I may here state that the Confederate authorities have complete control of the press, so that nothing is ever allowed to appear in print which can give information to the North or dishearten their own men.  In this it appears to me that they have an unspeakable advantage over the North, with its numberless papers and hundreds of correspondents in the loyal armies.  Under such a system it is an absolute impossibility to conceal the movements of the army.  With what the correspondents tell and surmise, and what the Confederates find out through spies and informers of various kinds, they are able to see through many of the plans of the Union forces before they are put into execution.  No more common remark did I hear than this, as officers were reading the Northern papers:  “See what fools these Yankees are.  General A——­ has left B——­ for C——.  We will cut him off.  Why the Northern generals or the Secretary of War tolerate this freedom of news we can not imagine.”  Every daily paper I have read since coming North has contained information, either by direct statement or implication, which the enemy can profit by.  If we meant to play into the hands of the Rebels, we could hardly do it more successfully than our papers are doing it daily; for it must be remembered that they only need hints and scraps of information, which, added to the antecedent probabilities that our army is about to proceed to a certain point, will enable them to forecast with almost absolute certainty the movements of their enemies.  Sure am I, that if a Southern paper would publish such information of their movements, as do the Northern of theirs, the editor’s neck would not be safe an hour.

Does any reader aver, “But we see information often quoted from the Southern papers of their movements.”  Never, until they are made.  It is safe to conclude, if you see in a Southern paper any statement that the army is about to do a certain thing, that they will not do any such thing, but something very different.  No, the Southern government is now a complete military despotism, and for a successful carrying on of the war against them I think we must adopt, to some extent, the same rigid policy.  Freedom of opinion is a precious right, and freedom of the press a valuable boon, but when the publication of news and the utterance of personal opinions endanger the lives of our soldiers, and even the success of our armies, surely it is the duty of the government to restrain that utterance.

CHAPTER V.

COURIER SERVICE.

New Duties. —­ Battle approaching. —­ Deserters and Scouts.  —­ A Providence. —­ Position and Forces of the Confederates.  —­ Orders to prepare to move. —­ My New Position. —­ March to the Battle Field. —­ Federals off their Guard. —­ Care of the Confederates against Desertion. —­ Council of War. —­ A Dreary Night. —­ Awfulness of War. —­ The Fight opened. —­ Beauregard’s Address. —­ The First Dead. —­