February 6, 1863, The Charleston Mercury
Disasters which have befallen the Confederate States are attributable to inadequate provision in our army and our navy. It has constantly been our Sysiphan task to recover what we have lost, and to keep what we have left. The campaign of last year opened in March and the ample preparations of the enemy were rewarded by a series of early successes, the result of our inferior efforts, and chiefly our great inferiority of numbers in the field. The spirit of our people, however, rallied under these reverses. Our armies were reinforced, the foe was checked, and the cause was saved. But we lost Kentucky, parts of Tennessee, Missouri and New Orleans.
We are soon to begin another bloody campaign. Our troops have to cope with much larger forces than they had to overcome last year. The vital question is, have our armies been strengthened to the utmost? If not, then no time is to be lost in putting in the field all who can serve. To delay is to trifle criminally with the dearest interests of the country – perhaps even to jeopardize the cause. There is yet time to do much. ‘Well begun, half done.’ Let the South now put its best foot foremost at the beginning of this desperate struggle of the North for empire, and the cause, we trust, will be finally and fairly won. A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together, is the requirement of the time. We trust our able and energetic Secretary of War will this month see that the Conscript Law is thoroughly enforced in every State.