Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-11-28
THE CALL OF THE FIFrEENrH.

| that men ready and willing to enlist prefer TO
join new regiment, where all will stand upon
the same level OF knowledge Tor ignorance)
ui military matters, and where 10 man will
DC conspicuous for his awkwardness, This
feeling, which results from a pride--Iaudable
in itsell-is unaccouutablr to me in this con
| necluu.
The man who inns this regiment now,
surrounded by men who have had the advan-
tagc OF lew months life of active
service, will reap the results Of their hard won
experience by mere contact with them. His
constant intercourse and his daily life with
such men will enable him to MASTER in an
incredibly short space of time, the rudiments
OF military knowledge which private is re-
quired TO learn But, were it otherwise, one
would suppose dat the desire of being attached
aoa regiment with Interpolation of the fifteenth,
and under the very banners which witnes sed
III defeat al Balls Bluff to assist in avenging
their wrongs would induce men to enlist in
that regiment.
Military history shows that it is general
rule that those regiments which have won
honorable fame III many actions; whose banners
bear enrolled upon them the names OF mauy
fields OF battle; and whose officers have been
tried and found worthy TO fill their posts, are
more readily filled than regiments without re
nown, and whose history yet remains wholly
TO be written. The fact that the recruiting
for the fifteenth drags So slowly along is in
violation OF this rule.
H., liz oil nlis in,
celebrating upon choice OF regiments, should
! bear in mind that the mantle OF glory belong
! ing to the fifteenth follows it-no matter who
fill the ranks. The name OF Washington
belongs not alone to his contemporaries, but
also TO US, aud we are as proud OF ii as if he
were with us to-day. So, too, the fame If the
fifteenth reg ment belongs not alone TO the
individual officers and men who were engaged
IN that unfortunate action in which it was
won, but 10 the regimental organization. And,
though no man, among all those who behaved
so nobly on thar day, can be forgotten by
grateful country, still the name OF the 18th
regiment would be dean TO Worcester county,
and its banners would be watched upon the
t field OF battle with eager interest," even were
| its composition more changed than it will bs,
10y the recruits that will be sent to Gll the va
cances in its ranks
Communities, large or small according TO
| the prominence Of the individual, watch the
E action, and are interested in The fate OF each
t officer and private III every regiment now in
the field. But the country at large unable 10
t comprehend SO large Il number Of individuals
in its watchfui interest, follows the motions OF
r regiments, brigades and divisions Thus it is
t that whIie each individual officer or private
the public at large, ard il he conduct himself
wei WW inevitably do so with tie community
whe lie is known still the united valor O
any body Of men under rcgimenta organi
cation, goes to create or build up the name
for thar regiment. The Individual act of cour.
age tells not only for the man but for the regi-
ment.
OF the interest which attaches to the hero
| of the name which any man has made for him.
self he cannot be deprived. But it is equal
ly true that the fame OF the regiment once es
tablished, and which perhaps lie has assisted
in. creating, is entirely beyond his control This
he shares while he remains i'll the regiment,
and when he ceases TO be u member bequeaths
to his succ ssor. 1t is the legacy of the raw
recruit and is equally his roperty with the
man v ho helped TO make it.
1t is this desire to share the honorable fame
! Of regiment whose name is honored by as
sociations with deeds OF valor that causes re-
cruiting Tor such a regiment ordinarily TO be
much easier task than in the case of a new
regiment. And so natural does it seem that
| such influences should work upon the mind of
the recruit that this apparent reluctance TO en-
list IN The fifteenth seems strange and unac-
countable.
That confidence in their leaders which
causes men to follow them, implicitly rely ing
upon their courage, GOODNESS, and capacity, is
only 10 be FULLY experienced in regiment
which has been tried in the shock OF battle.
1t is not to be expected that men should, nor
| will it be found that men will, rely with the
same confidence upon an excellent officer be-
fore his trial in this way, as after. The char
acter of regiment is in a great measure de-
| pendent upon this feeling OF reliance in the
leaders, and when that feeling exists in regi-
| ment it should be great incentive for enlist
| ing. Certainly the fifteenth stands pre-o mi
nent on that score. Could we but have the
brave boys of the fifteenth in midst for a
| short time, the moral effect of their testimony
| as to the conduct OF their officers in the action
of Balls Bluff would fill their regiment in a
few days. Their confidence and pride in
those officers would lead men intending TO en-
list, to trust their lives in such hands rather
than in the hands Of men as yet untried.
1t is sometimes said that men enlistng
now will be cast adrift when there shall be an
exchange Of prisoners that their status is no.
permanent and that for this reason some are
unwilling to join this regiment. Now there
can be but little foundation for such fears.
The number called for now would not incl ease
the numbers enlisted in the regiment to such
an extent, above the regular regimental organ
ization, even if the poor fellows now held as
prisoners should be returned but that proYis.
ion could and would be made for retaining the
excess. There are other vacancies than those
caused by the absence OF the prisoners, and
there can be no doubt but that every man who
enlisls now in the fifteenth, enlists for the tcp-