Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/251

 The Northern Volunteers.

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��THE NORTHERN VOLUNTEERS. By Col. T. J. Livermore.

��lu the vast host which was mar- shalled under our banners from April, 1861, to April. 1865, there was a sreat variety of individual character, and there were a good many men whose conduct did not justify what I shall say of the volunteers in gen- eral ; but there was a distinct charac- ter which belonged to our men, both individually and collectively, which sustained the fortunes of our arms in over two thousand engagements. It was not confined to any regiment, it did not belong to any state or section, and it displayed itself in men from the city and men from the couutrs^ alike. There were volunteer regi- ments which were as firm in battle as was ever anv regiment in anv armv in the world, and there were other regi- ments which were unstable and weak ; but, in looking back at them, I can- not see that there was any difference in the character of the men in the ranks which warranted the difference in the conduct of the regiments. It seems to me thatihe disparity was due entirely to the quality of the officers or to the fortunes of war. With the same officers to train and lead them, one thousand men would have made as good a regiment as another thousand, if we except some few picked regi- ments on the one hand, and some regiments of foreigners on the other hand. It is this character, which was to be discovered everywhere in the army, that I shall speak of. I shall not attempt to compare the volunteers of the North with those of the South.

"We have come to believe that the

��principles for which we of the North fought have been finally accepted by the South, and that no word of com- mendation from our side will be taken as a justification of the cause for which our adversaries contended ; and, now that we can review the events of the war in a historical spirit, I ara sure that no Northern soldier whose experience arrayed him on the field of battle, will deny the perseverance, endurance, impetuosity, and high valor of the Southern volunteers. I will go no further in characteiizing them, but to say that to have met such men without defeat is the best proof of the quality of the Northern volun- teers.

There were 4,000,000 men and youths in the loyal states in 1861 who were fit for military service. Over two millions volunteered to fight against the Rebellion. Five thousand commissioned oflScers and ninety thou- sand enlisted men were killed in ac- tion or died of wounds, and I esti- mate that nearly five hundred thou- sand more were wounded. Over two thousand commissioned officers and 170,000 men died of disease while in the service. At the close of the war a million of men were under arms in the armies of the North.

One unacquainted with armies does not realize the vastness of our forces from the mere statement of their numbers. A million of men arrayed in line of battle would extend two hundred miles. Could the trumpet call up the dead to stand in the ranks once more, that legion of heroes

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