Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1861-08-14
THE PRIVATE SOLDIERS.

We have no words to express our admiration of
the private soldiers in the ranks Of the Southern
Army. They are not enlisted mercenaries; they
volunteers, and yet bear all the hardships and
pcrils that fall to the lot of mercenary prvatcs and
like them, thrown in the front ground in peril, and
thrown in the back ground in the distribution of
glory. 1t is necessarily So for glory. SO widely
diffused, bears to each man no Distinguishing mark
though each has been a hero worthy "all Greek
and Roman fame" And it is because, knowing
that they would have the lions share of danger and
that the monopoly of the renown must and perhaps
ought to, fall to the more prominent figures in the
canvass the military leaders, they rush not only
with willingness but enthusiasm to the ranks that
We honor and admire the volunteer private soldiers
of the South above all other and classes of men
T.. in the Nineteenth Century.
We honor and respect, as all men ought, the great
military chieftains, and all the subordinate officers
who arc qualified for their POSITIONS but yet we
look upon the private volunteer soldiers with
ercnce that feel for official rank. Their be-
ing where they are shows US just what they are
Their position the trouble Of Analysing their
motives; they are honest as they are brave,-the
are mcn-genunc men, the true metal. pure gold.
They political aspirants military pretend
ers, no "fuss and feathers" humbugs; but patriots
and heroes. to whom you may take off your hat,
and do homage to sincerity and manliness in the
most perfect combination andunqnestionable shape.
With few exceptions, of worthless and reckless
adventurers-so few that they only establish the
general rulc-the volunteer priyatcs Of the Southern
States the very flower of the whole land. In all
that constitutes character virtue and social position
the great body Of these men, carrying muskets on
their shoulders, sleeping often on the bare ground
and eating cheerfuly the coarsest food equal in
every respect to the highest officers by whom they
are led to battle. Yet, for that very reason, no
symptom of discomfort, no spirit of INSTRUMENTATION
= is manifest in their ranks. Implicit obedience
to orders, which it was thought would be difficult
thing to enforce among hishspirited Southerners,
has become distinguishing Characteristic of the
Southern camp, whilst the very opposite prevails
among the Northern soldiers whose frequent rows
and breaches of discipline are matters Of constant
newspaper notoriety. The reason of the difference
is that the Southern Army, the rank and file, is
mostly made up Of, gentlemen, who have taken up
arms from the purest sentiments of patriotism who
the cause and whose habtual self respect precludes
the very existence of spirit Of envy and insubordi
nation towards official superiors "a.
We do not speak the language Of exaggeraton
when we say that such an army as the South has
now in the field the world never saw before Eu-
rope has had larger armies made up however, of
mercenaries of the very dregs of earth, but never
any country, in ancient or modern times, an army
comprising the very cream of the intelligence viz
tue and honor of the land. Drawer men neither
Greece nor Rome ever produced; the Old Guard Of
/ NAPOLEON and the Zouaves of the present Emperor,
never achieved greater prodigies of raor, but who
would compare the one or the other, in nvidua dig
nifty of character, with the private soldiers of the
Southern Army? Their valor, however, is surpass-
ed BY their fortitude and patience exercised in the
endurance of privatons and hardships far more try
ing to such spirits than the ordeal of the battlefield
1t is mystery to us how youths tenderly nurtured
I and many of them not come to mans estate; how
gentlemen accustomed net only to the comforts Of
competency, but the luxuries of wealth. exchange
all this for the corn cakes and fried bacon of the camp
cooking it themselves and in the most perfect igno
rance Of how to cook it properly sleeping often on
| the Bare ground exposed to all the vicssitudes Of
weather. and enduring personal privations, wants,
and hardships which the most of their slaves have
never suffered, and all this without murmur OF
complaint; all this for the cause and without the
faintest hope Of that renown and fame officers may
hope for, but which, in the nature of things, mus
be greatly weakened by diffusion through large
mass. gentleman, who has seen many Of GU,
wounded soldiers, informs us that he has not mel
one who complained of bis wounds. and it is difficult
to find one who complains of his coarse fare ar,t
hard life. Did the world ever see such men before
1t is an honor to live in the same age with such
lofty, disinterested spirits. Surely such men vii
be blessed of Heaven and their cause and all theJ
hold dear be under its special CARE Richmond
Dispatch. . 49, s. - - "a r;.. "a :
THE Rev. NIX SrHcLA,R-It will be seen, OF
reference to our columns in an article under thu
captonof the 9th North Carolina regiment, that tn,
Rev. James Sinclair, brother Of the Pastor Of tn
Presbyterian denomination in Charlotte distinguish
ed himself on the field Of battle, by his bravery an,
military genius, and as consequences he has beef
t-Qaa IN taft IF