A Problem Solved

The disbanding of the army went steadily on from the first of June (1865), and by the middle of November following, nearly 800,000 of the 1,000,000 of the soldiers whose names were on the rolls on the first of May had been mustered out of service and returned to their several avocations. The wonderful spectacle was exhibited for the contemplation of the civilized world, of vast armies of men surrounded by all the paraphernalia of war, transformed, in the space of one hundred and fifty days, into a vast army of citizens engaged in the blessed pursuits of peace. No argument in favor of free institutions and a republican form of government, so conclusive and potential as this, was ever before presented to the feelings and judgment of the nations of the earth. The important political problem of the nineteenth century was solved by our Civil War. Our Republic no longer appeared as an experiment, but as a demonstration.

The National navy has an equal claim to the gratitude of the loyal people of our country, for its services during the war were of incalculable value. It attracted less attention than the army, because our vessels of war were engaged chiefly in the blockade service, or as auxiliaries of the army along the rivers and sea-coasts. In that service, especially in the latter portion of it, the labors of the officers and seamen were arduous in the extreme; and there were occasions for the display of prowess and skill equal to any required in the open ocean service. A history of the part performed by our gun-boat squadron on the rivers would form a most marvellous chapter in the annals of the Civil War.

At the breaking out of hostilities, the navy was exceedingly weak, as we have observed on page 1463, and by its geographical disposition, was, for a time, almost powerless, as we have already observed. It had been reduced during fifty years of peace to the smallest proportions, and was kept in existence only by the necessity of affording protection for the continually expanding commercial interests of the nation. Its men numbered only seven thousand six hundred at the beginning of 1861; and of its officers, three hundred and twenty-two proved treacherous in the day of trial, abandoned their flag, and entered the service of the enemies of their country. Under the able management of Mr. Fox, the energetic Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the marine arm of the public service was speedily and wonderfully strengthened. Even while in its weakness, a decree went forth for the blockade of the Southern ports, in the face of the protests and menaces of foreign governments. Ingenuity and mechanical skill developed amazing inventions. The "Monitor," with its revolving turret, was perfected and changed the mode of naval warfare. "Rams" were constructed for river service. Large numbers of vessels were built; others were purchased; and men from the merchant-marine were invited to officer and man them. Dockyards were enlarged and filled with workmen. The places of the treasonable deserters were soon filled. Volunteers flocked to the ships, and the number of seven thousand six hundred men that composed our navy when the war broke out, had increased to fifty-one thousand before it was ended. During the four years of the war, no less than two hundred and eight war-vessels were constructed and fitted out, and four hundred and fourteen vessels were purchased and converted into war-ships. Of these, three hundred and thirteen were steamers. Many of them were iron-clads; and the aggregate cost was $19,000,000.

The blockading service was performed with great vigor and success, under the triple stimulus of patriotism, duty, and the chances for personal emolument. While the British government professed to be neutral, swarms of swift steamers were fitted out by British merchants, and, laden with every kind of supplies for the insurgents, were sent to "run the blockade." The profits of such operations, if successful, were enormous, but the risks were equally so; and it is believed that a true balance-sheet would show that there were no profits left with these violators of law. Over fifteen hundred of these blockade-runners were captured, or destroyed by our National vessels, during the war; and the aggregate value of property captured and condemned, as lawful prize, before November following the close of the war, was $22,000,000. That sum was subsequently enlarged by new decisions. The value of the vessels so captured or destroyed, added to the value of goods in them, swelled the amount of loss to the British blockade-runners, to full $30,000,000.