Diary of Corporal Lawrence Van Alstyne, August 20, 1862

Capt. Bostwick came from Albany last night. He has his commission, and is to be captain of Company B, his being the second company filled. I can now style myself of Co. B, 128th N. Y. State Volunteers. He got us together and gave us quite a speech. Told us what he would do, and what he expected us to do. I imgaine none of us know very well yet what we will do. He said if he had not got his commission he would have gone in the ranks with us. We gulped this down, but I doubt if many believed it. But at all events we are one family now, and Ed. Bostwick is the head of it. We have known him so long as just Ed. Bostwick, that it will take some time to get used to addressing him as Capt. Bostwick. One of our company, Jim Wasburn, who hails from Sharon, was put in the guard-house three times yesterday for fighting. He ought to make a good soldier, for he had rather fight than eat. He is a "mean dog," always picking at some one smaller than himself. To-day he pushed Eph. Hammond over, as he was getting some water from a pail. Eph. is one of our smallest men, but he gave the bully a crack on the jaw that sent him sprawling, and took the fight all out of him. One of the Poughkeepsie boys has gone on the war path too. He began Sunday night by running past the guard, and then waiting until arrested. Just as he got inside he gave his captor the slip and hid in the barracks until the search was given up. Then he came out and dodged past another guard and gave his pursuers a lively chase over the fields before they caught him. He might be going yet if he had not stopped and let them take him. He was brought in, put in the guard-house, and before ten o'clock was out and down town, where he got into some mischief and was locked up by the police. Yesterday he was brought back under guard and again put in the guard-house, which by the way is only a tent, with a soldier stationed by it. Last night, as I was coming from the city I met him going down, and probably by this time he is in jail again.

6 p. m. Have just drawn our coats, drawers, stockings and shoes. Ben Rogers is here. He belongs to a Kinderhook company. Jim Rowe and John Pitcher have just come. Twenty-five of the company are old acquaintances, all from the same neighborhood. Besides, I have made lots of new acquaintances here. Men are coming every day and almost by every train, and the prospect of our regiment being soon filled seems good. The President's call for 300,000 volunteers is being nobly responded to here, and probably it is the same all over the North.

SOURCE:  Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 7-8

Abraham Lincoln’s Call for 300,000 Men, July 1, 1862

EXECUTIVE MANSION,        

Washington, July 1, 1862.

To the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin, and the President of the Military Board of Kentucky:

GENTLEMEN: Fully concurring in the wisdom of the views expressed to me in so patriotic a manner by you in the communication of the 28th day of June, I have decided to call into the service an additional force of 300,000 men. I suggest and recommend that the troops should be chiefly of infantry. The quota of your State would be ——. I trust that they may be enrolled without delay, so as to bring this unnecessary and injurious civil war to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion. An order fixing the quotas of the respective States will be issued by the War Department to-morrow.*

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

_______________

* Under this call the quotas and credits were as follows, the first number indicating the quota and the second the number of men furnished, Maine, 9,609; 6,644. New Hampshire, 5,053; 6,390. Vermont, 4,898; 4,369. Massachusetts, 19,080; 16,519. Rhode Island, 2,712; 2,742. Connecticut, 7,145; 9,195. New York, 59,705; 78,904. New Jersey, 10,478; 5,499. Pennsylvania, 45,321; 30,891. Delaware, 1,720; 2,508. Maryland, 8,532; 3,586. Virginia (Western), 4,650; 4,925. District of Columbia, 890; 1,167. Ohio, 36,858; 58,325. Indiana, 21,250; 30,359. Illinois, 26,148; 58,689. Michigan, 11,686; 17,656. Wisconsin, 11,904; 14,472. Minnesota, 2,681; 4,626. Iowa, 10,570; 24,438. Missouri, 17,269; 28,324. Kentucky, 14,905; 6,463. Kansas, 1,771; 2,936. The Territory of Nebraska also furnished 1,838. Making a grand aggregate of 421,465 men furnished.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 2 (Serial No. 123), p. 187-8

An Act to Amend an Act Entitled “An Act for Enrolling and Calling Out the National Forces, and for Other Purposes,” Approved March Third, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-three, February 24, 1864

