Sherman and His Campaigns: A Military Biography

New York: Cincinnati: C. B. Richardson: C. F. Vent & co., [etc., etc. ], 1865. Presumed first edition/first printing. Hardcover. Fair. No dust jacket. Ex-library. Usual library markings. Cover has wear and soiling. Boards weak. Pages have foxing and some discoloration.. 512 p. front., port., maps. 19 cm. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER ILL THE SECESSION JUGGLE IN KENTUCKY. The legerdemain by which the extreme Southern States were juggled out of the Union to feed the ambition of their leaders, had proved eminently successful. A Confederate dictionary had been made, in which slavery was called "the South; " rebellion, " secession; " the execution of the laws, " coercion; " and the desires of the conspirators, "the Constitution." A Confederate logic had been constructed, in which a system of postulates was substituted for the old-fashioned syllogism, and every thing taken for granted which it was impossible to prove. Only let it be granted that where thirteen or more parties have entered into an agreement with each other, any one of them can rightfully withdraw from the arrangement whenever he chooses, without the consent of the others, and you can prove any thing. A man whose mind is so organized that he can believe that, can believe any thing. And the Southern people were carefully taught to believe it. It followed, of course, that while those States which chose to " secede" could not rightfully be " coerced" to remain in the Union, those States which chose to stay must be forced to secede. Unexpectedly, Kentucky chose to stay. Then the inventors of the Confederate dictionary and the Confederate logic put their heads together and hatched a new lie. They called it Neutrality. It meant that Kentucky was to be neutral until the rebellion should become strong enough to swallow her at a mouthful. She was to arm herself to resist invasion from the South orfrom the North. The governor, Beriah Magoffin, a secessionist, organized the State militia in the interest of his faction, and issued a proclamation declaring that Kentucky would remain neutral.