I Corps (Union)

“ That the defense everywhere may be both more convenient and more economical, Congress will see the necessity of immediate measures for filling the ranks of the Regular Army and of enlarging the provision for special corps, mounted and unmounted, to be engaged for longer periods of service than are due from the militia. ”

“ To make the Army more attractive to enlisted men, it is absolutely essential to create a service corps, such as exists in nearly every modern army in the world, to do the skilled and unskilled labor, inseparably connected with military administration, which is now exacted, without just compensation, of enlisted men who voluntarily entered the Army to do service of an altogether different kind. There are a number of other laws necessary to so organize the Army as to promote its efficiency and facilitate its rapid expansion in time of war ”

“ It furnishes annually, after due examination and on the report of the academic staff, many well- informed youths to fill the vacancies which occur in the several corps of the Army, while others who retire to private life carry with them such attainments as, under the right reserved to the several States to appoint the officers and to train the militia, will enable them, by affording a wider field for selection, to promote the great object of the power vested in Congress of providing for the organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia. ”

“ A single corps of Grant's army at the Wilderness, or of Sherman's at Atlanta, or of Meade's at Gettysburg, or of McClellan's on the Peninsula, or of Hooker's at Chancellorsville, contained a large number of troops than Washington or Scott ever commanded on the field, a larger number than Taylor or Jackson ever saw mustered. A more correct conception of the real magnitude of the Union Army can be reached by measuring the proportions of the several branches of the service, than by simply stating the aggregate number of men. ”

“ At the same time the rest of Early’s forces marched down the turnpike from Strasburg to Cedar Creek, and before the Union army was fairly awake, the rebels had penetrated within the intrenchments of the Eighth corps, and the left division of Crook was thoroughly broken up. The Federals were driven in confusion and many taken prisoners. The Nineteenth corps now gave way and the entire left and centre were routed, while the artillery and musketry of the rebels, playing upon the disordered ranks of the Federals, increased momentarily the terror and confusion. ”

“ The organization of the several corps composing the Army is such as to admit its expansion to a great extent in case of emergency, the officers carrying with them all the light which they possess to the new corps to which they might be appointed. ”

“ After twelve years' service in the Army, my own belief is that the man should be given a preference according to his ability for certain types of office over all civilian applicants without examination. This should also apply, of course, to the men who have served twelve years in the Navy. A special corps should be provided to do the manual labor now necessarily demanded of the privates themselves. ”

“ I, however, call special attention to the recommendation of the Chief of Ordnance for the sale of arsenals and lands no longer of use to the Government; also, to the recommendation of the Secretary of War that the act of 3d March, 1869, prohibiting promotions and appointments in the staff corps of the Army, be repealed. The extent of country to be garrisoned and the number of military posts to be occupied is the same with a reduced Army as with a large one. The number of staff officers required is more dependent upon the latter than the former condition. ”

“ A. J. Smith’s Sixteenth corps, consisting of the divisions of McArthur, Garrard and Moore, came next on the left of Schofield. On the left of Smith, the magnificent Fourth corps, General T. J. Wood commanding, comprising the divisions of Kimball, Elliott, and Beatty, was formed in close order of battle; and, partially massed, Steadman, with Croft’s division and two brigades of colored troops, held the left. The Union plan of battle was to press the advantage gained on the enemy’s left. At about half-past eight o’clock a hundred pieces opened fire simultaneously along the Union line. ”

“ Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time. ”

“ Away at the right is the Eighteenth Corps, holding the space from the Appomattox to the Ninth Corps which stretches out till its left joins the right of the Fifth, which in turn touches the right of the Second; this corps since the withdrawal of the Sixth for service in Maryland, in Washington and later in the valley of the Shenandoah, has become the extreme Union left, with its line refused towards the south, and west of the Jerusalem plank-road, only a fraction of the distance to be covered before the winter's stay is ended. ”

“ Firing began immediately on both sides. The Unionists advanced in a strong line upon the enemy, driving him back into a clearing in the woods at his rear, and then began the serious work of the day. The National troops rushed forward upon the enemy with all the impetuosity of dauntless bravery, and the fight became general in all directions. The remaining two divisions of Warren’s corps, commanded by Generals Crawford and Cutter—the latter in command of the lamented General Wadsworth’s troops—were hurried forward with all possible haste. ”

“ It must be incessantly practiced; the standard for the enlisted men should be kept very high, while at the same time the service should be made as attractive as possible; and the standard for the officers should be kept even higher—which, as regards the upper ranks, can best be done by introducing some system of selection and rejection into the promotions. We should be able, in the event of some sudden emergency, to put into the field one first-class army corps, which should be, as a whole, at least the equal of any body of troops of like number belonging to any other nation. ”

“ No local interests should be allowed to stand in the way of assembling the greater part of the troops which would at need form our field armies in stations of such size as will permit the best training to be given to the personnel of all grades, including the high officers and staff officers. To accomplish this end we must have not company or regimental garrisons, but brigade and division garrisons. Promotion by mere seniority can never result in a thoroughly efficient corps of officers in the higher ranks unless there accompanies it a vigorous weeding-out process. ”

“ After sending to headquarters many times for reinforcements, General Sickles at last obtained permission to advance General Whipple’s division to the aid of General Birney.
Later, the Eleventh corps was directed to advance, and join its flank to Birney’s right; the Twelfth was to the left; and a general advance was ordered. The skirmishers of both armies immediately became engaged; the rebels gradually falling back. The soldiers of the Union charged boldly upon the rebels, and the engagement immediately became general. ”