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States shall be authorized, whenever he shall deem it necessary, during the present war, to call for such number of men for the military service of the United States as the public exigencies may require.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the quota of each ward of a city, town, township, precinct, or election district, or of a county, where the county is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, shall be, as nearly as possible, in proportion to the number of men resident therein liable to render military service, taking into account, as far as practicable, the number which has been previously furnished therefrom: and in ascertaining and filling said quota there shall be taken into account the number of men who have heretofore entered the naval service of the United States, and whose names are borne upon the enrolment lists as already returned to the office of the provost-marshal-general of the United States.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if the quotas shall not be filled within the time designated by the President, the provost-marshal of the district within which any ward of a city, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, where the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, which is deficient in its quota, is situated, shall, under the direction of the provost marshal-general, make a draft for the number deficient therefrom; but all volunteers who may enlist after the draft shall have been ordered, and before it shall be actually made, shall be deducted from the number ordered to be drafted in such ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county. And if the quota of any district shall not be filled by the draft made in accordance with the provisions of this act, and the act to which it is an amendment, further drafts shall be made, and like proceedings had, until the quota of such district shall be filled.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That any person enrolled under the provisions of the act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes, approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, or who may he hereafter so enrolled, may furnish, at any time previous to the draft, an acceptable substitute, who is not liable to draft, nor at the time in the military or naval service of the United States, and such person so furnishing a substitute shall be exempt from draft during the time for which [such] substitute shall not be liable to draft, not exceeding the time for which such substitute shall have been accepted.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted. That any person drafted into the military service of the United States may, before the time fixed for his appearance for duty at the draft rendezvous, furnish an acceptable substitute, subject to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War. That if such substitute is not liable to draft, the person furnishing him shall be exempt from draft during the time for which such substitute is not liable to draft, not exceeding the term for which he was drafted; and, if such substitute is liable to draft, the name of the person furnishing him shall again be placed on the roll, and shall be liable to draft on future calls, but not until the present enrolmont shall be exhausted; and this exemption shall not exceed the term for which such person shall have been drafted. And any person now in the military or naval service of the United States, not physically disqualified, who has so served more than one year, and whose term of unexpired service shall not at the time of substitution exceed six months, may be employed as a substitute to serve in the troops of the State in which he enlisted; and if any drafted person shall hereafter pay money for the procuration of a substitute, under the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment, such payment of money shall operate only to relieve such person from draft in filling that quota; and his name shall be retained on the roll in filling future quotas; but in no instance shall the exemption of any person on account of his payment of commutation money for the procuration of a substitute, extend beyond one year; but at the end of one year, in every such case, the name of any person so exempted shall be enrolled again, if not before returned to the enrolment list under the provisions of this section.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That boards of enrolment shall enroll all persons liable to draft under the provisions of this act, and the act to which this is an amendment, whoso names may have been omitted-by the proper enrolling officers; all persons who shall arrive at the age of twenty years before the draft; all aliens who shall declare their intentions to become citizens; all persons discharged from the military or naval service of the United States who have not been in such service two years during the present war; and all persons who have been exempted under the provisions of the second section of the act to which this is an amendment, but who are not exempted by the provisions of this act; and said boards of enrolment shall release and discharge from draft all persons who, between the time of the enrolment and the draft, shall have arrived at the age of forty-five years, and shall strike the names of such persons from the enrolment.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That any mariner or able or ordinary seaman who shall be drafted under this act, or the act to which this is an amendment, shall have the right, within eight days after the notification of such draft, to enlist in the naval service as a seaman, and a certificate that he has so enlisted being made out, in conformity with regulations which may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy, and duly presented to the provost-marshal of the district in which such mariner or able or ordinary seaman shall have been drafted, shall exempt him from such draft: Provided, That the period for which he shall have enlisted into the naval service shall not be less than the period for which he shall have been drafted into the military service: And provided further, That the said certificate shall declare that satisfactory proof has been made before the naval officer issuing the same that the said person so enlisting in the Navy is a mariner by vocation, or an able or ordinary seaman. And any person now in the military service of the United States, who shall furnish satisfactory proof that he is a mariner by vocation or an able or ordinary seaman, may enlist into the Navy under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the President of the United States: Provided, That such enlistment shall not be for less than the unexpired term of his military service, nor for less than one year. And the bounty-money which any mariner or seaman enlisting from the Army into the. Navy may have received from the United States, or from the State in which he enlisted in the Army, shall be deducted from the prize-money to which he may become entitled during the time required to complete his military service: And provided further, That the whole number of such transfer enlistments shall not exceed ten thousand.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever any such mariner or able or ordinary seaman shall have been exempted from such draft in the military service by such enlistment into the naval service, under such due certificate thereof, then the ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, when the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, from which such person has been drafted, shall be credited with his services to all intents and purposes as if he had been duly mustered into the military service under such draft.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all enlistments into the naval service of the United States, or into the Marine Corps of the United States, that may hereafter be made of persons liable to service under the act of Congress entitled “An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be credited to the ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, when the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, in which such enlisted men were or may be enrolled and liable to duty under the act aforesaid, under such regulations as the provost-marshal-general of the United States may prescribe.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the following persons be and they are hereby exempted from enrolment and draft under the provisions of this act and of the act to which this is an amendment, to wit: Such as are rejected as physically or mentally unfit for the service, all persons actually in the military or naval service of the United States at the time of the draft, and all persons who have served in the military or naval service two years during the present war and been honorably discharged therefrom; and no persons but such as arc herein exempted shall be exempt.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted. That section third of the “Act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and so much of section ten of said act as provides for the separate enrolment of each class, be, and the same are hereby, repealed; and it shall be the duty of the board of enrolment of each district to consolidate the two classes mentioned in the third section of said act.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall forcibly resist or oppose any enrolment, or who shall incite, counsel, encourage, or who shall conspire or confederate with any other person or persons forcibly to resist or oppose any such enrolment, or who shall aid or assist, or take any part in any forcible resistance or opposition thereto, or who shall assault, obstruct, hinder, impede, or threaten any officer or other person employed in making or in aiding to make such enrolment, or employed in the performance, or in aiding in the performance of any service in anyway relating thereto, or in arresting or aiding to arrest any spy or deserter from the military service of the United States, shall, upon conviction thereof in any court competent to try the offence, be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both of said punishments in the discretion of the court. And in cases where such assaulting, obstructing, hindering, or impeding shall produce the death of such officer or other person, the offender shall be deemed guilty of murder, and, upon conviction thereof upon indictment in the circuit court of the United States for the district within which the offence was committed, shall be punished with death. And nothing in this section contained shall be construed to relieve the party offending from liability, under proper indictment or process, for any crime against the laws of a State, committed by him while violating the provisions of this section.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War shall be authorized to detail or appoint such number of additional surgeons for temporary duty in the examination of persons drafted into the military service, in any district, as may be necessary to secure the prompt examination of all such persons, and to fix the compensation to be paid surgeons so appointed while actually employed. And such surgeons so detailed or appointed shall perform the same duties as the surgeon of the board of enrolment, except that they shall not be permitted to vote or sit with the board of enrolment.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War is authorized, whenever in his judgment the public interest will be subserved thereby, to permit or require boards of examination of enrolled or drafted men to hold their examinations at different points within their respective enrolment districts, to be determined by him: Provided, That in all districts over one hundred miles in extent, and in such as are composed of over ten counties, the board shall hold their sessions in at least two places in such district, and at such points as are best calculated to accommodate the people thereof.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That provost-marshals, boards of enrolment, or any member thereof, acting by authority of the board, shall have power to summon witnesses in behalf of the Government, and enforce their attendance by attachment without previous payment of fees, in any case pending before them, or either of them; and the fees allowed for witnesses attending under summons shall be six cents per mile for mileage, counting one way; and no other fees or costs shall be allowed under the provisions of this section; and they shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations. And any person who shall wilfully and corruptly swear or affirm falsely before any provost marshal, or board of enrolment, or member thereof, acting by authority of the board, or who shall, before any civil magistrate, wilfully and corruptly swear or a affirm falsely to any affidavit to be used in any case pending before any provost-marshal or board of enrolment, shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisoned not less than six months nor more than twelve mouths. The drafted men shall have process to bring in witnesses, but without mileage.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That copies of any record of a provost-marshal or board of enrolment, or of any part thereof, certified by the provost-marshal, or a majority of said board of enrolment, shall be deemed and taken as evidence in any civil or military court in like manner as the original record: Provided, That if any person shall knowingly certify any false copy or copies of such record, to be used in any civil or military court, he shall be subject to the pains and penalties of perjury.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That members of religious denominations, who shall by oath or affirmation declare that they are conscientiously opposed to the bearing of arms, and who are prohibited from doing so by the rules and articles of faith and practice of said religious denominations, shall, when drafted into the military service, be considered noncombatants, and shall be assigned by the Secretary of War to duty in the hospitals, or to the care of freedmen, or shall pay the sum of three hundred dollars to such person as the Secretary of War shall designate to receive it, to be applied to the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers: Provided, That no person shall be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of this section unless his declaration of conscientious scruples against bearing arms shall be supported by satisfactory evidence that his deportment has been uniformly consistent with such declaration.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That no person of foreign birth shall, on account of alienage, be exempted from enrolment or draft under the provisions of this act, or the act to which it is an amendment, who has at any time assumed the rights of a citizen by voting at any election held under authority of the laws of any State or Territory, or of the United States, or who has held any office under such laws or any of them; but the fact that any such person of foreign birth has voted or held, or shall vote or hold, office as aforesaid, shall be taken as conclusive evidence that he is not entitled to exemption from military service on account of alienage.

