Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1863-01-22

oenciency. The short time thus allowed
ior volunteering made the plan Of procur-
ing ana Offering a state bounty wholly
inpractlcabie, and it had to be abandoned,
nor was toere any necessity then to resort
10 suon measures, as by the urgent. large
ano swiftly succeeding calls of the eov
eminent, the we'll known condition of onr
army in the field, and the stringent maa.
sures adopted to secure its immediate in
crease, the patriotism of the people wss
klndled anew in such measure thst 1vau
became the business of the whole neonle :.
commercial, agricultural and other Oh
nary pursuits aimest ceased for tim.
crops were left ungathered in the fialds'
and although the time was the most mn
favorable one in our state, when the lsrgu
est part OF the people were engaged with
the harvest and could i'll afford to spare
the laborers that were to be so suddenly and
In SO large number transferred frorn the
harvest to the battle field, yet with un
precedented zeal, disregardlng all other
ties and engagements, did the people of
the state rally to the nations cal! for helm.
When the cali for 100000 drafted militia
Was announced to me by the Secretary of
War, l was advised that for any excess of
troops previously furnished BY the state
credit should be given, and subsequently,
that the number Of drafted militia reouir-
ed from Wisconsin was 1904. Upon nv
repeated Inquiries whether the five reei-
ments of infantry demanded under the
call of 200 volunteers constituted our
entire quota under that call, no answer
was returned by the Secretary of War.
| As the time for furnishing volunteers for
both calls was limited to the fifteenth
of August, and as the people of
the several counties in the state
were mostly anxious to furnish
tte required number for tie 600 900 men
by volunteers, and thus be exempt from
draft, or at least reduce the number of
those to be drafted, it became necessary To
assign to each county its quota of msn
which was accordingly done, upon tn,
supposition, induced by the several orders
of the Secretary of War, that our entire
quota was 5000 under the call of 800 600
volunteers, and II ,9O4 under the call for
800, 900 drafted Militia, accounting for the
discrepancy between the two numbers by
the excess OF about 1000 men, which I
| oeheVed the State had previously furnish
ed. subsequently to the assignment of
the respective quotas to the counties, an
order was made by the War Department.
that the old regiments, which had been
much declmated, must also be filed. and
that If not filled by the first OF September
special d'Gtt would be ordered for the
deficiency, and afterwards | was informed
that the number required to fill our old
regiments was 1904 From the nature
and language OF the order, construed this
to be an additional call to the 600. 900.
men, but the peculiar coincidence in num-
bers led to repeated inquiries on nv part
as to the true quota of the State under all
the calls, and 10 correspondence with the
war department, which disclosed the fact
that the department considered our quota
under each of the two last calls to be H.
9O4, i. e. 23,SOS; that the number required
tor Old regiments, if furnished, might be
credited upon this number; but also that,
owing undoubtedly to incomplete returns
at the Office Of the Adiutant General in
! Washington, we had received credit only
Tor 900 men previously furnished, while
according to our own records we had sent
to the field "a, 800 men, and had thus
failed to receive credit for $500. De-
Quoting these from the %, sos would leave
our real quota 90, COS men instead of 49,
sos, assumed as the true number in ma
king the apportionment among the coun.
ties. lnasmuch as this error arose nv
erroneous and insufficient information re-
ceived from the war department, owing
undoubtedly to the great pressure of bust
ness IN that department, and perhaps also
to omissions or mistakes in telegrapbic
communications and because it wou}d
have been unjust in my opinion, to have
increased the quotas OF the counties after
they had once been assigned and acted
upon, Qor this information was not re-
ceived until after the time for volunteer.
ing except for old regiments had expired,
did not feel at liberty to make anv
change in the quotas as once assigned. and
so informed the department.
After the call for drafted militia. the
goth regiment was speedily filled, and I'D
to the 221 day of August, to which day
volunteering had been extended. the num-
Der OF volunteers reported, warranted the
organization of thirteen new regiments.
numbering from 81 to SO inclusive. Two
of these regiments were, however. def
Gent IN number, but succeeded in OBJ.
tanning special ordor from the war de-
partment authorizing the recruiting for
these two regiments to complete them.
the government paying advance bounty
and advance pay. OF these the 31st has
since been completed and is mustered into
the U. 5. service, ready to be sent to the
field, and the 9th lacks bnt few men and
will also soon be mustered.
1t Is to be regretted that the policv of
the General Government did not hermit
them to extend volunteering beyond the
22d day OF August, except for old regi.
ments, as otherwise the State would prob
ably have furnished the required number
OF men in volunteers. very urgently
and repeatedly asked for such an extension.
assigning fully the reasons and especially
The fact that large number of persons
We're at that time engaged in harvesting.
our State being mainly agricultural, and
our harvest late. The principal reason of
the refusal probably was the hope that the
old regiments might thus be filled.
THE DRAFT.
Prior to the execution of the draft II
became necessary TO enroll the militia.
The enrolment required to be made by
the assessors un@er our Stlle laws, had
never been properly made and could not
be relied upon FOR the purposes of the
draft. Hence | caused an enrollment to
be made uader orders from the War De.
partment, by appointing The sherifs en-.
rolling officers, requiring the LIFTS to be pub
llcly exposed for correction for three DAVIS
10 every town aud ward of city or village.
L have thus secured reasonably accurate
enrolment: and in those towns and wards
q a