“ As soon as a regiment or brigade gained a position within easy distance for a sally, it would set to work with a will, and would construct such a parapet in a single night; but I endeavored to spare the soldiers this hard labor by authorizing each division commander to organize out of the freedmen who escaped to us a pioneer corps of two hundred men, who were fed out of the regular army supplies, and I promised them ten dollars a month, under an existing act of Congress. ”

“ It will be seen by the returns from the subordinate departments of the Army that every branch of the service is marked with order, regularity, and discipline; that from the commanding general through all the gradations of superintendence the officers feel themselves to have been citizens before they were soldiers, and that the glory of a republican army must consist in the spirit of freedom, by which it is animated, and of patriotism, by which it is impelled. ”

“ The number of men in a regiment was fixed by Congress, as well as in a company—so many infantry, cavalry, and artillery. But the eternal ebb and flow of men engaged for three, six, and nine months, who went and came every day, rendered it impossible to have either a regiment or a company complete; and the words company, regiment, brigade, and division, were so vague that they did not convey any idea upon which to form a calculation, either of a particular corps or of the army in general. ”

“ As the war was a sectional one in its origin, many of our best officers believed that the volunteer regiments should be formed into brigades and divisions, without reference to the States from which they came. They held that an army organized in this way would more rapidly develop the national spirit and become a more efficient military machine than one formed on state or sectional lines, and the general practice to the end of the war, in the Union army, was in accordance with this idea. ”

“ We want, first of all, men, and we shall endeavour to secure that men desiring to serve together shall, wherever possible, be allotted to the same regiment or corps. [Cheers.] The raising of battalions by counties and municipalities with this object will be in every way encouraged. But we want not less urgently a larger supply of ex-non-commissioned officers, and the pick of the men with whom in past days they have served, and therefore whom in most cases we shall be asking to give up regular employment and to return to the work of the State which they alone are competent to do. ”

“ That the permanent Line of the Regular Army shall consist of one company for each district represented in the lower House of Congress, and one company for each Senator in the upper House, to be organized into regiments and corps as nearly as practicable as now authorized by law. ”

“ No man can justly charge upon any portion of that army, from the Commanding General to the private, any lack of devotion to the service of the United States’ Government, and to the cause of the Constitution and the Union. ”

“ The next article, proposes to invest a number of exclusive rights, delegated by the present Confederation; with this alteration, that it is intended to give the unqualified power of raising troops, either in time of peace or war, in any manner the Union may direct. It does not confine them to raise troops by quotas, on particular States, or to give them the right of appointing Regimental Officers, but enables Congress to raise troops as they shall think proper, and to appoint all the officers. ”

“ It is especially to be observed that notwithstanding the union of so considerable a force, no act was committed that even the jealousy of an irritated power could construe as an act of aggression, and that the commander of the squadron and his officers, in strict conformity with their instructions, holding themselves ever ready for the most active duty, have achieved the still purer glory of contributing to the preservation of peace. ”

“ By the act of March 2, 1899, Congress gave authority to increase the Regular Army to a maximum not exceeding 65,000 enlisted men, and to enlist a force of 5,000 volunteers, to be recruited from the country at large. By virtue of this authority the Regular Army has been increased to the number of 61,999 enlisted men and 2,248 officers, and new volunteer regiments have been organized aggregating 33,05o enlisted men and 1,524 officers. ”

“ Compared with this modern system of organization the present craft. unions, each going its separate way and duplicating the union work of the industries as many as thirty times, is confusion worse confounded. The departmentalized union will be like an army, with its separate branches of artillery, cavalry, infantry, etc., but all welded together into one powerful machine.
Under the industrial system of unionism the workers will obtain tremendous power compared with the craft or federated form. Unity of action will at all times be obtainable. ”

“ Once admit the Union, once more acknowledge the authority of the national Government, and, instead of devoting your houses and streets and roads to the dread uses of war, I and this army become at once your protectors and supporters, shielding you from danger, let it come from what quarter it may. ”

“ The struggle for the Union came, and he hastened to New York, where his fiery eloquence stirred the heart of its people. When they rushed impetuously to arms, he warned the country of the magnitude of the struggle, and was foremost in support of the Government. He was not, however, a speaker only, but a worker as well. In a little time he had gathered about him an effective regiment. Men from all States rushed to fill up the ranks. Refusing to resign his position in the Senate and be promoted to a Major-Generalship, he retained his simple title of Colonel, and died with no higher rank. ”

“ The number of unionists was more than four times greater than the number of secessionists. The latter soon ran up their flag in the court house yard, addresses followed and the small crowd, including the corps of cadets, was about to disperse to their homes, and the corps to barracks, when the unionists began raising their flag pole some distance up and in the middle of Main street. ”

“ The enemy’s loss in killed was one thousand four hundred and twenty-three officers and men; their loss in wounded amounted to five thousand six hundred and ninety-two. The Unionists took two thousand two hundred and forty-eight prisoners, among whom were one hundred and thirty-seven field-officers, captains, and subalterns, representing fifty-three regiments of infantry, sixteen regiments of cavalry, thirteen batteries of artillery, and seven battalions, making sixty-nine regiments, six battalions, and thirteen batteries, beside separate companies. ”