Proclamation by the President.
To the People of the Confederate States:
Once more upon the pepsins of
Manassas have our armies been blessed by the
Lord of Hosts with a triumph over our enemies.
It is my privilege to invite you once more to His footstool, not now in the garb of fasting and sorrow, but with joy and gladness, to render thanks for the great mercies received at His hands.
A few months since, and our enemies poured forth their invading legions upon our soil.
They laid waste our fields, polluted our altars, and violated the sanctity of our homes.--Around our capital they gathered their forces, and with boastful threats claimed it as already their prize.
The brave troops which rallied to its defence have extinguished these vain hopes, and, under the guidance of the same Almighty hand, have scattered our enemies and driven them back in dismay.
Uniting these defeated forces and the various armies which had been ravaging our coasts with the army of invasion in
Northern Virginia, our enemies have renewed their attempt to subjugate us at the very place where their first effort was defeated, and the vengeance of retributive justice has overtaken the entire host, in a second and complete overthrow.
To this signal success accorded to our arms in the
East, has been graciously added another equally brilliant in the
West.
On the very day on which our forces were led to victory on the plains of
Manassas in
Virginia, the same Almighty arm assisted us to overcome our enemies at
Richmond, in Kentucky.
Thus, at one and the same time, have the two great hostile armies been stricken down, and the wicked designs of our enemies set at naught.
In such circumstances, it is meet and right that, as a people, we should bow down in adoring thankfulness to that gracious God who has been our bulwark and defence, and to offer unto Him the tribute of thanksgiving and praise.
In His hand are the issues of all events, and to Him should we, in an especial manner, ascribe the honor of this great deliverance.
Now, therefore, I,
Jefferson Davis,
President of the
Confederate States, do issue this, my proclamation, setting apart Thursday, the 18th day of September, instant, as a day of prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God, for the great mercies vouchsafed to our people, and more especially for the triumph of our arms at
Richmond and
Manassas in
Virginia, and at
Richmond in
Kentucky; and I do hereby invite the people of the
Confederate States to meet on that day at their respective places of public worship, and to unite in rendering thanks and praise to God for these great mercies, and to implore Him to conduct our country safely through the perils which surround us to the final attainment of the blessings of peace and security.
Given under my hand, and the seal of the
Confederate States, at
Richmond, this fourth day of September, A. D. 1862.
Jefferson Davis.
By the
President:
J. F. Benjamin, Sec'y of State.