SEC. 19. And he it further enacted, That all claims to exemption shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the party claiming exemption to the truth of the facts stated, unless it shall satisfactorily appear to the board of enrolment that such party is for some good and sufficient reason unable to make such oath or affirmation; and the testimony of any other party filed in support, of a claim to exemption shall also be made upon oath or affirmation.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That if any person drafted and liable to render military service shall procure a decision of the board of enrolment in his favor upon a claim to exemption by any fraud or false representation practiced by himself or by his procurement, such decision or exemption shall be of no effect, and the person exempted, or in whose favor the decision may be made, shall be deemed a deserter, and may be arrested, tried by court-martial, and punished as such, and shall be held to service for the full term for which he was drafted, reckoning from the t hue of his arrest: Provided, That the Secretary of War may order the discharge of all persons in the military service who are under the age of eighteen years at the time of the application for their discharge, when it shall appear upon due proof that such persons are in the service without the consent, either expressed or implied, of their parents or guardians. And provided further, That such persons, their parents or guardians, shall first repay to the Government and to the State and local authorities all bounties and advance pay which may have been paid to them, anything in the act to which this is an amendment to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 21. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall procure, or attempt to procure, a false report from the surgeon of the board of enrolment concerning the physical condition of any drafted person, or a decision in favor of such person by the board of enrolment upon a claim to exemption, knowing the same to be false, shall, upon conviction in any district or circuit court of the United States, be punished by imprisonment for the period for which the party was drafted.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That the fees of agents and attorneys for making out and causing to be executed any papers in support of a claim for exemption from draft, or for any services that may be rendered to the claimant, shall not, in any case, exceed five dollars; and physicians or surgeons furnishing certificates of disability to any claimant for exemption from draft shall not be entitled to any fees or compensation therefor. And any agent or attorney who shall, directly or indirectly, demand or receive any greater compensation for his services under this act, and any physician or surgeon who shall, directly or indirectly, demand or receive any compensation for furnishing said certificates of disability, and any officer, clerk, or deputy connected with the board of enrolment who shall receive compensation from any drafted man for any services, or obtaining the performance of such service required from any member of said board by the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall, for every such offence, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be recovered upon information or indictment before any court of competent jurisdiction, one-half for the use of any informer who may prosecute for the same in the name of the United States, and the other half for the use of the United States, and shall also be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 23. And be it further enacted. That no member of the board of enrolment, and no surgeon detailed or employed to assist the board of enrolment, and no clerk, assistant, or employee of any provost-marshal or board of enrolment, shall, directly or indirectly, be engaged in procuring or attempting to procure substitutes for persons drafted, or liable to be drafted, into the military service of the United States. And if any member of a board of enrolment, or any such surgeon, clerk, assistant, or employee, shall procure, or attempt to procure, a substitute for any person drafted, or liable to be drafted, as aforesaid, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment not less than thirty days, nor more than six months, and pay a fine not less than one hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars, by any court competent to try the offence.

SEC. 24. And be it further enacted. That all able-bodied male colored persons, between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, resident in the United States, shall be enrolled according to the provisions of this act, and of the act to which, this is an amendment, and form part of the national forces; and when a slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and mustered into the service of the United States, his master shall have a certificate thereof, and thereupon such slave shall be free; and the bounty of one hundred dollars, now payable by law for each drafted man, shall be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was owing service or labor at the time of his muster into the service of the United States. The Secretary of War shall appoint a commission in each of the slave States represented in Congress, charged to award to each loyal person to whom a colored volunteer may owe service a just compensation, not exceeding three hundred dollars, for each such colored volunteer, payable out of the fund derived from commutations, and every such colored volunteer on being mustered into the service shall be free. And in all cases where men of color have been heretofore enlisted or have volunteered in the military service of the United States, all the provisions of this act, so far as the payment of bounty and compensation are provided, shall be equally applicable as to those who may be hereafter recruited. But men of color, drafted or enlisted, or who may volunteer into the military service, while they shall be credited on the quotas of the several States, or subdivisions of States, wherein they are respectively drafted, enlisted, or shall volunteer, shall not be assigned as State troops, but shall be mustered into regiments or companies as United States colored troops.

SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That the fifteenth section of the act to which this is amendatory be so amended that it will read as follows: That any surgeon charged with the duty of such inspection, who shall receive from any person whomsoever any money or other valuable thing, or agree, directly or indirectly, to receive the same to his own or another's use, for making an imperfect inspection, or a false or incorrect report, or who shall wilfully neglect to make a faithful inspection and true report, and each member of the board of enrolment who shall wilfully agree to the discharge from service of any drafted person who is not legally and properly entitled to such discharge, shall be tried by a court-martial, and, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not less than three hundred dollars and not more than ten thousand dollars, shall be imprisoned at the discretion of the court, and be cashiered and dismissed the service.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted. That the words “precinct” and “election district,” as used in this act, shall not be construed to require any subdivision for purposes of enrolment and draft less than the wards into which any city or village maybe divided, or than the towns or townships into which any county may be divided.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act entitled “An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, as may be inconsistent with the provisions of this act, is hereby repealed.

Approved, February 24, 1864.

SOURCE: The Reports of Committees of House of Representatives for the Third Session of the Fifty-third Congress, 1894-95, In Two Volumes, Report No. 1820, p. 6-11

An Act to authorize the Employment of Volunteers to aid in enforcing the Laws and protecting Public Property, July 22, 1861.

