can be made. Eight or nine billions of dollars is prob ably as near an estimate of its cost as can be calculated. Other disasters and evils almost inconceivable followed in its train. It furnished the world with one of the most awful examples of the folly and the wickedness of war. OUR INDIAN WARS. 18. In addition to, and in connection with, the several wars mentioned in the preceding remarks, our numerous wars with the various Indian tribes should be briefly noticed. In both of our wars with England, the Indians were wheedled and enticed by presents, to take sides with England, and against us. This, together with their barbarous mode of warfare, and their savago cruelties, produced a strong antipathy in the minds of our people against them. This feeling was reciprocated by the Indians, and whenever any wrong was perpetra. ted by either party, it was an easy matter to make it a cause of war. The old animosities were there, and any offensive act from either side was almost certain to produce retaliatory acts from the other party. When the whites cheated the Indians, they in retaliation would steal from the whites. A pursuit and a massacre would follow, and then the Government would be compelled to interfere. 19. From these and other causes, we have had many wars with nearly all the tribes of Indians in the country. Some of these contests have been obstinate and bloody, costing many valuable lives, and a great deal of money. Any of the tribes,-or all of them combined,-could make but a feeble resistance to the power of the United States. Hence all our Indian wars have resulted in their final defeat, and sometimes in their almost utter destruction; at the present time (1867) a fierce and bloody war is raging between the Government and the western Indians, who inhabit the country between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Various tribes are combined to prevent the settlement of the whites on their lands, and to prevent the construction of the Pacific Railroad through their hunting grounds. 20. The Indians who remain do not exceed 300,000. They have been reduced to this small number by their frequent wars with the whites, but more especially by their almost prepetual wars among themselves. Some of them have become partially civilized, and lave turned their attention to agricultural pursuits, instead of wandering about on hunting excursions and warlike expeditions against each other. It is therefore to be hoped that our Indian wars will soon cease forever. |