Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1861-1862, 1861-09-14
FRENCH CORRESPONDENTS VIEW OF THE
AMERICAN WAR

TIE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER AND kILITIA SYSTEM USDIR
French REyIEw--TuE THREE MosrHs' And TuRIE
YrARs MEN CoMPARED-CAUsE, oBJEcr, AND PRos-
PEcrs or THE wAR-THE BATTLE CT MANASSAS, &c.
The following is the translation of an American crr.
respondence which appears in the Paris Journal pOpin-
ion Rationale of the l9h August 1t is Interesting and
obtains importance from the fact Of its appearing
exclusively in Prince Napoleons home orglr, New
York paper going far to assert that tho letter was
written by the Prince himself, or at his dctatiOn;
NTw YORK, July 81, 1861
Arrived fortnight since on tho United States terri
tory cid not wish to write before having some inter
esing information 10 give you.
As vet have seen very tle of men and Affairs yet
such is the absolute ignorance which results from geo.
graphical separa.ion-such is the inevitable alsiy of all
opinions the object OF which separated from him who
entertans them By seventy degrees Of longitude-that
the bare sight Of New York and the crowd which s s
Streets an exchange of words, pdssdnt with AmeTi-
cans have produced on me the effect Of unexpected
revelation ard enlightened me in few days on ques-
tons wi ch years Of reading would not have eItrcaed
for me from the thckest darkness.
The impressions aud advices which send you my
fret. Mex, week will 20 10 Washington. | will see
the Northern army and the pickets of the Southern
nv suce both parties face to face at the very gates
of Washington j. s possible that my letters may
have an entirely diff 4rent charac from these OF now,
written naturally after incomplete data. II change my
opinion il will prove to you that have taken no SIDE
and that il my opinions are not reliable they arc at least
sincere.
Let us commence with the military organization of tho
North because that is question which, in France, al
.a,s appeared to me the most confused, buried it
WAS under xpre sions and spondents anecdotes
Let US endeavor to put forward nothing bu; facts.
The armed force Of the Union is composed Of three
elements which must be carefully disuiUguishej-the
IN fifnan nf in time
of war belongs exclusively 10 the Fl dera Government
the militia which time Of peace belongs 10 the States
and in time OF TO the Government Of the Union
and fualy the volunteers who are raised only by the
Urlon Government
OILS enton tho regular army here for tie sake of
ccuacy and in order not to omit one OF the elements
OF the QUESTION for il presents no more difficulty ia
being described than it does Of importance in reality
The regular is army recruited by voluntary en-
gsgemens and by bounty, like that OF England. IL does
mot exceed general effective force OF over fifteen or
sixteen thousand men which, movable force, cannot
show mole than eight or ten thousand fighting men.
AT tho time the war broke out those troops were
scattered in the stone forts such Sumter Charleston,
Fortress Monroe in the Chesspeake, Fort Pickeus in
Pensa ola Bay ard the borders of the immense Ter
rores where the most advanced pioneers have 10 coz.
tend sgsirs: the OF Indian tribes The Federal
Government bad then, almost regulr force at hand
when il became recc ssary Washington against
the menaccd aggression Of the South
In ali there are not more than 800 federal soldiers
a, Washington the remainder could not be recalled
from the distant posts where they had been Stationed
II that army presents Insignificant resources regards
Effectiveness Il has not bad TO exercise on the conduct of
the war and its due guidance of the wa'k Instincts OF
the nation the ttue: &C which considerable body oil
officers in active service half pay disposed to i'm.
press the citizen fcrce with military ardor, might have
done The greater pnt Of the ofcers OF the army be-
l,rg TO the South in origin and sentiment. Some have
entered the servcG Of tho Confederate Safes others
have preserved neutral attitude in their position OF non
action or under the g the passive conduct OF military
obedsrce.
In tho danger which the seat OF government ran WIS
necessary then to hsye recourse to the militia The Am
rcan militia has u con peie analogy with our National
Guard only its organic Is general more pcpu-
lar and more important With the Americans as With
u.s. every one is round to ferve in the citizen guard
with them with U.s. this legal observation i evsded by
great number Of ez,rs that there are no ,f Give
militia but those who are animated by an excephor-
al desire Tor the fu lment OF civic duties by natural
Ia for military tIercses who moved By some
motive OF vanity or smoition
Ia country where comp ,inants and defendants nomi-
nae their Judges for two years. it is needless 10 say the
IN itis themselves nominate their officers. Tley are
clothed their expense but armed at the expense
Of the State Thus constituted they form battalions oi
eI h: companies which called reg ents after the
Engsh custom which number from six to eight hundred
men. The militia man, like our National Guard, Is otly
obliged 10 take up arms in deence o! his home. IL he
leaves bis town district it OD be by his consent
la ordinary times the militia the armed force of the
States the regular army is Of the iederator-ln es'
senil distinction and which IL continual oduced,
and under every FORM when endeavors TO make him
self familiar with the political organization OF the United
Stites.
President Lincoln and the Congress, threatened in
Washington three months since by the Southe uprS-
Ing appealed to the militia, and required OF the several
loyal States 10 mob certain number OF militia regi-
mems and seud them quickly as possible to the cipa'
OF the Uaion. The manner in which that mooihziion
was done was as follow The miliil regiments disposed
TO 90 entered into engagements for cne to three months
and the regiments reduced remodeed and feorganized
in Of this proceeding, which caused CON
siderable variation in their effectiveness, passed under
the orders of the general government IL was then the
newspapers OF both continents were hled with long
epuneIatons of all those regiments, dtsngu sled at
once by number and the name OF their State, which
the railroad bore each day the banks OF the Potomac
BEGINNING from the day of her ob!iztion, the mi.
litia received rather bad right 10 receive IN adj
ton to military ouiit-that is TO say, clothing arms
aud food-the enormous pay OF eleven collars noh'n,
more than iifty.6ve fisncs.
Such is the army which arrested the daring march OF
the South But the termination OF its engagement soon
came Every day a militia regiment returns home be
cause il has finished its time. 10 general II may be said
THAI as body, the militia Gid no service bey ond thst
for which they had originally agreed. individuals may
have continued 10 by entering volunteer corr but
the regiments constitute and composed like our bittal
ions Of the National Guard, Of easy bughers Of
property and heads OF familes-those gimants say,
left the army on the sppoiaed day, re urning home
every day. quietly and orderly, without having any too
much the appearance Of being troubled with what was
to become OF the Union army, after the withdrawal OF
the las. of the corps which composed it at first.
It was foreseeing that resut- quite in keeping with
American habs-end quently OF the lengthy char
aoter which the war has to assume that the eder
4. government took to have permanent amy
There was one of two things to choose either increase
enormously the regular army by means of an active re-
crunp aided by heavy bounties or to cal for voun-
teers President Lincoln inclined 10 the former measurt
Congress adopted the latter; and not to do things by
halves voted 70 hundred millions Of dollars aud the
raising cf fre hundred thousand volunteers.
l very much doubt whether the government can fill
up by volunteers the contingent Of 100000 mer; but
What 4, certain h could have done 50 still lei by re-
pu,r solders So apart from the figures, which, from
their formidable eIaggeration, are OF nature to throw