Whereas, certain of the forts, arsenals, custom-houses, navy yards, and other property of the United States have been seized, and other violations of law have been committed and are threatened by organized bodies of men in several of the States, and a conspiracy has been entered into to overthrow the Government of the United States: Therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to accept the services of volunteers, either as cavalry, infantry, or artillery, in such numbers, not exceeding five hundred thousand, as he may deem necessary, for the purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, enforcing the laws, and preserving and protecting the public property: Provided, That the services of the volunteers shall be for such time as the President may direct, not exceeding three years nor less than six months, and they shall be disbanded at the end of the war. And all provisions of law applicable to three years' volunteers shall apply to two years' volunteers, and to all volunteers who have been, or may be, accepted into the service of the United States, for a period not less than six months, in the same manner as if such volunteers were specially named. Before receiving into service any number of volunteers exceeding those now called for and accepted, the President shall, from time to time, issue his proclamation, stating the number desired, either as cavalry, infantry, or artillery, and the States from which they are to be furnished, having reference, in any such requisition, to the number then in service from the several States, and to the exigencies of the service at the time, and equalizing, as far as practicable, the number furnished by the several States, according to Federal population.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said volunteers shall be subject to the rules and regulations governing the army of the United States, and that they shall be formed, by the President, into regiments of infantry, with the exception of such numbers for cavalry and artillery, as he may direct, not to exceed the proportion of one company of each of those arms to every regiment of infantry, and to be organized as in the regular service. Each regiment of infantry shall have one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major, one adjutant, (a lieutenant,) one quarter-master, (a lieutenant,) one surgeon and one assistant surgeon, one sergeant-major, one regimental quartermaster-sergeant, one regimental commissary-sergeant, one hospital steward, two principal musicians, and twenty-four musicians for a band, and shall be composed of ten companies, each company to consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one first sergeant, four sergeants, eight corporals, two musicians, one wagoner, and from sixty-four to eighty-two privates.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That these forces, when accepted as herein authorized, shall be organized into divisions of three or more brigades each; and each division shall have a major-general, three aides-de-camp, and one assistant adjutant-general with the rank of major. Each brigade shall be composed of four or more regiments and shall have one brigadier-general, two aides-de-camp, one assistant adjutant-general with the rank of captain, one surgeon, one assistant quartermaster, and one commissary of subsistence.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the President shall be authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for of the command of the forces provided for in this act, a number of major-generals, not exceeding six, and a number of brigadier-generals, not exceeding eighteen, and the other division and brigade officers required for the organization of these forces, except the aides-de-camp, who shall be selected by their respective generals from the officers of the army or volunteer corps: Provided, That the President may select the major-generals and brigadier-generals provided for in this act, from the line or staff of the regular army, and the officers so selected shall be permitted to retain their rank therein. The governors of the States furnishing volunteers under this act, shall commission the field, staff, and company officers Field, staff and requisite for the said volunteers; but, in cases where the State authorities refuse or omit to furnish volunteers at the call or on the proclamation of the President, and volunteers from such States offer their services under such call or proclamation, the President shall have power to accept such services, and to commission the proper field, staff, and company officers.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, organized as above set forth, shall, in all respects, be placed on the footing, as to pay and allowances, of similar corps of the regular army: Provided, That the allowances of non-commissioned officers and privates for clothing, when not furnished in kind, shall be three dollars and fifty cents per month, and that each company officer, non-commissioned officer, private, musician, and artificer of cavalry shall furnish his own horse and horse equipments, and shall receive forty cents per day for their use and risk, except that in case the horse shall become disabled, or shall die, the allowance shall cease until the disability be removed or another horse be supplied. Every volunteer non-commissioned officer, private, musician, and artificer, who enters the service of the United States under this act, shall be paid at the rate of fifty cents in lieu of subsistence, and if a cavalry volunteer, twenty-five cents additional, in lieu of forage, for every twenty miles of travel from his place of enrolment to the place of muster — the distance to be measured by the shortest usually travelled route; and when honorably discharged an allowance at the same rate, from the place of his discharge to his place of enrolment, and, in addition thereto, if he shall have served for a period of two years, or during the war, if sooner ended, the sum of one hundred dollars: Provided, That such of the companies of cavalry herein provided for, as may require it, may be furnished with horses and horse equipments in the same manner as in the United States army.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That any volunteer who may be received into the service of the United States under this act, and who may be wounded or otherwise disabled in the service, shall be entitled to the benefits which have been or may be conferred on persons disabled in the regular service, and the widow, if there be one, and if not, the legal heirs of such as die, or may be killed in service, in addition to all arrears of pay and allowances, shall receive the sum of one hundred dollars.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the bands of the regiments of infantry and of the regiments of cavalry shall be paid as follows: one-fourth of each shall receive the pay and allowances of sergeants of engineer soldiers; one-fourth those of corporals of engineer soldiers; and the remaining half those of privates of engineer soldiers of the first class; and the leaders of the band shall receive the same pay and emoluments as second lieutenants of infantry.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the wagoners and saddlers shall receive the pay and allowances of corporals of cavalry. The regimental commissary-sergeant shall receive the pay and allowances of regimental sergeant-major, and the regimental quartermaster-sergeant shall receive the pay and allowances of a sergeant of cavalry.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That there shall be allowed to each regiment one chaplain, who shall be appointed by the regimental commander on the vote of the field officers and company commanders on duty with the regiment at the time the appointment shall be made. The chaplain so appointed must be a regular ordained minister of a Christian denomination, and shall receive the pay and allowances of a captain of cavalry, and shall be required to report to the colonel commanding the regiment to which he is attached, at the end of each quarter, the moral and religious condition of the regiment, and such suggestions as may conduce to the social happiness and moral improvement of the troops.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the general commanding a separate department or a detached army, is hereby authorized to appoint a military board or commission, of not less than three nor more than five officers, whose duty it shall be to examine the capacity, qualifications, propriety of conduct and efficiency of any commissioned officer of volunteers within his department or army, who may be reported to the board or commission; and upon such report, if adverse to such officer, and if approved by the President of the United States, the commission of such officer shall be vacated: Provided always, That no officer shall be eligible to sit on such board or commission, whose rank or promotion would in any way be affected by its proceedings, and two members at least, if practicable, shall be of equal rank of the officer being examined. And when vacancies occur in any of the companies of volunteers, an election shall be called by the colonel of the regiment to fill such vacancies, and the men of each company shall vote in their respective companies for all officers as high as captain, and vacancies above captain shall be filled by the votes of the commissioned officers of the regiment, and all officers so elected shall be commissioned by the respective Governors of the States, or by the President of the United States.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That all letters written by soldiers in the service of the United States, may be transmitted through the mails without prepayment of postage, under such regulations as the Post-Office Department may prescribe, the postage thereon to be paid by the recipients.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to introduce among the volunteer forces in the service of the United States, the system of allotment among the volunteer forces in the service of the United States, the system of allotment tickets now used in the navy, or some equivalent system by which the family of the volunteer may draw such portions of his pay as he may request.

APPRoved, July 22, 1861.

SOURCE: George P. Sanger, Editor, The Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America from December 5, 1859 to March 3, 1863, Vol. 12, p. 268-71

Governor Andrew J. Curtin to Abraham Lincoln, August 21, 1861

EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,

Harrisburg, Pa., August 21, 1861.

To the PRESIDENT:

SIR: The government of Pennsylvania is and has been earnestly desirous of doing its full duty to the Commonwealth and the country. It has done and will continue to do everything in its power to fulfill the requisitions and facilitate the operations of the Government of the United States, without presuming to criticise or find fault, even when they may appear to be irregular or indiscreet. What I am about to say will therefore not be understood as said in the way of complaint, but merely for the purpose of calling attention to some arrangements, the effect of which has probably been overlooked by the authorities at Washington.

It appears clearly from the acts of Congress of 22d and 25th of July last that the President has power to accept volunteers otherwise than through the State authorities only in cases where those authorities refuse or omit to furnish volunteers at his call or on his proclamation. The act of Assembly of Pennsylvania of 15th of May last contains, among others, a provision, “That it shall not be lawful for any volunteer soldier to leave this Commonwealth as such unless he shall have been first accepted by the Governor of this State upon a call, under a requisition of the President of the United States, made upon the Governor direct, for troops for the service of the United States.” Thus Congress and the State Legislature appear to be agreed upon the inexpediency of attempting the formation of volunteer organizations simultaneously under the control of different heads and on the propriety of leaving such organizations to be formed under the requisitions of the President by the State authorities.

Notwithstanding this common action of Congress and the State Legislature, a course has been pursued by the Government of the United States which is not in accordance with it, and which has already produced much embarrassment and must tend to greatly retard the fulfillment of the objects of the Government. On the 26th day of July last a requisition was made on the Executive of this State for ten regiments of infantry in addition to the forty-four regiments already furnished, twenty-five of which had been called for three months’ service and had been discharged at the expiration of their time. Active measures were immediately taken to comply with the requisition, but unfortunately the Government of the United States went on to authorize individuals to raise regiments of volunteers in this State. Fifty-eight individuals received authority for this purpose in Pennsylvania. The direct authority of the Government of the United States having been thus set in competition with that of the State, acting under its requisition, the consequence has been much embarrassment, delay, and confusion. It has happened in one instance that more than twenty men in one company, brought here as volunteers under the State call for the United States, have been induced to abandon that service and join one of the regiments directly authorized by the United States. In other cases companies ready to march, and whose transportation had been provided, were successfully interfered with in like manner. The inclosed letter is but a sample of the many of like character that have been received.*

As the call of the State is for the service of the United States, no military obligation can be imposed on the men until they are mustered into the service of the United States, and there are therefore no means of preventing them from joining independent regiments or even deserting their colors entirely. The few mustering officers that can be found have refused to muster in less than a whole regiment of infantry. Part of these evils, it is understood from a telegraphic dispatch received to day, will be alleviated by a general order from the War Department, which was suggested by me yesterday. Still there remains the great evil of the unavoidable clashing of two authorities attempting at the same time to effect the same object among the same people through different and competing agencies. The result is what might have been expected – that after the lapse of twenty-six days not one entire regiment has been raised in Pennsylvania since the last requisition. There are fragments of some seventy regiments, but not one complete; yet men enough have been raised to form near thirty complete regiments, and if the State had been left to fulfill its duties in accordance with the acts of Congress and of Assembly referred to, it is confidently believed that the ten regiments called for on the 26th of July would by this time have been fully raised.

