Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1861-06-08
military Appointments.

IN ~
State seem to be attracting some notice from tb'
press. In private circles the subject is no doH,
one which claims its share of consideration c..
OF our cotemporaries are very emphatic in tbs;, =
clarations that former party affiliations should h.
no influence upon these appointments; while 9TH.
less scrupulous, do not hesitate to claim the op.
for the PTecipitators, or in other words for o..
who have had a principal share in forcing No.
Carolina out of the Union; forgetting that ma
that regime, Mr. Lincoln and his advisers would nm
doubtedly monopolize the whole of them.
Of the merits of the appointments we have mod
position to express an opinion, if unfavoraba -,
less forced to it, nor will we without great provoo
ton alude unkindly to the motives which bav. :
huenced or determined many of them. We aro -,
ignorant of the difficulties which have pressed ,b.
selves upon the appointing power. The most acr.
mind and the soundest discretion of any one man :.
the State, in the possession of the most yiporon,
health, would hardly have been more than sufHco,,
to grapple with those difficulties But an ordr.,-
mind, enfeebled by months of disease and surrouDi
ed by advisers unused to the details and the n-,.
tce, if not wholly ignorant in fact of the tbeorv
planning and arranging for military defence or
paigning, it would have been wonder if most :,
rious blunders had not been made. Besides, mncb
allowance must be made for the multitudes of ami;
cants and the scantness of fit material in somn -
the departments, out Of which to fill the appOiDt
ments. Moreover, we presume, such was the nrsS
sure of hungry office hunters, who had nearly STAR
we'd themselves from sheer hard work in the bns;
ness precipitation that in very few cases the post
was allowed to hunt for the officer, but in most in
stances the officer hunted for the post.
Of the appointments made from the old US
Army, we presume no one complains So small,
portion of the few U. S. officers which North earn
lima had have resigned their positions and tenderpl
their services to the State it was difficult to do b
ter although in some instances among the younger
officers, the stride which some of them have been
assisted in taking, may have been little too lon,
for safety.
All things considered, we doubt if any one can
justly complain of the appointment of Gen. Holmes
to the command Of the coast defences, or of Cal
Hill to the Camp of Instruction of COL Bradford Of
Assistant Adjutant General Riddick, of Major Ram.
seur or others of the late U. S. Army. We presume
these appointments give no body any uneasness-
But the selection Of civilians to fill important militia
ry posts involves greater difficulty, and might have
been expected, if not udicously made, to create dis
satisfaction. We make no complaint and care mott
jot if IN every instance, honesty, capacity and moral
worth, were the basis upon which the appointments
were made. There is but one other ground upon
which we might object. And that is in those in
stances in which it does appear, the precipitqou
wanted Office to shield themselves from the dangers
of the war, who in the judgment of the appointing
power were capable of leading squadron in the
field or of shouldering musket Such persons We
claim are entitled to no immunity from the war;
certainly they not entitled to pay for bringing
1T on.
Now our contemporary, the Charlotte Democrat
admits that "al parties in the State are united in
maintaining her honor and independence
who were formerly Union men are doing as much
as any others for the Southern cause-and no par.
ticular preference should be given" Our very
plausible contemporary further saith, "we are conf.
dent however that Gov Ellis tries to act imparaly
and do what is right" And again, 1--WE know that
many of the highest positions have been given by
Gov. Ellis to political opponents as well as an equal
number of the lowest posts in the military" But
still further, "in fact think Gov Ellis has been
disposed to treat with special favor applications from
those heretofore opposed to him, and in some in
stances preferred them to old political friends"
Well, we think it cannot be denied, that since the
election of Abraham Lincoln, there have been but
two parties in the State, the conservatives and the
precipitators, the Union men and the Secession
lists For the sake of testing the correctness of the
Democrats affrmations, we append list of all the
appointments to "high" military positions" from
the civil ranks, made by Governor Ellis and hi,
Military Board. We leave out those who were in
the U. S. Army, for the reason that all admit they
were entitled to offices in the Army. Now the Dem
ocrat will obge US if it will point out single Off
Ger in the following list, who was an undoubted
vention in February last and especially up to the
time of Lincolns proclamation. We want no qub-
bling friend Yates. Come up to the test like man.
Military Board w. Winslow, Fl. W. Guion.
Brigadier GeneraL-Walter Gwinn.
Colonels-Cois. L. OBJ. Branch, VIM Johnston,
NJ S. Stokes, c. G. Tew, G. Il. Meares, D. K. McRae,
G. F. Fisher.
It. Colonels.-M. W. Ransom, Wul. P. Bynum,
R. H. Cowan, j. A. Young, W. T. Dortch.
Majors-A. NJ. Lewis, W. Beverhout Thompson,
John W. Woodin, w. L. De Rossett
ISuroeon GeneraL-Dr Chas. E. johnson.
Chaplains-Rev E. A. Yates and Rev. F. Fitz-
gerald.
These are all the appointments that we know Of
in the "highest positions" which have been made
from civilians. If the Democrat can find the hall
of late Union man among them, it has the power
of discerning spirits quite beyond our reach.
Capt. F. T. Bryan.
In was understood during the session of the Leg