Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1862-01-10

in this State should b.. clothed, armed equip
ped sutsisted and transported by the Stale III
,1onsequeu OF the then INABILITY ni the uniied
states his request was ot Course complied
with and twenty -iive regiments, (beins eleven
beyond our quota, comprising ~ l'o
men from Pennsy ylvanla served Tor the term of
three months under the Presidents proclama-
ton above referred 10. As the furnishing those
volunteers with supplies was necessarily under
the circumstances hurried operation, and as
complaints were made i'll regard To them, and
frauds were alleged to have been perpeirated, 1
appointed u board Of commissioners to investi- |
gate the whole subject copy OF their report
with the evidence taken by them has been al |
ready laid before the public Itis the intention
of the Auditor General To open the ACCOUNTS oi
such parties as appear by the testimony u have
been overIaid and this course has already been
taken in two Of those cases.
On the expiration Of the term oi the Three |
months men in July last, some eight or ten thou
sand discharged Pennsylvania volunteers were
thrown into Harrisburg without notice and de
tained here, waiting to lie paid, fos al average
time of some ten DAYS. their tents, camp equip
age and cooking utensils had been taken roiu
them at Williamsport, Md and they arrived here
destitute of all OF shelter and OF preparins
their food. The CommissaIy of the Uni ed
States furnished uncoUked ratiuns, aud under
1
cessary to make arrangements for aiding IN the
cooking and baking of the ratiOns, and also
for furnishing meals to such Of the regiments
as arrived during the night or under circurn-
stances requiring instant relief Ihe expenses
attending these operations amounted SO tar as
ascertained to S7ii 20, aud recommend that
the Leg stature make an appropriation to pay
them 1t ought To he stated that the Sc expenses
would have been much larger, but for the I'D
era and patriotic efforts OF tie citizens and espe
cially tine ladies Of Harrisburg their free hand
d hospitality and generous aid to our we'ried
and hungry soldiers, deserve remembrance ana
gratitude.
At the special session OF the Legislature which
commenced on the Both OF April last, l recon-
| menl,d the organization Of a reserve corps, To
| be armed equipped clothed subsisted and pa d
| 10y the SIate, AID drilled in camps OF Instruct
ion, in anticipation of the e1igencles of the
country, and by the Act OF the 18th Of May last,
| such a corps was directed to lie raised, and
| loan Of SO 900 900 was authorized Ia deiray the
expenses OF that and other military preparatlons.
| Men more than sufficient in number To iorui
,ome ten regiments OF the Reserve Corps had,
previous to the 10th of May been pied by
me in pursuance OF 4 call on me afterwards re-
sc,nded Tor twenty i've reg ments, aud were
then already assembled and subject to my con
| troll Most of these men volunteered Tor the
| Reserve Corps and were Immediately organized.
/ The remaining regiments worerapidIy recruited
| and tine Corps thus completed, and GeorSe
| A Mct all of Chester county was commissioned
AS Major General, and assigned to the command
OF all the forces raised or To he raised under the
provisions OF the last mentioned act. 1he regl
:nents composing tt- Reserve Corps were in
st ucted in four camps in different parts OF the
state, until they We're taken iuto the service OF
| 81 TOD Iyrn oft reg
under the commands Of CoOnels Charles J. Bid
| dl, aud Seneca e. Simmons, and two comp pa
| Mes ut artillery under the command of Col.
| Charles 1. Campbell at the pressing IN
stance oi the War Department were sent On the
22l OF June last to the relief of Col. Wallace, at
Cumberland, and remained for about six weeks
there, and in Western Virginia engaged in act
i've operations.
Towards the close of July the whole Corps
was called for under rcquistion, and taken into
the service OF the United States. Within -FOUR
days after the disaster ut Bulls Run, eleven
regiments of this fine body of men EARNED,
drilled, clothed, equipped, and in all respects
ready for active service,) were in Washington
The regiments and companies from Western
Virginia aud the remaining two regiments
making the whole number of fifteen, soon
joiaed them there, and they are all Low In
service under the command OF Gen. Mccall,
General 10y the United States.
These fifteen regiments contain fifteen thou
sand eight hundfed aud tiity SIX men, and con
stitute a division comprising three brigades, a
regiment of Artillery and one of Cavalry. Ihe
, whole expense OF raising, clothing, eQuipping,
|, subssting and paying the Reserve Corr
lincluding the expense of establishing and Mt
ting the camps OF instruction, of recruiting, and
supplying regimental flags and the expenses o
the campaign of the two regiments and cJmpa-
. MES in MARYLAND and Western Virginia, which
, We're all betrayed by the State) has amounted tt
$3.50. 444 81. Ibis does not include the trans
port ,tion on Rail Roads, a. the separation o.
, that account would have been work of great
labor, nor does it include the pay OF the two re
giments during the campaign, but it dot include
all the expenses, which were heavy, of teams anc
, transportation, not on Railroads, for the two
Regiments on the campaign above mentioned
Twelve regiments of the Reserve Corps were
paid, sub,sted, &C, by the State to the average
date OF -, July. The two regiments in Wes
tern Virginia were paid by the State to the
date Of their departure from Harrisburg
on that expedition. The Cavalry regiment WA
: not paid by the State twill be perceived thai
the whole average expense per man was SOB 80
Previous to the 3lst OF April last, regimen
| had been enlisted in the city of Erie from North
{ western Pennsylvania When the call wa
made Oh me on that day, for rs additional re
gimen s, the Erie regiment was ordered to marci
to Harrisburg lhe call was rescinded, how
ever before the regiment reached Pittsburg
and | ordered it to encimp at that city wher
i it remained until the 30th Of June. The Ma
tiInal Government declined 10 muster the regi
ment into service as all existing requisiOn
made ON the State were more than filled.
Much apprehension existed in the Western
i and South western borders of the State, and i
4 WAS deemed prudent to retain the regiment a
Pittsburg to meet any emergency that nigh
I arise. After the passage of the Act of l5ti
MAY, 1861, it was expected that the regimen
would form part of the Reserve Volunteer Corps
(, but M the men had been long time from hOm
. and remained inactive in camp, they declined
: entering the service, and were subsisted anc
: paid up t. the Both Of June by the State Tw'
= | regiments have since been enlisted from tn,
4 sau,e part OF Pennsylvania at the city of E lie
one ol which has been at Washington in servic
r. since September, and the other is nov ready 10
marching orders-and it is due to the first Fri
!. regiment to say that most of the men are nov
h in service
!, Further acquisitions for sixteen regiments G
t Infantry and two regiments of Cavalry wer
# shortly afterwards made by the War Depart
y ment. Of these, sixteen have already bee
c raised and are in the service of the Unite
St,tes, and the remaining two are in tn
Y course of organization and nearly ready l.