That the course thus pursued is in violation of the law, both of the United States and of Pennsylvania, is a consideration not unworthy of notice. At the same time the Executive of this State will leave the authorities of the United States to construe their own law, and so far as regards the law of Pennsylvania, will take the responsibility of disobeying it rather than fail in any effort that may be required to array her military force in the present emergency in such manner as the Government of the United States may point out; and the Executive, in so doing, will rely on the Legislature to ratify his acts, dictated as they are by an earnest desire to aid the Government of the United States promptly and efficiently, without stopping to discuss the legality of any form in which that aid may be demanded. But where the law is so clearly in accordance with true policy and expediency, it is hoped that the Government of the United States will adhere to it. At all events it is earnestly suggested that the double system which has been adopted can lead to nothing but continued embarrassment and confusion, and that it would be better to rely exclusively either on requisitions on the State government, or on the authority given to individuals. It is also suggested that it would be expedient to make requisitions on the State for companies and not for regiments. Under the act of Congress of 22d of July last the President has authority to form them into regiments, and the field officers could then be appointed by the Governor, in accordance with the same act. Some of the advantages to be derived from this course are—

First. That men enlist more readily when they know that they are to enter on active service without delay.

Second. That they would have the benefit of drill by officers of the United States and in their camps, in direct contact with troops already drilled, instead of being kept in temporary camps during the time requisite for filling a whole regiment.

Third. That company officers could be examined as they come in, and the incompetent ones replaced during the same interval, and thus time be saved and the effectiveness of the troops enhanced.

There are other reasons which will readily occur to you.

With great esteem, your obedient servant,

 A. G. CURTIN.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 1 (Serial No. 122), p. 439-41

John Lothrop Motley to Mary Benjamin Motley, July 7, 1861

Boston, July 7, 1861.

My Dearest Mary: I can't tell you how much delight your letters give me. . . .

Seid umschlungen, Millionen! You must give my kindest regards to dear Mrs. Norton, to Lady Dufferin, — if you are so fortunate as to see her, which seems too great a privilege ever really to come within your reach, — to Lady Palmerston and Lord Palmerston, to the adorable Lady and Lord , to Milnes, Stirling, Forster, to dear Lady William, with my most sincere wishes for her restoration to health. Tell her I should give myself the pleasure of writing to her, but my whole mind is absorbed with American affairs, and I know that they bore her inexpressibly, and I could write of nothing else. Don't forget my kind regards to Arthur, and to Odo if he comes. If you see Lady John Russell and Lord John, I wish you would present my best compliments, and say that I have been and am doing everything within my humble means to suppress the noble rage of our countrymen in regard to the English indifference to our cause, and that I hope partially to have succeeded. At any rate, there is a better feeling and less bluster; but alas and alas! there will never in our generation be the cordial, warm-hearted, expansive sentiment toward England which existed a year ago. Yet no one is mad enough not to wish for peaceful relations between the countries, and few can doubt that a war at this moment would be for us a calamity too awful to contemplate. Pray give my kindest regards to Mrs. Stanley; it was so kind of her to ask you to so pleasant a party as you mention. I hope you took the responsibility of remembering me to Froude; and indeed I wish really that you would say to all our friends individually, when you see them, that I beg my remembrances in each letter. There is no need of my specifying their names, as you see now that I have got to my third page and have not mentioned one third. Vivent nos amis les ennemis, and so I give my kind regards to Delane. I wish he wasn't such a good fellow, and that I didn't like him so well, for the “Times” has played the very devil with our international relations, and if there is one thing I have ever set my heart upon it is the entente cordiale between America and England. Give my kind regards to Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan.

. . . It never occurs to me that any one can doubt the warmth of my feelings toward England, and so when I try to picture the condition here it is that my friends in England may see with my eyes, which must be of necessity quicker to understand our national humors than those of any Englishman can be. Give my regards to Parker, to whom I dare say you read portions of my letters. Pray don't forget to present my most particular regards to Lord Lansdowne, and I hope it may have occurred to you to send him some of my letters, as I can't help thinking that it would interest him to have private information about our affairs, which, so far as it goes, can at least be relied upon. Don't forget my kind regards to Layard and to the dear Dean of St. Paul's and Mrs. Milman, and to those kindest of friends, Lord and Lady Stanhope, and also to the Reeves. As for my true friend Murray, I am ashamed not to have written him a line; but tell him, with my best regards to him and Mrs. M., that I have scarcely written to any one but you. If you see him, tell him what I think of our politics. It will distress his bigoted Tory heart to think that the great Republic has not really gone to pieces; but he must make up his mind to it, and so must Sir John Ramsden. The only bubble that will surely burst is the secession bubble. A government that can put 250,000 men in the field within ten weeks, and well armed, officered, and uniformed, and for the time well drilled, may still be considered a nation. You see that Abraham asks Congress for 400,000 soldiers and 400,000,000 of dollars, and he will have every man and every dollar.

But before I plunge into politics, let me stick to private matters for a little. If I have omitted any names in my greetings, supply them and consider them as said. I write to scarcely any one but you, and then to such as I know are sincerely interested in American affairs. To-day I send a letter to Lord Lyndhurst, a long one, and I am awfully afraid that it will bore him, for unluckily I haven't the talent of Sam Weller to make my correspondent wish I had said more, which is the great secret of letter-writing.

McClellan and Lyon and Mansfield and McDowell and a host of others, all thoroughly educated soldiers with large experience, to say nothing of old Scott, whose very name is worth 50,000 men, are fully a match for Jeff and Beauregard, able men as they unquestionably are. Then as to troops, I wish those who talk about Northern mercenaries, all Irish and German, and so on, could take a look at the Rhode Islanders, at the Green Mountain boys from Vermont, at the gigantic fellows from Maine, whose magnificent volunteers excite universal applause, at the Massachusetts fellows, who can turn their hands to anything, at the 50,000 men from the “Empire State,” already marched forward and equipped like regulars, and so on to Ohio and Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, etc. I thought before I came home that there was some exaggeration in the accounts we received; but the state of things can't be exaggerated. I never felt so proud of my country as I do at this moment. It was thought a weak government because it was forbearing. I should like to know how many strong governments can stamp on the earth and produce 250,000 — the officially stated number of fighting men — almost at a breath; and there was never in history a nobler cause or a more heroic spectacle than this unanimous uprising of a great people to defend the benignant government of their choice against a wanton pro-slavery rebellion which had thought the country cowardly because she had been forbearing and gentle. A whole people, 22,000,000, laying aside all party feeling, stand shoulder to shoulder to protect this western continent, the home of freemen, from anarchy, perpetual warfare, and the universal spread of African slavery. But for this levy of bucklers the great Republic would have been Mexico and Alabama combined. Now slavery as a political power is dethroned, it can never spread an inch on this continent, and the Republic will come out of this conflict stronger and more respected than it ever was before.

