The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1861-10-24
Recruitlng---T'he Demand for
Soldiers.

From the Harrisburg Telegraph.
Many people imagine that when the
loyal states have all filed the quotas de-
that the business of recruiting soldiers
will end. In this they are mistaken, as
soldiers will be constantly in demand, to
keep the companies, regiments, brigades
and armies of the Union up to their min
imum standard There are a hundred
casualties which diminish the force and
numbers of companies. Sickness and
death come without the effects of powder
and shot-so that even while an army is
in camp, unexposed to the assaults and
destruction of an enemy, it is diminishing
in numbers and loosing in strength in the
ways and manner we have described, SO
that recruiting becomes constantly neces-
sary, and the organization and discipline
of soldiers, a work in which every man
can engage with profit to his country and
benefit to himself AS our army moves
from Washington city, it will not of course
leave the posts it now couples unprotected,
while at the same time it would be bad
policy to leave any of its drilled and eff
cient force behind for this protection
Therefore men will become necessary for
garrison duty, for duty in the entrench-
ments, and for the safety and protection
of the immense military works erected
by our army of occupation all over the
country.
At this season of the year, the work in
the agricultural regions of the western
and middle states ceases. Thousands of
able bodied men are thus thrown out of
employment, while they will be unable to
make engagements in other business that
usually went on after the harvest was
gathered and the thrashing finished In
the lumber region, for instance, of this
and other states, there will be little if any
labor performed during the coming season,
a fact to which we have heretofore re-
ferred, and to which we now allude as one
of the conditions of northern society, out
of which we will be able to organize
large and effective force for field operations.
Thematerial in this particular is the very
best for the creation of splendid military
bodies, simply because the men are in
ured to hardship and understand the bus
mess ofselfpreservation and self-attention.
All that these men need to render them
good soldiers, is knowledge of the man
ual. They already have practice In the
use of arms-they understand the necessi-
ties of long marches, encountered with
burdens equal in weight to the contents
of a knapsack or the heft of a musket-
and, therefore, so far as the hardships of
the service are concerned, this class of
men would be fit for the camp Immediately.
There are other classes of men, engaged
In other pursuits, all of whom have some
peculiar qualifications for a soldiers life,
and all of whom need that proficiency
which is acquired by exercise and practice
IN the manual. In view of the necessities
which will undoubtedly arise and the
demands which must grow out of the in
vasion of an enemy's lines, the loss By
battle, the decrease by sickness, and the
thousands of casualties by which the in
dividual force of an army is lessened, we
repeat that we must expect to have con-
slant drafts made upon our communities,
and that the active men of the Ioyal states
must hold themselves in readin ess at any
time to be summoned to the camp and the
battle field. When they become con-
vinced that this necessity is absolute, aud
that the duty which they owe to their
country is paramount, supreme and supe-
rior to any other obligation under which
they may rest, they viii discover the i'm
portance of rendering themselves efficient
before the appeal is made for their servi-
ces This is easily done, if attempted in
the right spirit, because there is in every
American citizen the dormant spirit of
soldier which only needs development to
render it powerfully effective.
On this account, we suggest that the
military spirit and ardor which now pre-
vail In all parts of Pennsylvania particu-
larly, will be cultivated aid increased
Our force IN the army must not be allowed
to grow less in number or effectiveness.
Fer every man that falls another must be
ready to take his place. He must be ready
to take his place. He must be ready also
to perform his duty by disciplining him
self now when time is affored All this
is important and should not be neglected.
Col. JOHN w. GEARY.-Col. j. w.
Geary, who commanded the Twenty