Yesterday was a painfully interesting day. The Gordon regiment — the Massachusetts Second, of which I have spoken to you so often — took its departure for the seat of war. They have been in camp at Brook Farm for several weeks, and I have visited them often and have learned to have a high regard for Gordon. He was an excellent scholar at West Point, and served with distinction in the Mexican War. Afterward, becoming tired of quarters in Oregon and such wildernesses in the piping times of peace, he left the profession and studied and commenced the practice of law in Boston. But on the breaking out of the great mutiny he at once applied for leave to raise a regiment. His lieutenant-colonel, Andrews, is also a West Point man, having graduated first in his class. Wilder Dwight, whom you knew in Florence, is major, and a most efficient, energetic, intelligent fellow he is. . . .

Well, a telegram came on Saturday evening last, signed “Winfield Scott,” ordering the Second to move forward at once to help reinforce General Patterson in Martinsburg, Virginia. Patterson is expecting daily an engagement with Johnston, one of the best of the rebel generals, who commands some 20,000 men within a few miles of Martinsburg, so that the Second Regiment is going straight to glory or the grave. It was this that made the sight so interesting. It is no child's play, no holiday soldiering, which lies before them, but probably, unless all the rebel talk is mere fustian, as savage an encounter as men ever marched to meet. Within four days they will be on the sacred soil of Virginia, face to face with the enemy. The regiment came in by the Providence Railroad at eleven o'clock. It had been intended that they should march through many streets, as this was the first opportunity for the citizens of Boston to see the corps; but the day was intensely hot, a cloudless sky and 95° of Fahrenheit in the shade, so they only marched along Boylston, Tremont, up Beacon streets, to the Common, very wisely changing the program. They made a noble appearance: the uniform is blue, and they wore the army regulation hat, which I think — although Mr. Russell does not — very becoming with its black ostrich plumes, and I am assured that it is very convenient and comfortable in all weathers, being both light, supple, and shady. The streets were thronged to cheer them and give them God-speed. There was a light collation spread on tables in the Beacon Street Mall, and I walked about within the lines, with many other friends, to give the officers one more parting shake of the hand. There were many partings such as press the life from out the heart.

I was glad that M— and the girls were not there; but I saw Mr. and Mrs. D—, Mrs. Quincy, and many other wives and mothers. You may judge of the general depth of feeling when even Tom D— wouldn't come to see the regiment off for fear of making a fool of himself. People seemed generally to be troubled with Lear's hysterica passio, so that the cheers, although well intentioned, somehow stuck in their throats. The regiment got to the cars at three o'clock, and were to go via Stonington to New York, and soon via Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to Williamsport, Maryland, and Martinsburg. We shall hear of them by telegram, and I hope occasionally to get a line from Gordon. Oh, how I wish that I had played at soldiers when I was young; wouldn't I have applied for and got a volunteer regiment now! But alas! at forty-seven it is too late to learn the first elements, and of course I could not be a subaltern among young men of twenty-two. William Greene — lucky fellow! — is raising a regiment; he was educated at West Point, you know, and served in the Florida war; and Raymond Lee, also a West Point man, is raising another of the additional ten regiments offered by Massachusetts. Young Wendell Holmes — who, by the way, is a poet and almost as much a man of genius as his father, besides being one of the best scholars of his time — has a lieutenant's commission in Lee's regiment, and so on. Are you answered as to the Irish and German nature of our mercenaries?

Nothing decisive has yet occurred. The skirmishes — outpost affairs, and which have furnished food for telegrams and pictures for the illustrated newspapers — are all of no consequence as to the general result. Don't be cast down, either, if you hear of a few reverses at first. I don't expect them; but, whether we experience them or not, nothing can prevent our ultimate triumph and a complete restoration of the Union. Of this I feel very confident. I don't like to prophesy, — a man always makes an ass of himself by affecting to read the future, — yet I will venture one prediction: that before eighteen months have passed away the uprising of a great Union party in the South will take the world so much by surprise as did so recently the unanimous rising of the North. For example, only a very few months ago, the Confederate flag was to wave over Washington before May 1, and over Faneuil Hall before the end of this year; there was to be a secession party in every Northern State, and blood was to flow from internecine combats in every Northern town. Now Washington is as safe as London; the North is a unit, every Northern town is as quiet and good-natured, although sending forth regiment after regiment to a contest far away from home, as it was five years ago; while Virginia is the scene of civil war — one Virginia sending senators and representatives to Washington, while another Virginia sends its deputies to Jeff Davis's wandering capital, and the great battle-field of North and South will be on the “sacred soil.” I feel truly sorry for such men as C—; there could not be a man more amiable or thorough gentleman than he seemed to be on our brief acquaintance. But rely upon it that Abraham is a straightforward, ingenuous, courageous backwoodsman, who will play his part manfully and wisely in this great drama.

The other day I dined with Mr. Palfrey. It was a very pleasant little dinner, and besides Frank and the daughters there were Holmes, Lowell, and John Adams. Frank Palfrey is lieutenant-colonel in William Greene's regiment; Mr. Palfrey's other son, John, is a lieutenant in the regular army, and I am truly sorry to hear today that he has just come home from Fortress Monroe with typhoid fever. I am just going down to inquire after him. Lowell and Holmes were as delightful as ever. I liked John Adams very much indeed; he seemed to me very manly, intelligent, and cultivated, and very good-looking. He was kind enough to ask me to come down to Quincy to dine and pass the night, and I certainly shall do so, for besides wishing to see the ancient abode of the Adamses, I must go and see the venerable Mr. Quincy, who has kindly sent for me once or twice. By the way, remember me kindly to Mr. and Mrs. Adams whenever you see them. I hear that they speak of you in all their letters in the most friendly and agreeable manner. . . .

Ever yours affectionately,

J. L. M.

SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley in Two Volumes, Library Edition, Volume 2, p. 164-72

Major-General George G. Meade to Henry A. Cram,* December 11, 1864

Headquarters Army Of The Potomac, December 11, 1864.

I fear you good people confine your efforts to suppress the Rebellion too much to speechifying, voting, and other very safe and easy modes of showing firm determination never to yield; but the essential element to success, namely, turning out to fight, don't seem to be so popular. You will have to stop filling quotas without adding to your armies before you can expect to finish the war. Do you know that the last loud call for five hundred thousand men has produced just one hundred and twenty thousand? Of these only about sixty thousand were sent to the field, and the share of my army, one of the largest in the field, was not over fifteen thousand; and of this number the greater part were worthless foreigners, who are daily deserting to the enemy. These are sad facts. I remember you were struck last winter with my telling the Councils of Philadelphia that this army, of whose fighting qualities there seemed to be a doubt, had lost, from official records, from April, 1862, to December, 1863, one hundred thousand, killed and wounded. I have now an official document before me in manuscript, being my report of the campaign from the Rapidan to the 1st of November, and it has a list of casualties showing the enormous number of ninety thousand men, killed, wounded and missing. All this is strictly confidential, as I would be condemned for telling the truth; but when people talk to me of ending the war, I must tell them what war is and its requirements; because you can then see how much prospect there is of finishing it, by forming your own judgment of the adaptation of the means to the end. No, my good friend, this war is not going to be ended till we destroy the armies of the Confederation; and in executing this work we shall have to expend yet millions of treasure and vast numbers of lives. Nothing is gained by postponing the exigencies which must be met. The people must make up their minds not only that the war shall be carried on, they must not only subscribe and cheerfully pay money to any extent, but they must themselves turn out, shoulder their muskets and come to the army, determined to fight the thing out. When I see that spirit, the men coming, and doing the fighting, then I will begin to guess when the war will be closed. Undoubtedly, the South is becoming exhausted; its calmly discussing the expediency of freeing and arming the slaves is positive evidence of its exhaustion and desperation; but unless we take advantage of this by increasing our armies and striking telling blows, it can prolong such a contest as we are now carrying on indefinitely.

I thank you for your kind congratulations on my appointment as major general in the regular army. If confirmed by the Senate, it places me fourth in rank in the army — Grant, Halleck and Sherman only being my seniors. Putting me ahead of Sheridan, from the popular position that officer now holds, may create opposition in the Senate; but it is well known my appointment was recommended by the lieutenant general, commanding, approved and determined on by the President, when Sheridan was my subordinate, commanding my cavalry, and before he had an opportunity of distinguishing himself, as he has since done. No injustice, therefore, has been done him, though when his appointment was announced in the theatrical manner it was, and mine not made, I felt called on to ask an explanation, which resulted in a disavowal to do me injustice, and the appointing me with a date which caused me to rank, as it was originally intended I should. So that, what ought to have been an acceptable compliment, became eventually a simple act of justice due to my remonstrance. Still, I ought to be and am satisfied and gratified, because I think it quite probable we are both of us placed far beyond our merits. I am afraid you will tire of so much personality and think I am greatly demoralized.

_______________

* Brother-in-law of Mrs. Meade.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 250-2

Proclamation of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, August 20, 1862

PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR.

The quota of this State of the 300,000 volunteers called for by the President on the 2d of July last is 10,570.

The quota of this State of the 300,000 militia required to be drafted by order of the President 4th of August instant is 10,570.

The quota of the first call is over full by the prompt and patriotic response of our people within the last few weeks. I am satisfied that from fifteen to twenty thousand men are now organized into companies awaiting organization into new regiments, and I am urging upon the War Department the acceptance of the whole number, and that our State be credited with the excess upon the second call for drafted men. But the War Department refuses, as yet, to give us such credit until the number of men required to fill the old regiments (8,005) shall have been furnished.

These men for the old regiments are sorely needed, and the cause of the country is better served by filling the old regiments than by raising new ones.

The officers and men of the old regiments have gained a knowledge of their duties by experience in the field, and new recruits joining their regiments have the benefit of this knowledge gained by their officers and comrades. An old regiment filled up with new recruits is more effective at the end of two weeks than a new regiment at the end of two months. In order, then, to get the credit due our State for the excess furnished over the first call, and in order to give the country this most effective assistance and sorely-needed help, we must fill up the old regiments. We can do this by volunteering until the first of September. If not done by that time the deficiency will be supplied by special draft, in addition to the draft under the second call.

I appeal, then, to every man for aid. Let everything else be laid aside until this needed work is done. Let the young men whose brothers and friends are in the old regiments take their places by their sides. Any person desiring to enter an old regiment can select the regiment and company he chooses, and then go with his acquaintances and friends.

So deeply am I impressed with the imperative necessity of filling the old regiments that I will, at the extra session of the General Assembly to convene on the third day of September, recommend to that body the creation of a State bounty, of such sum as may be deemed advisable, to all persons who shall, before the first day of September next, enlist in any one of the old regiments of this State.

I also earnestly advise all companies now incomplete, and which will not certainly be completed by the 23d instant, to abandon their attempt at organization as companies and enlist for the old regiments.

Samuel J. Kirkwood.

Governor of Iowa.

SOURCES: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 218; Benjamin F. Shambaugh, The Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of Iowa, Volume 2, p. 499-501

Proclamation of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, July 9, 1862

Executive Office,

July 9, 1862.

PROCLAMATION OF THE GOVERNOR.

To the People of Iowa: — I have this day received from the Secretary of War a telegram, requesting me to raise as soon as practicable for the United States service, for three years or during the war, five regiments of volunteer infantry, being a part of the quota of this State under the late call of the President for 300,000 men.

The preservation of the Union, the perpetuity of our government, the honor of our State, demand that this requisition be promptly met.

Our harvest is upon us and we have feared a lack of force to secure it, but we must imitate our brave Iowa boys in the field, meet new emergencies with new exertions. Our old men and boys unfit for war, and if need be our women, must help to gather our harvest, while those able to bear arms go forth to aid their brave brethren in the field. The necessity is urgent. Our national escutcheon is at stake. The more promptly the President is furnished these needed troops, the more speedily will this unholy rebellion be crushed, and the blessings of peace again visit our land. Until then we must expect the hardships and privations of war. The lime has come when men must make, as many have already made, sacrifices of ease, comfort and business for the cause of the country. The enemy by a sweeping conscription have forced into their ranks all men capable of bearing arms. Our Government has as yet relied upon the voluntary action of our citizens, but if need be the same energies must be exerted to preserve our government that traitors are using to destroy it.

SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD

SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 215-6;

Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood to Abraham Lincoln, July 7, 1862

Executive Office Iowa July 8 1862.

His Excellency the President

By reason of my absence from home the telegraphic dispatch of Gov. Morgan, requesting my signature to the letter of the governors of the loyal States to you, requesting you to call for three hundred thousand more volunteers, did not reach me until the 5th inst., too late to permit me to attach my name to the letter. But for this my name would have accompanied those of the governors of the other States, and I now assure you that the State of Iowa in the future as in the past, will be prompt and ready to do her duty to the country in the time of sore trial. Our harvest is just upon us, and we have now scarcely men enough to save our crops, but if need be our women can help harvest them. I am anxiously awaiting the requisition of the Secretary of War. I will be in Washington next week, when I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you.

Very respectfully

Your obt svt

SAMUEL. J. KIRKWOOD.

SOURCES: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 215-6; This letter may be found among The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress.

Proclamation of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, September 10, 1861

PROCLAMATION.

FELLOW CITIZENS OF IOWA: – More soldiers are required for the war.  I therefore appeal to your patriotism to complete at once the quota demanded of our State.  Six regiments of infantry and two of cavalry, composed of your friends, your neighbors and your relatives, are now in the field.  Three more regiments of infantry and two of cavalry, composed of the same precious materials, are now in camp nearly organized, and eager to join their brothers in arms who have preceded them, and still four more regiments are required.  Will you permit these patriots who have gone forth animated with the spirit of their cause, to remain unsupported, and to fight alone the battles that are imminent?  Remember that they will not fight for themselves alone; it is for your cause as well as theirs in which they are engaged.  It is the cause of the Government, of home, of country, of freedom, of humanity, of God himself.  It is in this righteous cause that I call upon the manhood and patriotism of the State for a cordial and hearty response.

The gallant achievements of our noble Iowa First, have bestowed upon our State an imperishable renown.  Wherever fortitude is appreciated, and valor recognized as the attributes of a brave and greathearted people, the Iowa volunteer is greeted with pride and applause.  Shall it be said that you were unworthy the great deeds which were done in your behalf by that regiment of heroes, that you were laggard in the noble work which they so well begun?  Shall the fair fame of the State which they have raised to the highest point of greatness, lose its luster through your backwardness to the call of your country, made in the holiest cause that has ever engaged the efforts of a people? With you rests the responsibility. Men alone are wanted. Arms, equipments, liberal pay, the applause and gratitude of a Nation await the volunteers.  I cannot believe you will prove insufficient for the occasion when you know your country's need. Two regiments of those yet needed, are required for the defense of our own borders against the incursion of predatory tribes of Indians. While our loyal armies have been engaged with civilized traitors in a deadly struggle for the supremacy of the Government, the maintenance of the Constitution, the enforcement of the laws, and the protection of innocent and defenseless citizens, our own borders have become exposed to the ravages of savages. Some of the lawless tribes are now in league with the leaders of the rebellion in Arkansas and Missouri. Others have been incited by them to seize this opportunity to prey upon the defenseless inhabitants of our State. Some of our sparsely settled counties imperatively demand protection, and they must have it.

Four regiments in addition to those now organizing are needed. They must be had speedily. I hope for the good name of our State they will be furnished without resort to any other mode than that heretofore so successfully adopted. Let those who cannot volunteer lend encouragement and assistance to those who can. Let everyone feel that there is no more important work to be done until these regiments are filled.

SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD

SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 161-2

Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, May 3, 1861

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas existing exigencies demand immediate and adequate measures for the protection of the National Constitution and the preservation of the National Union by the suppression of the insurrectionary combinations now existing in several States for opposing the laws of the Union and obstructing the execution thereof, to which end a military force, in addition to that called forth by my proclamation of the fifteenth day of April, in the present year, appears to be indispensably necessary:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, and of the militia of the several States when called into actual service, do hereby call into the service of the United States 42,034 volunteers, to serve for the period of three years, unless sooner discharged, and to be mustered into service as infantry and cavalry. The proportions of each arm and the details of enrollment and organization will be made known through the Department of War.

And I also direct that the Regular Army of the United States be increased by the addition of eight regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and one regiment of artillery, making altogether a maximum aggregate increase of 22,714 officers and enlisted men, the details of which increase will also be made known through the Department of War.

And I further direct the enlistment, for not less than one nor more than three years, of 18,000 seamen, in addition to the present force, for the naval service of the United States. The details of the enlistment and organization will be made known through the Department of the Navy.

The call for volunteers, hereby made, and the direction for the increase of the Regular Army, and for the enlistment of seamen, hereby given, together with the plan of organization adopted for the volunteers and for the regular forces hereby authorized, will be submitted to Congress as soon as assembled.

In the meantime I earnestly invoke the co-operation of all good citizens in the measures hereby adopted for the effectual suppression of unlawful violence, for the impartial enforcement of constitutional laws, and for the speediest possible restoration of peace and order, and, with these, of happiness and prosperity throughout the country.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.

 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

 WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 1 (Serial No. 122), p. 145-6

Proclamation of Ignatius Donnelly, Governor ad interim of Minnesota, April 16, 1861

STATE OF MINNESOTA.

PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR.

whereas, The Government of the United States in the due enforcement of the laws has for several months past been resisted by armed organizations of citizens in several of the Southern States, who, precipitating the country into revolution, have seized upon and confiscated the property of the nation to the amount of many millions of dollars, have taken possession of its forts and arsenals, have fired upon its flag, and at last, consummating their treason, have under circumstances of peculiar indignity and humiliation assaulted and captured a Federal fort, occupied by Federal troops; and,

Whereas, All these outrages it is evident are to be followed by an attempt to seize upon the national capital and the offices and archives of the government; and,

Whereas, The President of the United States recurring in this extremity to the only resource left him — the patriotism of a people, who through three great wars, and all the changes of eighty-five years have ever proved true to the cause of law, order and free institutions — has issued a requisition to the governors of the several states for troops to support the government .

Now Therefore, In pursuance of the law and of the requisition of the President of the United States, I do hereby give notice that volunteers will be received at the city of St. Paul for one regiment of infantry, composed of ten companies, each of sixty-four privates, one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals and one bugler. The volunteer companies already organized, upon complying with the foregoing requirements as to numbers and officers, will be entitled to be first received. The term of service will be three months, unless sooner discharged. Volunteers will report themselves to the adjutant general at St. Paul, by whom orders will at once be issued, giving all the necessary details as to enrollment and organization.

Given under my hand and the great seal of the state at St. Paul, this sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.

[seal.]                                                                                                                     Ignatius Donnelly,

By the Governor.                                                                                               Governor ad interim

J. H. Baker,

Secretary of State.

SOURCE: Minnesota. Board of Commissioners on Publication of History of Minnesota in Civil and Indian Wars, Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861-1865, Volume 2, p. 3

Proclamation of Alexander W. Randall, Governor of Wisconsin, April 16, 1861

To The Loyal People of Wisconsin:

For the first time in the history of this Federal Government, organized treason has manifested itself within several States of the Union, and armed rebels are making war against it. The Proclamation of the President of the United States tells of unlawful combinations too powerful to be suppressed in the ordinary manner, and calls for military forces to suppress such combinations, and to sustain him in executing the laws. The treasures of the country must no longer be plundered; the public property must be protected from aggressive violence; that already seized, must be retaken, and the laws must be executed in every State of the Union alike.

A demand made upon Wisconsin by the President of the United States, for aid to sustain the Federal Arm, must meet with a prompt response. One Regiment of the Militia of this State, will be required for immediate service, and further services will be required as the exigencies of the Government may demand. It is a time when, against the civil and religious liberties of the people, and against the integrity of the Government of the United States, parties and politicians and platforms must be as dust in the balance. All good citizens, everywhere, must join in making common cause against a common enemy.

Opportunities will be immediately offered to all existing military companies, under the direction of the proper authorities of the State, for enlistment to fill the demand of the Federal Government, and I hereby invite the patriotic citizens of the State to enroll themselves into companies of seventy-eight men each, and to advise the Executive of their readiness to be mustered into service immediately. Detailed instructions will be furnished on the acceptance of companies, and the commissioned officers of each regiment will nominate their own field officers.

In times of public danger bad men grow bold and reckless. The property of the citizen becomes unsafe, and both public and private rights liable to be jeopardized. I enjoin upon all administrative and peace officers within the State renewed vigilance in the maintenance and execution of the laws, and in guarding against excesses leading to disorder among the people.

Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin, this 16th day of April A. D. 1861.

By the Governor,

ALEX. W. RANDALL

L. P. Harvey, Secretary of State,

SOURCE: Edwin Bentley Quiner, The Military History of Wisconsin, p.47